movie review on jojo rabbit

Jojo Rabbit

There’s something impressive about someone like Taika Waititi taking all of that Marvel money that’s just sitting in a room in his house and making a movie that he otherwise never would have been able to get financed. A coming-of-age comedy about Nazis isn’t exactly on the wish lists of most studios in 2019. And there are times when “Jojo Rabbit” feels almost like an answer to the question: “Hey, Taika, what are you gonna do with all that ‘Ragnarok’ cash?”

Having said that, ambition only gets you so far, and the originality of this self-proclaimed “anti-hate satire” subsides after a few minutes. “Jojo Rabbit” doesn’t quite come together the way its opening promises and, most shockingly, lacks the punch it needs to really work. It’s far from the disaster it could have been given the tonal tightrope it walks, but it’s also closer to a misfire than we all hoped it would be. Believe it or not, the “Hitler Comedy” plays it too safe.

“What if Wes Anderson made a Nazi comedy?” is a reasonable way to pitch “Jojo Rabbit” to someone interested in seeing it. Waititi’s goofy comic sensibility adapts the novel Caging Skies by Christine Leunens into a coming-of-age story that just happens to be set in the fading days of World War II Germany. There is where we meet Jojo ( Roman Griffin Davis ), a sweet German boy headed off to Nazi camp, where young men learn to throw grenades and young women learn the importance of having Aryan babies (an instructor played by Rebel Wilson brags about having 18 so far). He’s eager to join the Nazi party, tossing out “Heil Hitlers” with confidence when he’s not talking to his imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler himself, played with goofy energy by Waititi in a character not in the entirely-serious book. The writer/director portrays one of the most villainous people in history as a bumbling moron, always offering cigarettes to his 10-year-old buddy and suggesting very bad ideas.

Luckily, just around when the ‘Goofy Hitler’ schtick is getting tired, it recedes into the background for the most important plot of “Jojo Rabbit” when Jojo finds a Jew hiding in his attic, played by the wonderful Thomasin McKenzie (“ Leave No Trace ”). We know that it is Jojo’s mother ( Scarlett Johansson ), who is also working for the resistance, who has hidden the girl, but Jojo’s incredibly confused. After all, this Jew doesn’t look or act like a monster. He begins talking to her, trying to learn the truth about Jews so he can write a book, and forms a relationship that changes him. The parallel between the imaginary friend who is actually a monster and the girl he’s been told is a monster but is actually a friend is a nice one to unpack, and Waititi is careful not to push the arc’s melodrama too much. McKenzie is delightful and Johansson is sweet and tender—they both add much needed warmth to the film.

“Jojo Rabbit” derails when its premise wears off and you start to wonder what it all means. A kid talks to Hitler and realizes Jews can dance—and there’s some tragedy along the way. That’s it? I kept waiting for “Jojo Rabbit” to become more than a wink-wink, nudge-nudge joke, and when it does try to get emotional in the final act, including a tone-deaf ending for a Nazi character played by Sam Rockwell , Waititi can’t navigate some very tricky tonal waters. Without giving anything away, the final scenes of “Jojo Rabbit” are too easy for a film that needs to be dangerous and daring. A film that starts as audacious becomes relatively generic as it goes along, and even its one shocking turn ends up feeling manipulative. If the premise is risky, the execution is depressingly not so.

When one steps back from “Jojo Rabbit” and looks at the individual pieces, there’s a lot to admire. Once again, the director of “ Boy ” and “ Hunt for the Wilderpeople ” proves to have a gift with child actors, drawing a great performance from Davis and a nearly-movie-stealing Archie Yates as his pudgy buddy at Nazi camp. And a score by Michael Giacchino and cinematography by Mihai Malaimare Jr. (“ The Master ”) work together to accomplish that Anderson-esque atmosphere that Waititi was seeking. It’s clear that success has allowed Waititi to hire all the right people to execute his vision. And yet I left “Jojo Rabbit” thinking that the exact purpose of that vision remained blurry.

This review was filed from the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8th.

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

Roman Griffin Davis as Johannes "Jojo" Betzler
Thomasin McKenzie as Elsa Korr
Taika Waititi as Adolf Hitler
Scarlett Johansson as Rosie Betzler
Sam Rockwell as Captain Klenzendorf
Rebel Wilson as Fraulein Rahm
Alfie Allen as Sub-Officer Finkel

Writer (novel)

Christine Leunens
Michael Giacchino

Cinematographer

Mihai Malaimare Jr.
Taika Waititi

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‘Jojo Rabbit’ Review: The Third Reich Wasn’t All Fun and Games

Taika Waititi’s new film mixes farce, fantasy and drama in a Nazi-era coming-of-age story.

Share full article

By A.O. Scott

According to a child psychologist cited in a recent article in The Atlantic , “little boys’ imaginary friends are frequently characters who are more competent than they are, such as superheroes or beings with powers.” That more or less describes the case of 10-year-old Johannes (Roman Griffin Davis), who has dreamed up a powerful pal to boost his confidence at anxious moments, always ready with a fist pump or a shout of “you got this!” Perfectly normal, and even kind of adorable, even though Johannes’s imaginary friend is Adolf Hitler.

The make-believe Hitler is somehow both the most outlandish and the most realistic thing about “Jojo Rabbit,” Taika Waititi’s new film. Based on the novel “Caging Skies” by Christine Leunens — and featuring Waititi himself as Johannes’s goofball fantasy-Führer — the movie filters the banality and evil of the Third Reich through the consciousness of a smart, sensitive, basically ordinary German child . Veering from farce to sentimentality, infused throughout with the anarchic pop humanism Waititi has brought to projects as various as “Hunt for the Wilderpeople” and “Thor: Ragnarok,” it risks going wrong in a dozen different ways and manages to avoid at least half of them.

Johannes, raised in a small town in Germany on a diet of propaganda and official Nazi youth culture , has turned Hitler into an emotional support figure, a confidant whose silliness is partly the mirror of the boy’s own insecurities. There are the serial humiliations of Hitler Youth day camp to contend with. Runty and timid, with halfhearted dreams of growing into an Aryan warrior , Johannes is bullied and teased. His nickname, Jojo Rabbit, isn’t meant affectionately. The buffoons who run the camp, an unhinged Valkyrie (Rebel Wilson) and a washed-out storm trooper (Sam Rockwell), are hardly ideal role models, and not only for the obvious ideological reasons. They are less terrifying than the ghoulish local Gestapo man, played by Stephen Merchant.

Luckily, Johannes has a kindhearted mother, Rosie (Scarlett Johansson), who is immune to the seductions of National Socialism. (He also has a nonimaginary friend, Yorki, played by a scene-stealing young comic dynamo named Archie Yates.) The extent of Rosie’s opposition reveals itself slowly to Johannes and the viewer, whose point of view remains anchored in the bright colors and magical thinking of the child’s perspective. Still, we know more about what’s happening than he does, not only because we’re aware of the history he is living in, but also because we’re familiar with the contours of his type of coming-of-age story.

At stake are Jojo’s innocence and his decency, and how one is purchased at the cost of the other. He needs to outgrow his selfishness and acquire the resources of empathy. Rosie can teach him a little, but his real education comes through his relationship with Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie), a Jewish teenage girl with artistic inclinations whom Rosie has hidden in a crawl space in their house. In Elsa’s presence Jojo is by turns resentful, afraid, infatuated and possessive. The tumult of his feelings, beautifully realized by the 11-year-old Davis, gives the film sweetness and charm as well as a sense of ethical urgency.

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Jojo Rabbit Reviews

Jojo Rabbit is a parody of Nazism, where the idea of a fanatical child who dialogues with the “spectre/presence” of Hitler is very original. However, all subsequent development loses originality since it seems like a fusion of previous films such as...

Full Review | Original Score: 6.5 | Aug 15, 2024

It relentlessly mocks not only the disgusting prejudice woven into extreme right-wing ideology, but, frankly, the inherently ridiculous nature of many Nazi beliefs.

Full Review | Jul 14, 2024

Ultimately, the power of perspective is a phenomenal approach to making a satirical film of such a heavy topic. But satire without challenging the way we as viewers think and feel is just cheap parody without actual criticism.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 14, 2024

Taika Waititi's Nazi comedy Jojo Rabbit is delightfully absurd and surprisingly poetic, and unlike anything you've ever seen before.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Oct 30, 2023

Delightfully one of the year’s best films.

Full Review | Original Score: A+ | Mar 8, 2023

Much of the comedy is too broad to truly satirise the subject matter... unable to nail the emotional beats when it finally confronts the true reality and horror of the situation.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 11, 2022

The film’s ability to make you laugh, cry, or be utterly appalled is one of its many strengths.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Aug 22, 2022

This is a great way to deliver such a powerful message… under the guise of comedy.

Full Review | Aug 8, 2022

This was the movie that made me laugh and cry the most in 2019. It created this absolutely perfect mixture between satire and drama. Every joke hits all the good spots. Waititi's best work? Probably. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Jul 7, 2022

War is absurd. Art has been making this point for centuries now, but few pieces of art have fully embraced that absurdity as much as Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | May 13, 2022

Waititi's message of anti-hate proves resounding and good-natured, leaving the audience firmly dismissive toward the film's target: the hatred inherent to Nazi ideology.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 23, 2022

Its trying to question what youre taught, its trying to empathise with being villainised into something less than human, and its trying to give you the ability to laugh in the face of hate so that you have the strength to fight it. It does that.

Full Review | Feb 21, 2022

Episode 52: Jojo Rabbit / The Lighthouse / Parasite

Full Review | Original Score: 80/100 | Dec 1, 2021

Taika Waititi's hot streak continues with whit and whimsy...

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 14, 2021

Much of Jojo Rabbit's comedy works in the moment.

Full Review | Mar 3, 2021

Weak satire almost saved by a surfeit of heart.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 16, 2021

Jojo Rabbit isn't simply an anti-hate movie as the ads say. More importantly, it's a pro-love movie.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 31, 2021

Is Waititi's film provocative? Yes. Silly? Undeniably. But it is also surprisingly tender and moving.

Full Review | Dec 21, 2020

Humorous, touching, and devastating in equal measure.

Full Review | Original Score: 10/10 | Dec 7, 2020

It's worth seeing, however-particularly for Sam Rockwell, who adds to his gallery of great supporting performances with a turn as a disillusioned Axis army captain that nearly steals the film whole...

Full Review | Nov 3, 2020

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‘Jojo Rabbit’ Review: A Hit-or-Miss Hitler Comedy With a Heart

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

It’s springtime for Hitler and life is beautiful. At least it is for Johannes “Jojo” Betzler, a 10-year-old German boy who’s been thoroughly indoctrinated by Hitler Youth. That is, until he discovers that his mother is hiding a Jewish girl at home and, boom, his world turns upside down.

That’s essentially what happens in “Caging Skies,” a 2008 novel by Christine Leunens that bears some resemblance in plot — but hardly any in tone — to Jojo Rabbit, the polarizing but potently funny film that New Zealand writer-director Taika Waititi has made of it. If you know this one-of-a-kind filmmaker’s work (see: Thor: Ragnarok, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, the vampire mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows ), you know that humor is his preferred form of expression.

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry — sometimes at the same time. But love or hate Jojo Rabbit, it’s damn near impossible to shake. Injecting monkeyshines into Nazi horrors sure didn’t hurt Mel Brooks’ The Producers or, for that matter, Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds. And Roberto Benigni’s Life Is Beautiful won an Oscar despite using the Holocaust to press emotional buttons. At the Toronto Film Festival, where Jojo Rabbit premiered last month, the critical hand-wringing about the film’s uneasy mix of slapstick and sentiment did nothing to stop the movie from winning the coveted People’s Choice Award, often an Oscar harbinger (like last year’s Green Book ). Our suggestion: Stick with Waititi. Give or take a few structural stumbles, he’s worth following anywhere.

Waititi immediately distinguishes itself from the self-serious source material, establishing a farcical opening to the sounds of the Beatles singing a German cover of “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” while documentary footage rolls of National Socialists sieg-heiling. Jojo, played by Roman Griffin Davis in one of the best performances ever by a child actor, doesn’t merely subscribe to Hitler Youth; he thinks of the fuhrer as his friend, a surrogate daddy and imaginary buddy with whom he can share his feelings. And with Waititi, a Polynesian Jew who’s cast himself as Hitler, the leader of the Third Reich is mocked early and often.

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At a Nazi boot camp for kids, Jojo is trained by the one-eyed Captain Klenzendorf ( Sam Rockwell ) and his minions, broadly played by Rebel Wilson and Alfie Allen. Though he finds a pudgy best friend in Yorki (a terrific Archie Yates), Jojo is forever an outcast. Humiliated when a nearby exploding grenade scars his face and legs, the kid is laughed out of junior military training for failing to prove his manhood by strangling a rabbit, hence the nickname. Audiences have been laughing at Nazis since Charlie Chaplin played the fictional Adenoid Hynkel of Tomania in 1940’s The Great Dictator. But a persistent argument against Jojo Rabbit is that it offers nothing new in its soft-edged condemnation of tyrants. With anti-Semitism on the rise along with other hate crimes, the film’s timely and subversive message surely bears repeating.

With his father at war (during the waning weeks of World War II), responsibility for Jojo falls solely to his mother, Rosie, beautifully played by Scarlett Johansson in a performance of uncommon complexity and feeling. Rosie is clearly appalled by her son’s Nazi rhetoric. In one telling scene, she walks him past a line of Jews hanging from the gallows. The boy’s response — a babyish “yuck” — is a lesson in how denial is taught to more than just children. But Rosie doesn’t dare speak for fearing of being carted off by the Gestapo, in the sinister person of Stephen Merchant. A secret member of the resistance, Rosie is using her home to hide a teenage Jewish girl, Elsa Korr (Thomasin McKenzie, the breakout star of Leave No Trace) . When Jojo discovers the young woman behind a fake wall in his late sister’s bedroom, he treats her at first like a monster with horns, the kind he draws in the book he’s prepared to please the fuhrer. Called “Yoo-Hoo, Jew,” the book is a juvenile parody of the worst of mankind. Hitler, of course, is delighted. But as Jojo gets to know, and even crush on Elsa, his conscience kicks in, sparking the imaginary dictator to tantrums and the lad to a new life of the mind.

Though the resolution of this crisis is predictable, the humanist in Waititi brings intimacy and indelible passion to each step in the boy’s journey to empathy. The film, which grows less comic and more delicate as it moves toward its foregone conclusion, may fall short of greatness, but it never sinks to the maudlin. With expert help from cinematographer Mihai Malaimare ( The Master ) and composer Michael Giacchino ( The Incredibles ), the auteur walks a tightrope with uncommon skill.

Elsa tells Jojo that what she misses most is the freedom to dance, a reminder of a time before unspeakable horror stopped the music.

It’s a modest goal. But it’s in the small moments that Jojo Rabbit achieves its greatest impact. Waititi’s faith in the notion that a child will lead us out of ignorance may be naïve. It’s also deeply affecting. Besides, isn’t truth always the first casualty of indoctrination, whether you live in the era of fake news or not? The first words of the Leunens novel come to mind: “The great danger of lying is not that lies are untruths, and thus unreal, but that they become real in other people’s minds.”

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Jojo rabbit.

Common Sense Says
Parents Say 62 Reviews
Kids Say 121 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Uneven but amusing WWII satire has violence, hate speech.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 13+?

Though the overall tone is light and satiric, that mood is disrupted by scenes o

Infrequent swearing includes "s--t," "hell," "ass," "damn," "goddamn," "t-tty,"

One character frequently drinks from a flask, seems sloppy and slurry; another d

A young boy strikes up a friendship with a slightly older girl and gets a crush

Any Positive Content?

Themes of courage, empathy are clear in sympathetic look at those who are endang

Characters are complicated, with nuance. Rosie is nothing short of heroic, thoug

Violence & Scariness

Though the overall tone is light and satiric, that mood is disrupted by scenes of significant violence -- and characters are constantly in danger: chaotic gun battles with dead bodies and bloody wounds, soldiers in bloody bandages with missing limbs, and hanging bodies of people who were executed by Nazis. A sympathetic character is suddenly killed; another is held as a prisoner of war, and it's implied that he might have been shot (viewers hear soldiers yelling at him and then gunfire). Children are orphaned; one Jewish girl talks about seeing her parents get put on a train to a place "where you don't come back." Young children are armed, sent into battle. A boy is told to snap a rabbit's neck; he refuses, but another boy does it, laughing, and throws the limp body into the forest.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Infrequent swearing includes "s--t," "hell," "ass," "damn," "goddamn," "t-tty," and one "f--k off." There's also a lot of hate speech about Jewish people (they have horns, they sleep upside down like bats, they love money, etc.), and a woman is called a "disgusting Jew-y cow." Even some "good" characters have bad things to say about Jewish people, particularly earlier in the film, but it's clear that the movie's sympathies aren't with racists and fascists.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

One character frequently drinks from a flask, seems sloppy and slurry; another drinks wine at night and then seems elated. A character tells a young person that when she's older she'll drink "champagne when you're happy, and champagne when you're sad." Jojo's imaginary pal frequently offers him cigarettes; Hitler and others smoke cigarettes in many scenes.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

A young boy strikes up a friendship with a slightly older girl and gets a crush on her; he tells her he loves her, and she says the same to him, but it's unclear whether the love is romantic or friendly on both parts. She also offers to give him his first kiss; he refuses, saying it would be out of pity. Characters talk about love, comparing it to butterflies in the stomach. A character says her uncle had an "inappropriate relationship" with his niece; she blames it on "Jews." A boy says that he's heard that Russian people "eat babies and have sex with dogs."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Messages

Themes of courage, empathy are clear in sympathetic look at those who are endangered and/or exterminated by Nazi regime. Racism is made to look ridiculous, as is mindless jingoism. Meanwhile, true acts of heroism are given proper, if satiric, weight, and viewers understand the danger of such moves. That said, some viewers may object to lighthearted scenes set among such pain and suffering, may feel concerned that movie doesn't give that pain proper weight.

Positive Role Models

Characters are complicated, with nuance. Rosie is nothing short of heroic, though viewers don't get to know her inner life as well as Jojo's. Elsa is brave too, suffering loss of her family, country, freedom yet still looking forward to a day when things are different. Jojo is complex, changes over course of movie from proudly racist Nazi to more sympathetic character who better understands suffering of those around him, performs heroic acts despite great personal danger. Terrible things are said about Jewish people, but it's clear that the movie's sympathies lie with them. Fascists are depicted as somewhere between evil and stupid. A young character with a larger body type is described several times as "fat."

Parents need to know that Jojo Rabbit is a satiric comedy from director Taika Waititi about a young boy in Nazi Germany who discovers that his beloved mother is hiding a teenaged Jewish girl. Though many parts of the movie are light and funny, others are deadly serious, with mature subject matter and violence that's disturbing, even if it's not especially gory. There are maimed soldiers, dead bodies, children carrying (and using) machine guns, and the hanging bodies of people executed by Nazis. One sympathetic character is killed suddenly and tragically, altering the tone of the movie. Children are orphaned and in frequent danger. An animal is killed on-screen (a boy twists a rabbit's neck around, then throws the limp body into the woods). Cursing isn't frequent but includes "s--t," "hell," "damn," and one "f--k off." There's also lots of upsetting hate speech about Jewish people and other enemies of the Nazi regime, but the movie's sympathies are clearly with the downtrodden. A boy's imaginary friend is Adolf Hitler, who's depicted as largely supportive and kind, if also a hateful fascist. Characters drink and get variously sloppy or elated, and many smoke cigarettes. The movie offers a nuanced take on a subject that's very difficult to mine humor from: Some people may be offended by its very concept, but it's more thoughtful and funnier than families might expect. Still, it's one that you'll want to talk about afterward. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Parent and Kid Reviews

Parents say (62)
Kids say (121)

Based on 62 parent reviews

The Best Satire Ever

Fantastic film, what's the story.

When lonely 10-year-old German boy Jojo ( Roman Griffin Davis ) messes up his first assignment at a weekend Hitler Youth camp, his fellow campers give him a cruel nickname: JOJO RABBIT. Things are difficult at home, too, particularly when he discovers that his mother, Rosie ( Scarlett Johansson ), has been hiding a Jewish girl, Elsa ( Thomasin McKenzie ), from the Gestapo. No wonder Jojo retreats from reality in conversations with his imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler ( Taika Waititi ). As Jojo confronts the gap between his nationalistic ideals and gritty reality, something's got to give. Will it be Jojo?

Is It Any Good?

Most viewers will agree that Nazis aren't funny, but Waititi's comic voice is so ridiculously lovable that, against all odds, this singular movie somehow is -- at least fitfully. At other moments, Jojo Rabbit whipsaws so quickly between light satire and the heaviest tragedy that the uneven tone is bewildering. But before you get there, there's a long, sweet stretch in which viewers get to know the hapless Jojo, who's sympathetically played by the excellent Davis. It's easy to see why a fatherless, lonely, picked-on kid is delighted to put on a uniform and be part of a club that's all the rage among the boys in his town. And it's equally easy to understand why his imaginary friend takes the form of the almighty (to Jojo) Hitler. Even better, Jojo's imagined Hitler doesn't rant and bluster like the real man; instead, he shores up Jojo's confidence with assurances that he's good enough, smart enough, and, gosh darn it, people like him. Except, in real life, mostly they don't, and Jojo is left alone at home to make a dangerous discovery.

At that point, the movie basically splits into two parts: At home, Jojo's stern prejudices around the Fatherland's sworn nemeses begin to splinter as he gets to know one particular hated enemy. Everywhere else, he keeps up the front of a loyal Hitler Youth corps member. There's plenty of comic gold in the latter: Sam Rockwell 's profane Captain Klenzendorf has a Captain Jack Sparrow vibe that's a kick, Rebel Wilson is reliably hilarious as a fervently pious woman in uniform, and viewers quickly learn to sit up and pay attention anytime Jojo's pricelessly endearing sole friend, Yorki (Archie Yates), appears on-screen. But then a devastating event brings all the funny to a screeching halt, and we're left with Jojo, picking up the pieces at the end and wondering, despite the relatively cheerful closing scene, what on Earth did we just watch? Perhaps this, too, was part of Waititi's grand plan, to loosen viewers up with humor before delivering a walloping gut punch of seriousness. But if it sends viewers out of the theater with wrinkled-up "Huh?" faces, it will hardly be a surprise. At moments, this movie is good, even great. But it's hard to know what Waititi was going for, or even how to feel about what you've just seen. Jojo Rabbit is a good time, until it isn't.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the time period in which Jojo Rabbit is set. Do Jojo's feelings toward Jewish people and other "enemies" of the Third Reich seem authentic for a boy growing up in that time and place? Are the things he says and feels offensive to you? Does that detract from the humor? Why or why not?

What other stories, TV shows, or movies have you read, heard, or watched about World War II? How many of these stories were told from the point of view of German people who adhered to the Nazi party? Why do you think that point of view is relatively rare, at least for those consuming media in America? Is it difficult to sympathize with? Why? Would it be harder to sympathize if Jojo were an adult?

How do Jojo, Rosie, and Elsa demonstrate courage and empathy ? Why are these important character strengths ? Do any other characters in this movie show these qualities? What about Captain Klenzendorf? In what ways is this complicated character courageous and empathetic? In what ways is he reprehensible?

Movie Details

In theaters : October 18, 2019
On DVD or streaming : February 18, 2020
Cast : Taika Waititi , Sam Rockwell , Scarlett Johansson , Rebel Wilson , Roman Griffin Davis
Director : Taika Waititi
Inclusion Information : Indigenous directors, Polynesian/Pacific Islander directors, Indigenous actors, Polynesian/Pacific Islander actors, Female actors
Studio : Fox Searchlight
Genre : Comedy
Topics : History
Character Strengths : Compassion , Courage , Empathy
Run time : 108 minutes
MPAA rating : PG-13
MPAA explanation : mature thematic content, some disturbing images, violence, and language
Awards : Academy Award , BAFTA - BAFTA Winner
Last updated : July 19, 2024

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‘jojo rabbit’: film review | tiff 2019.

THR review: Taika Waititi's 'Jojo Rabbit,' a comedy about a German boy during World War II whose best friend is an imaginary Hitler, also stars Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Rebel Wilson and Thomasin McKenzie.

By Todd McCarthy

Todd McCarthy

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Just as it was easy to like 1999 multiple Oscar winner Life Is Beautiful, it was even easier to dislike it, and the same holds true for Jojo Rabbit , a rollicking comedy about a young German boy during World War II who has his very own special edition of Adolf Hitler as his closest playtime companion. The brash way in which the film plays extreme Nazi views for laughs and then twists them for emotional dividends will once again divide the public, and it’s quite likely that younger viewers won’t be bothered by the film’s fast and loose attitude.

There is a raucous, audience-pleasing outrageousness to the way its writer-director, New Zealander Taika Waititi , goes about his business, beginning with his opening gambit of comparing the rise of Hitler to the outbreak of Beatlemania via his use of “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” Also most helpful at the outset are the resourceful comic skills of Sam Rockwell , as his Captain Klenzendorf indoctrinates his recruits in such basic Hitler Youth skills as book burning, grenade throwing and killing, starting with a rabbit.

Release date: Oct 18, 2019

But eager 10-year-old German Jojo Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis) isn’t too good with this physical stuff and ultimately suffers a facial injury that gets him cashiered and sent home. “Adolf” (played by director Waititi with exuberant comic energy) persists in his hate lessons there, hardly leaving the kid alone and trying with some urgency to shape him into a full-blown Nazi. (One puzzling detail has this personal Hitler repeatedly offering the boy cigarettes; Hitler hated smoking.)

With Jojo’s absorption of the ideology evidently complete, the boy is incensed to discover that his glamorous mother, Rosie ( Scarlett Johansson ), is hiding a young Jewish woman, Elsa Korr (Thomasin McKenzie of Leave No Trace ), in a cramped storage area upstairs. It takes a while, but Elsa has an eventual salutary effect upon Jojo’s indoctrinated beliefs, teaching him a thing or three about Judaism and, just as important, opening him up to different ways of seeing than those of his pal Adolf. Still, there is a heavy price paid along the way due to Elsa’s presence at the house.

How to describe the brand of comedy served up by Waititi in this markedly odd film? It’s by turns rude, flippant and aggressive, sometimes laced with clever wordplay and not overly sentimental, either with the kids or at the end, despite the built-in potential for it. He manifestly loves to show off his cleverness, to pose, to grandstand. Still, as did Chaplin, he leaves plenty of room on this occasion for his young co-star to excel and fully remain at the center of the story.

Following in the path of any number of comic creators of the past, Waititi clearly wants to be funny and be loved, and he makes his bid for the latter in the final minutes as he signals Jojo’s conversions from the stranglehold of Nazis and hope for the future through the courage of Elsa. To those susceptible to this sort of last-minute string pulling, the wrap-up will satisfy. But it doesn’t begin to account for the sort of gullibility-turned-to-eagerness of millions of people to embrace the Nazi cause, and the cartoonishness of it, while amusing at the outset, doesn’t wear well as matters deepen and progress. To the contrary, it has a choreographed, rock ‘n’ roll ending.

Venue: Toronto Film Festival (Special Presentations) Opens: Oct. 18 (Fox Searchlight) Production: Fox Searchlight, TSG Entertainment, Piki Films, Defender Films Cast: Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Taika Waititi, Rebel Wilson , Stephen Merchant, Alfie Allen, Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson Director-screenwriter: Taika Waititi Producers: Carthew Neal, Taika Waititi Executive producer: Kevan Van Thompson Director of photography: Mihai Malaimare Jr. Production designer: Ra Vincent Costume designer: Mayes C. Rubeo Editor: Tom Eagles Music: Michael Giacchino Casting: Des Hamilton

PG-13 rating; 108 minutes

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Movie Reviews

'jojo rabbit,' your reich is calling.

Bob Mondello

JoJo Rabbit follows a young German boy (Roman Griffin Davis, left) growing up in the Third Reich with his imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler (Taika Waititi, right). Kimberley French/Twentieth Century Fox hide caption

JoJo Rabbit follows a young German boy (Roman Griffin Davis, left) growing up in the Third Reich with his imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler (Taika Waititi, right).

Taika Waititi may be best known for directing the Marvel blockbuster Thor: Ragnarok , but what got him that job was smaller movies like Boy and Hunt for the Wilderpeople — films best described as "quirky."

That epithet fits his latest film, Jojo Rabbit , about a little boy in Nazi Germany who has an imaginary friend named Adolf Hitler.

How quirky is it? Consider: When the film begins, a drumroll kicks off the familiar 20th Century Fox opening fanfare, and you'll think — for about one second — that all's normal. But as the Fox searchlights sweep the sky, the drums and horns turn into what sounds like a German drinking song, sung by children.

Shortly after, we see images of Nazi soldiers saluting the Führer as the Beatles sing "Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand."

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We're in 1944 Berlin, where 10-year-old Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) is having a rough first day of Nazi Summer Camp, and being consoled by an imaginary friend whose toothbrush moustache and swastika'd uniform clearly identify him — though this is a much cheerier, chummier Adolf Hitler than the one you'd recognize from newsreels.

As played by writer-director Taika Waititi, this imaginary Führer is a nice guy — which makes sense, as he's a figment of the imagination of a nice 10-year-old.

As setups go, Jojo Rabbit 's treatment of history's most reviled mass murderer qualifies as ... unusual ... though hardly unprecedented: Charlie Chaplin played a Hitler-like Adenoid Hynkel in The Great Dictator , when the real Hitler was still around. Mel Brooks mocked him after World War II in The Producers , Quentin Tarantino created a revenge fantasy in Inglorious Basterds . So Waititi's not treading new ground here, just offering a new take.

His comic idea is much like Chaplin's: to deconstruct fascist thinking. He makes little Jojo a propaganda-fed child so innocent that he's never learned to tie his shoes, then helps him to puzzle out the dense network of lies that surrounds him.

Assisting with both the shoelaces and the life-lessons is his mom, played by Scarlett Johansson. Also on hand is Sam Rockwell as Jojo's camp counselor, who's aware that the Nazi jig is up, but plans to dance it away.

And there's a Jewish girl hiding in the attic, played by Thomasin McKensie, who not-so-gently challenges the notions he's built his young life on. "You're not a Nazi, Jojo," she says, "you're a 10-year-old kid who likes dressing up in a funny uniform and wants to be part of a club."

Jojo Rabbit is gently comic for a while, and then surprisingly affecting at the end, so perhaps it's not fair to wish that Waititi had opted to deal more directly with the horrors of the Third Reich. We are, after all, living in a time when fascism is again a growing threat.

Not what he was going for, though — he's content to sidestep the atrocities, concentrate on the indoctrination of children, and let his young hero — and by proxy, the audience — learn life lessons that get tied up, like a child's shoelace, with a neat little bow.

Film Review: ‘Jojo Rabbit’

Taika Waititi's feel-good hipster Nazi comedy, in which the director plays a mean-girl version of Hitler (have no fear: he's just the hero's imaginary friend), is a movie that creates the illusion of danger while playing it safe.

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

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First still from the set of WW2 satire, JOJO RABIT. (From L-R): Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) has dinner with his imaginary friend Adolf (Writer/Director Taika Waititi), and his mother, Rosie (Scarlet Johansson). Photo by Kimberley French. © 2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved

Long ago, turning Nazi Germany into a joke was verboten. Or, at least, it seems like it was; it’s actually hard to imagine a time when that was the case. Charlie Chaplin made Hitler into a figure of ridicule in “The Great Dictator,” released in 1940. I grew up watching “Hogan’s Heroes,” which portrayed life in a German wartime prison — the inept sadist Col. Klink! — as a kind of Nazi sitcom day camp (with the emphasis on camp ). “Springtime for Hitler,” the scandalous musical number from Mel Brooks’ “The Producers,” was once the cutting edge of black comedy, but not for the last 50 years. Quentin Tarantino thumbed his nose at Nazis with jaunty glee in “Inglourious Basterds,” and who would have had it any other way?

That said, let’s give “ Jojo Rabbit ” credit for this much: It’s the first hipster Nazi comedy. Written and directed by the New Zealand-born Taika Waititi (“Thor: Ragnarok”), it’s like a Wes Anderson movie set during the Third Reich. The opening-credits sequence hits a devilish note of rock ‘n’ roll effrontery I hoped would continue, as the Beatles’ German-language version of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” plays over documentary clips of World War II Germans raising their hands in the “Heil Hitler!” salute. This is followed by scenes at a Hitler Youth camp, where Sam Rockwell, as the squad leader, and Rebel Wilson, as some sort of seething assistant, parade themselves as confidently one-note caricatures.

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And then there’s the movie’s satirical trump card. Waititi, looking like Michael Palin in an old Monty Python sketch, keeps popping up as a kind of stylized goof-head version of Adolf Hitler, who speaks in aggressive anachronisms (“That was intense !” “I’m stressed out!” “Correctamundo!” “That was a complete bust!” “So, how’s it all going with that Jew thing upstairs?”), sounding like a petulant mean-girl version of the Führer.

So why are we watching this cartoon-fantasy Hitler? He’s the imaginary friend of Jojo Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis), a goggled-eyed, tousle-haired 10-year-old boy — is it a coincidence that he looks like a young version of Chaplin? — who has grown up in the Third Reich and is still in thrall to it. It’s all that he knows. Since his father is away in the war, Waititi’s Hitler, who shows up whenever Jojo needs counseling, is like a fairy godfather who happens to believe in genocide.

Once you get used to this rather affable satirical Hitler (though he does have his tantrums), which takes all of two minutes, he’s not what I would call bombs-away hilarious, unless you’re the sort of person who still finds “Springtime for Hitler” outrageous. Then again, the ultimate intent of the comedy in “Jojo Rabbit” isn’t to make us laugh. It’s to get the audience to flatter itself for liking a movie that pretends to be audacious when it’s actually quite tidy and safe. The comedy is the hook, the bait, the amuse-bouche, the cue for us to detach ourselves from whatever we’re watching and feel good about it (as opposed to merely disengaged). It’s part of the “Jojo Rabbit” package — a movie that’s trying to hip itself into the center of the awards season (and just might). It’s this year’s model of Nazi Oscar-bait showmanship: “Life Is Beautiful” made with attitude.

And yet it’s not as if it’s a terrible movie. It’s actually a studiously conventional movie dressed up in the self-congratulatory “daring” of its look!-let’s-prank-the-Nazis cachet. The Nazi jokes aren’t really that funny, which may be why they start to take a back seat after the opening act. Having established his hipster pact with the audience, Waititi can settle down to what the film is really about: the friendship that evolves between Jojo, who gets tossed out of the Hitler Youth after a grenade scars his face, and after his refusal to strangle a bunny rabbit in front of his young peers demonstrates that he doesn’t have the right Nazi stuff (hence his emasculating nickname: Jojo Rabbit); and Elsa Korr (Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie), the Jewish girl that his mother, Rosie ( Scarlett Johansson ), is hiding in a secret chamber behind a panel of their study.

Why is she hiding her? Because she’s a German civilian who appears to be as progressive in her attitudes as Elizabeth Warren. That’s the sort of black-and-white psychology this movie has. (You’re either nasty or nice.) Elsa is kind of like Anne Frank (who McKenzie, from “Leave No Trace,” resembles), but the complication in her relationship with Jojo is this: The boy knows only what he’s been taught — and what he’s been taught is that Jews are inhuman and have devil horns. “Jojo Rabbit” is set during the last months of World War II, and by the time the war starts to wind down, Jojo has begun, however tentatively, to see through the wrong of what he’s absorbed.

The audience will see through it, too. But is this really a lesson we need to learn? “Jojo Rabbit” is based on “Caging Skies,” a novel by Christine Leunens that’s entirely serious in tone, but the movie turns its kid hero’s blinkered anti-Semitism into another form of hipsterism. The fact that the heart of Jojo’s dialogue with Elsa is his desire to hear what Jews are like plays as a too-cool-for-school version of the usual bonding dialogue between a couple of kid actors. We’re meant to identify with Jojo, since he’s the hero, and so the film tweaks us, however playfully, into “identifying” with his feeling that Jews are the Other, knowing full well that he’ll come around. We know he will because Elsa is the film’s strongest presence, both sassy and full of saddened feeling. And Roman Griffin Davis is an impressive young actor, with a face that’s like hundred emojis. I put it that way because the movie, even when it grows sentimental, doesn’t draw us inside the feelings these two have for each other. It leaves those feelings on the surface.

If it were more honest, “Jojo Rabbit” would just be the Anne Frank-meets-and-befriends-and-converts-Nazi-boy “Afterschool Special” it is at heart. But that would be a movie that comes and goes, especially with Oscar voters. What gives “Jojo Rabbit” its “specialness,” what makes it a kind of “Moonrise Kingdom” with swastikas and German Shepherd jokes, is that it lacks the courage of its own conventionality. It’s a feel-good movie, all right, but one that uses the fake danger of defanged black comedy to leave us feeling good about the fact that we’re above a feel-good movie.

Reviewed at Toronto Film Festival (Special Presentations), Sept. 8, 2019. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 108 MIN.

Production: A Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures release of a Fox Searchlight Pictures, TSG Entertainment, Piki Films, Defender Films production. Producers: Carthew Neal, Taika Waititi, Chelsea Winstanley. Executive producer: Kevan Van Thompson.
Crew: Director, screenplay: Taika Waititi. Camera (color, widescreen): Mihai Malaimare. Editor: Tom Eagles. Music: Michael Giacchino.
With: Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, Taika Waititi, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Rebel Wilson, Stephen Merchant, Alfie Allen.

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Jojo Rabbit Review

03 Jan 2020

Jojo Rabbit

Inside Out ’s Riley had Bing Bong. Fight Club ’s Jack had Tyler Durden. Now, in Jojo Rabbit , we get another cinematic imaginary friend for the ages: Adolf Hitler. In Taika Waititi ’s latest, Hitler Youth boy Jojo’s confidant is none other than a goofed-up, gurning version of the Nazi leader played by Waititi himself.  If the fact that Waititi is a Polynesian Jew doesn’t tip you off to the fact that he’s aiming for anything but a respectful portrayal of the mass-murdering dictator, you only have to look at the social media post the writer-director-actor shared after the first week of shooting, complete with the hashtag “#FuckYouShitler”.

Creating a World War II-set comedy-drama that counts on wringing laughs from one of history’s greatest monsters is a big swing, even for Waititi — a filmmaker whose deadpan New Zealand wit and idiosyncratic sensibilities have given us everything from a lo-fi indie romcom ( Eagle Vs. Shark ) to a vampire mockumentary ( What We Do In The Shadows ) and a fizzing Flash Gordon-inspired Marvel space opera ( Thor: Ragnarok ). If Jojo Rabbit is yet another departure — his first war movie and his only period piece — it’s also a return to the coming-of-age territory he explored in Boy and Hunt For The Wilderpeople .

Like those films’ protagonists, the titular Jojo (Davis) is a confused kid in search of any kind of father figure. Where Boy and Ricky Baker found theirs in a deadbeat dad and Uncle Hec respectively, Jojo finds his in an imagined Führer — part inspirational guru, part childish playmate. It’s another scene-stealing performance from Waititi, knowingly self-mocking, sometimes surprisingly sweet (this, after all, is a child’s self-projected need for companionship and reassurance), but growing increasingly nasty as Jojo’s understanding of the world starts to shift.

Jojo Rabbit's tone often feels at war with itself.

That’s all due to the discovery of his mother’s ( Johansson ) big secret — Elsa ( McKenzie ), a Jewish teenage girl living in the walls of their house, hiding out until the war ends. When Jojo discovers her — in a sequence smartly framed like a horror scene as he creeps through the dark crawlspaces of the family home — the hateful ideology he’s unquestioningly absorbed his whole life is thrown into question. Played with resolve and fierce humanity by McKenzie, Elsa is no victim — she’s a real force, both disdainful and mocking of Jojo’s assumed prejudices, interrogating him to highlight the insidious ridiculousness of Nazi rhetoric around the Jewish people. Their scenes together are the film’s undoubted highlight, crackling with tension, wit and anger. Through Waititi’s lens, Jojo isn’t actually scared of her because she’s a Jew — it’s because she’s a teenage girl, and he’s  a ten-year-old boy.

If only the rest of the film were so assured. Where Boy and Hunt For The Wilderpeople cultivated such delicate tonal palettes — moments of gloriously silly humour sitting alongside grief and insecurity for carefully calibrated bittersweetness — Jojo Rabbit ’s tone often feels at war with itself. While Waititi’s own outsized performance largely hits the spot, when several other characters — particularly Rebel Wilson and Sam Rockwell ’s daffy Nazis — attempt to play on that wild, aloof, Taika-specific comic register, they struggle. The pervasive broad slapstick, distractingly inconsistent comedy accents and uncomfortable whimsy nearly unbalances the film.

But the heavier Jojo Rabbit becomes in the second half, the more its earlier faults are balanced out. As Jojo’s perspective shifts from childhood innocence to brutally forced maturity, the colour of his world literally drains. Alongside a gut-churningly tense Gestapo raid and one deeply upsetting moment of utter heartbreak, the need for laughter — for any kind of levity or humanity in the face of total callousness — becomes far more necessary.

At the heart of it all is Jojo himself. Roman Griffin Davis connects and convinces as a scared kid growing up in a world that he comes to realise is cruel and broken — a naive boy who might claim to “love killing”, but in reality can’t tie his own shoelaces. It’s his vulnerability that stays with you, his growing realisation that he cannot take goodness for granted. And with racist ideologies resurfacing once again in the present day, Jojo Rabbit is a reminder that we shouldn’t either.

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Movies about fascism tend not to be crowd-pleasers. When Nazis show up, you’re supposed to take things seriously unless it’s an episode of Hogan’s Heroes . But because fascists rely so much on their own perceived heroism and glory, one of the best things you can do is laugh at them and how small they are. Taika Waititi understands the power of comedy and love over hate, and had made that lesson easily accessible in the hilarious and sweet Jojo Rabbit . Backed by a fantastic cast and two amazing lead performances from young actors Roman Griffin Davis and Thomasin McKenzie , you’ll be laughing throughout and yet Waititi never loses sight of the importance of love. The film excels at making Nazis small because it’s got such a big heart.

Jojo (Davis) is a Hitler Youth in the waning years of World War II. He’s infatuated with Nazis and Hitler like regular kids are infatuated with superheroes or athletes and he’s such a fan that his imaginary best friend is Adolf Hitler (Waititi). After accidentally blowing himself up with a grenade during a weekend away at Nazi camp, Jojo gets stuck at home with his mother Rosie ( Scarlett Johansson ) doing menial tasks for the Reich. However, while at home one day he discovers that his home is harboring Elsa (McKenzie), a young woman who’s also Jewish. At first, Jojo views her with suspicion and only avoids reporting her because he’s afraid he and his mother will be held accountable. He then starts talking more with Elsa to “learn” about Jews (she’s more than happy to mislead him), and soon a bond begins to form, much to the consternation of Imaginary Hitler.

jojo-rabbit-image-taika-waititi-scarlett-johansson

It may seem like a weak, obvious message for a movie in 2019 to say, “Fascism is bad and its followers are overgrown children,” but authoritarianism is catching on worldwide. Demographics are changing, people are emigrating, income inequality is growing, and that leaves a space for fascists to talk about some glorious destiny that will be achieved if only we can exterminate some minority. A kid can hop on YouTube and get a lecture from a white nationalist, so why not fight back with a well-crafted, utterly delightful comedy? If you leave the space open, fascists will come to fill it, so you can’t give them any ground. And wisely, rather than taking fascists on directly and treating them as equals in the vaunted “marketplace of ideas”, Waititi just mocks the shit out of them.

Although I greatly enjoyed Waititi’s previous movie, Thor: Ragnarok , I felt at times that he was running past the emotional impact to get to the next joke. Jojo Rabbit is also jam-packed with humor (for example there’s an A+ throwaway gag referencing The Boys from Brazil ), but it never loses sight of the emotional stakes. When Rosie and Jojo walk through the public square and see people who have been hung for treason, the movie knows that it’s not time for a witty one-liner. When Jojo and Elsa are starting to connect, the movie embraces that moment as Jojo’s feelings for her start to emerge. Letting these emotional beats have their moment makes Jojo Rabbit a richer film where it’s not just about dunking on Nazis (although that’s always fun), but one about why love and friendship are so vital. Waititi’s not interested in showing why hate is appealing; he wants to show why it will always be small and silly compared to our better nature.

This theme comes through loud and clear thanks not only to his skillful direction, but his two talented leads. McKenzie broke out last year with her excellent performance in Leave No Trace , and she shines again here as Elsa. Although the film is showered in anachronistic behavior, we believe in Elsa’s strength balanced against her vulnerability. McKenzie gives the character a credibility so that we don’t think she’s some 2019 teenager who ended up in Nazi Germany, but she can also mock Jojo and his wrongheaded ideas about Jews. As for Jojo, Waititi has made yet another great discovery (he already did it once with Julian Dennison and Hunt for the Wilderpeople ). Finding young, untested actors is no easy feat, but Davis is perfect, showing the character’s innocence, affection, and pain. The entire film hinges on these two performances, and while he and McKenzie are surrounded by talented veterans like Johansson and Sam Rockwell , it’s these two relative newcomers excel at delivering the comedy and pathos required of them.

Jojo Rabbit is PG-13 and it’s absolutely the kind of film young viewers should see. Some parents may worry that it’s too violent (it’s not really) or too irreverent, but kids should learn why fascism is both harmful and ridiculous. Those two ideas may seem opposed, but Jojo Rabbit shows that they’re not. The solution (although certainly not the only solution) is to belittle harmful ideologies and uplift positive values. And if you can do it in a movie that’s as funny and sweet as Jojo Rabbit , then all the better.

Jojo Rabbit opens October 18th

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<i>Jojo Rabbit</i> Is a Tender Black Comedy About Dark Times

Jojo Rabbit Is a Tender Black Comedy About Dark Times

Davis, Waititi and Johansson in Jojo Rabbit: good battles evil at the family dinner table

E ven though filmmakers as revered as Charlie Chaplin and Ernst Lubitsch have made movies that lampoon the Nazis and their one-note obsessions, Holocaust humor is still a delicate proposition. Laughter may be one of humankind’s best survival mechanisms, but jokes about Hitler and those who did his bidding aren’t an easy sell–their crimes are too inhumane to allow for laughs.

That’s the turf Taika Waititi steps onto with his incandescently strange and openhearted black comedy Jojo Rabbit . Roman Griffin Davis plays Jojo, a tyke growing up in 1940s Germany who, with his rapturous smile and blond hair combed up into merengue-like tufts, would be adorable except for one thing: at 10, he’s already a Hitler zealot. He loves his country’s leader so much, he appears to have conjured a sort of Hitler hologram: Der Führer (played by Waititi, in a performance poised on the knife-edge of comical exaggeration and unnerving verisimilitude) appears to him privately, in moments of triumph and crisis, giving him tips on improving his “Heil!” and bolstering him after he fails, at the bidding of a couple of older Nazi youth, to kill a sweet, quivering rabbit.

Jojo isn’t so tough after all, and his mother Rosie (Scarlett Johansson, who’s the lustrous soul of the movie) knows it. His Nazi fixation cuts against everything she believes, though she doesn’t dare express that. When the two encounter a group of traitors who’ve been hanged in the town square–we don’t see their faces, but their legs dangle, a lifeless reproach, a few feet off the ground–Jojo asks what these people did to deserve such a fate. Her clipped answer: “What they could.”

It turns out that Rosie is harboring a secret from her son: a teenage girl, Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie), is living in a hidden space in the family’s house. Jojo stumbles into Elsa’s warren-like quarters by accident, and his initial horror over his discovery–as a Jew, she’s everything he has been conditioned to hate–eventually gives way to more complicated, and more tender, feelings.

None of that, admittedly, makes Jojo Rabbit sound very funny. It’s Waititi’s ability to balance unassailably goofy moments with an acknowledgment of real-life horrors that makes the movie exceptional. (He adapted the screenplay from a novel, Caging Skies , by Christine Leunens.) Waititi establishes the tone–a vibe that will eventually take a hairpin twist–in the opening credits, setting the German version of the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” against vintage footage of Führer-mad Germans cheering and saluting their idol.

The sequence is cheekily obvious. It’s also exhilarating, a suitable opening into the world of extremes Waititi is about to show us, in vivid, highly stylized colors: even Hitler’s eyes are an exaggerated, trustworthy blue. Many of the jokes, too, are delightfully obvious: a group of Gestapo officers is so large that once they’ve Heil Hitler! –ed everyone in their immediate vicinity, the words swirl into nonsense soup, like a round-robin homage to Mel Brooks.

Jojo Rabbit isn’t subtle, yet it’s still somehow delicate–more of a piece with Waititi’s earlier films, like the prickly-sweet 2016 coming-of-age comedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople , than with his booming 2017 Marvel hit, Thor: Ragnarok . Jojo Rabbit ‘s ad campaign calls the movie “an antihate satire,” which perhaps doesn’t do it any favors. Being anti-hate is almost as vague as being pro-rainbow: Who doesn’t like rainbows?

But then, nearly every other news story these days addresses some problem that has sprung from hatred of “the other,” whoever that other might be. Evil can recycle itself, wearing a different disguise each time it appears. Jojo Rabbit is an entreaty to stay vigilant, and to live up to the ultimate epitaph: They did what they could.

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'Jojo Rabbit' Review: Taika Waititi Expertly Balances Darkness And Light In One Of The Year's Best Films [TIFF 2019]

There's some sort of strange magic residing in Taika Waititi 's Jojo Rabbit , a film that really shouldn't work – but does, with remarkable results. Waititi's World War II satire is both a magic trick and a high-wire act – the filmmaker keeps pulling rabbits out of his hat while balancing comedy, kindness, and often shocking darkness. The end result is a heartfelt, sweet, blackly comedic coming-of-age journey that tries to find hope in hopeless times.

World War II is winding down, and Germany is on the verge of defeat. But Nazi fanboy Jojo Betzler ( Roman Griffin Davis ) refuses to accept such nonsense. He's a dyed-in-the-wool supporter of the Fatherland, and he worships Adolf Hitler the way other kids might idolize rock stars – Waititi underlines this fact with a credit sequence set to the German version of the Beatles' "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" cut against real footage of German citizens cheering and screaming in joy at Hitler's presence, as if it were Beatlemania. Jojo's Hitler fanaticism is so strong that the Führer has materialized as his imaginary best friend, played by Waititi.

Waititi's Hitler is nothing like the real man. Instead, he's a goofy, hilarious creep who likes to urge on Jojo's worst urges. If Hitler is the devil on Jojo's shoulder, Jojo's mother Rosie ( Scarlett Johansson ) is the angel on the other shoulder. Rosie loves Germany, but she does not love the Nazis and prays for the day when the war is over and the real Hitler and his fascist regime are defeated. Jojo is appalled at his mother's lack of loyalty, yet the two share a sweet-natured bond, with Rosie striving to find the good kid lurking beneath Jojo's radicalism.

These early set-up moments of Jojo Rabbit are the breeziest, loaded with tons of great comedy delivered by a more than able cast. Waititi and Davis play off each other magnificently, with Davis managing to turn Jojo into a fully realized character. In Davis's hands, it's hard not to find Jojo endearing – even while he's yucking it up with Hitler and spouting off tall-tales about the evil powers Jews possess. Johansson is equally wonderful, delivering what might be one of her very best performances. Her Rosie is funny and charming, but also possessing an undeniable sadness – a melancholy derived from a world gone mad, and the hopelessness that accompanies it. Her scenes with Davis are warm and lovely – the bond between mother and son is strong and genuine.

Stephen Merchant gets big laughs as a Gestapo agent, as does Rebel Wilson as the laid-back-yet-evil Fräulein Rahm. And then there's Sam Rockwell as a Nazi captain whose seen better days. Rockwell's Captain Klenzendorf is both uproariously funny – he's almost constantly drinking and stumbling over himself – and also surprisingly thoughtful. There's more to him than meets the eye.

The same goes for Rosie, who is hiding a young Jewish girl named Elsa ( Leave No Trace breakout Thomasin McKenzie ) in the attic. Jojo accidentally discovers Elsa, and is immediately terrified and hateful of this potentially supernatural Jew dwelling in his house. With Hitler's urging, Jojo decides to get close to Elsa in order to disarm her – but the plan backfires. Because the more time Jojo spends with Elsa, the more he realizes that he likes her – a betrayal of his sacred wannabe Nazi beliefs.

You wouldn't think a film that actually features Hitler as a character would be so damn sweet, but Waititi manages to take his message and mold it around a good-natured spirit. Waititi could've overloaded Jojo Rabbit with timely moments meant to reflect the current hate-filled climate we find ourselves in. But Waititi is smarter than that – he realizes he doesn't need to state the obvious, and instead lets the film speak for itself. All the Nazis here are deadly and dangerous, yes – but they're also total buffoons who have stupid beliefs. The key to making this story work is Jojo's slow discovery that all of his Nazi worship has been misplaced. It's a glimmer of hope – a light in the darkness. Jojo Rabbit wants to ascribe to the belief that there's always a chance for redemption and that the best way to stamp out evil is to allow kindness to prevail.

Whether or not such a belief is true isn't important. What's important is the faith that it is. "You keep living, that is how you beat them," Rosie tells Elsa at one point. That's the ultimate message of Jojo Rabbit – just keep going. Stay alive. Keep the darkness at bay as long as you can. It might catch up with you sooner or later, but for now, you're alive – and that means you're winning.

/Film Rating: 9 out of 10

Screen Rant

Jojo rabbit review: taika waititi is the great happy/sad dictator.

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10 Lowest-Grossing DC Movies, Ranked From Worst To Best

India's record-breaking 2024 box office smash becomes global streaming hit in netflix debut, gladiator 2 rating continues ridley scott's franchise trend from original movie, jojo rabbit thrives as both an intrepid satire and a sincere coming of age dramedy, seamlessly blending wacky humor with genuine heartbreak..

Despite what Disney and Fox Searchlight's trailer marketing might lead you to believe, Taika Waititi's Jojo Rabbit is neither the quirky New Zealander's riff on Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator , nor the feature-length version of Mel Brooks' fake "Springtime for Hitler" musical from The Producers . Rather, it's another rich piece of happy/sad cinema (e.g. movies that weave comedy and tragedy together) about a lonely and misfit protagonist, in the vein of Waititi's Kiwi films like Eagle vs Shark and Hunt for the Wilderpeople . Thankfully, under his guidance, this idiosyncratic tale of a Hitler Youth also avoids being 2019's answer to Roberto Benigni's problematic Oscar-winner, Life is Beautiful . Jojo Rabbit thrives as both an intrepid satire and a sincere coming of age dramedy, seamlessly blending wacky humor with genuine heartbreak.

Set during WWII, Jojo Rabbit revolves around one Johannes "Jojo" Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis), a 10-year old German boy obsessed with becoming a Nazi. But when an attempt to prove his mettle at a Hitler Youth training camp goes spectacularly wrong, it earns him the cruel nickname "Jojo Rabbit" and gets Jojo sent back to recover with his mother, Rosie (Scarlett Johansson), instead. Still determined to prove his devotion to the Führer, Jojo subsequently agrees to perform tasks like distributing propaganda leaflets in his hometown, even as whispers of Germany's imminent defeat continue to spread and more and more resistance fighters are publicly executed for their deeds. Then, one day, Jojo discovers his mom has been hiding a young Jewish girl named Elsa Korr (Thomasin McKenzie) in their house, yet finds himself torn over what to do... and not even his best friend, imaginary Hitler (Waititi), seems to have the answer.

Thomasin McKenzie, Roman Griffin Davis, and Taika Waititi in Jojo Rabbit

Adapted from Christine Leunen's book Caging Skies , Jojo Rabbit (which Waititi wrote and directed) touches on many of the same themes as Waititi's previous non-franchise efforts, like how isolation can impact people psychologically and affect their response to the society around them. By combining satirical humor with sincere drama the way it does, the film is able to express real empathy for Jojo and illustrate how his loneliness and insecurities lead him to embrace the hateful ideology of the Nazis. Waititi's movie simultaneously tears the image of Nazi Germany down without trivializing their championing of white supremacy or the horrors they inflicted (or helped cause) during the Second World War in the process. Jojo Rabbit might be full of witty jokes and clever visual gags, but it's able to pause and be gravely serious when the occasion calls for it, shifting from zany to somber with acrobatic precision.

From a character standpoint, Jojo Rabbit is also willing to put in the work to fully earn Jojo's gradual transformation from wannabe fascist to someone able to recognize that love and kindness are the ways out of his solitary existence, instead. In addition to his boyish charm, Davis brings an impressive degree of emotional nuance to his role as Jojo and is matched by Elsa, a great character whose mischievous nature masks her true pain. She's someone who's had to grow up far too fast without really living, and McKenzie's comfort with the role is further testament to her talent, following her moving turn in last year's Leave No Trace . The rest of the cast is similarly terrific; Johansson is sweet yet sad and resilient in equal measure as Jojo's mom, and Sam Rockwell is funny and compelling as Captain Klezendorf, the disillusioned leader of Jojo's Nazi Youth camp (whose own forbidden attraction to his second in command, Alfie Allen's Finkel, quietly informs his arc).

Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson and Roman Griffin Davis in Jojo Rabbit

Jojo Rabbit still has its faults, but they're more cosmetic than anything else. For example, the pacing during the second act is a bit uneven compared to the movie's energetic opening and its powerful climax. Waititi's filmmaking style is similarly derivative of other directors at times, especially when it comes to his Wes Andersonian use of slow-motion and vintage song needle drops (here, of course, the tunes are in German). But again, the parallels to Anderson's work ( Moonrise Kingdom during the youth camp scenes, The Grand Budapest Hotel in its happy/sad critique of Nazism) are mostly surface-level, and Waititi settles fully into his own rhythm the further along Jojo Rabbit goes. He even delivers a memorable performance as imaginary Hitler along the way, allowing his biting caricature to function as the manifestation of Jojo's evolving psyche and serve as a great visual representation for the character's internal conflict.

Despite winning the top prize at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, Jojo Rabbit is already one of the most divisive awards season releases of the fall, and for completely understandable reasons. It's tonal balancing act isn't going to work for everyone and some may find its rebuttal of white supremacy to be well-intentioned, but ineffective in action. For others, though, Jojo Rabbit will be happy/sad cinema at its finest and a meaningful (not to mention, darkly hilarious and tearjerking) WWII satire that actually finds something new to say about Nazi Germany and fascism altogether. Whichever way one falls, it's hard not to at least admire an Oscar contender for being as daring and otherwise eccentric as this one is.

Jojo Rabbit is now playing in select U.S. theaters and will expand to additional markets over the upcoming weeks. It is 108 minutes long and is rated PG-13 for mature thematic content, some disturbing images, violence, and language.

Jojo Rabbit

Directed by Taika Waititi and featuring his characteristic absurdist humor, Jojo Rabbit stars Roman Griffin Davis as Johannes "Jojo" Betzler, a young German boy during WWII who is a member of the Hitler Youth. When Jojo discovers that his mother Rosie (Scarlett Johansson) is helping a Jewish girl hide from the Nazis in the attic of their home, he must begin to confront his prejudices and what he thought he knew was right head-on. Waititi also stars in the film as a fictionalized version of Hitler who is Jojo's imaginary friend.

Movie Reviews
4 star movies

Review: Love's at the heart of Taika Waititi's brilliant Nazi-mocking satire 'Jojo Rabbit'

There’s quirky charm and so much historical baggage to be had when Taika Waititi , playing the goofiest take on Adolf Hitler ever in his brilliant satire “ Jojo Rabbit ,” greets a young German boy with bromantic exuberance and says, “Heil me, man!”

Written and directed by Waititi, “Jojo” (★★★★ out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters Friday in Los Angeles and New York, expanding through fall) plays Nazis, Hollywood’s go-to villains, as complete ninnies and pushes boundaries without goose-stepping over the line of good taste. More importantly, though, the rousing adaptation of Christine Leunens’ novel “Caging Skies” teaches a resonant lesson on love vs. learned that's set during one of the most heinous periods in history.

Centering on a conflicted 10-year-old boy (Roman Griffin Davis) and his loving mother ( Scarlett Johansson ), “Jojo” looks at Nazi Germany’s anti-Jew world view and aims to take away its power through relentless mockery. Familiar faces like Sam Rockwell, Rebel Wilson and Stephen Merchant play various degrees of buffoonery, while “Heil, Hitler!” is demoted from white supremacy salute to a “What’s up?” greeting.

Scarlett Johansson: The actress embarks on a new chapter with 'Jojo Rabbit' and 'Marriage Story'

'Jojo Rabbit: Director Taika Waititi calls satire a 'love letter to mothers'

It’s the waning days of World War II and the Allies are close to defeating Hitler’s army, yet Jojo remains blindly fanatical to the cause. He goes to Nazi youth training weekends, which involve burning books and throwing hand grenades, but he’s bullied because of his small size and lack of a killer instinct. Jojo's main confidante is Adolf, his hero come to life as imaginary friend/hype man/self-help guru.

After blowing himself up, a scarred, recovering Jojo does odd jobs for Captain Klenzendorf (Rockwell), a gay Nazi soldier losing confidence in the war effort, though always under the watchful eye of mom Rosie. With Jojo’s dad working out of the country, Rosie tries to keep the politics to a minimum in her house. But Jojo finds out her biggest secret: His mother is hiding a Jewish girl, Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie), behind a wall in the bedroom of his late older sister.

This blows the kid’s mind since he’s been taught Jews are monstrous, mind-reading devils who should be hunted down. Instead, Jojo is drawn to Elsa’s fiery strength – as he and his mom also grow closer in heartfelt fashion – but he’s also torn: He’s been taught to turn in Jews, though knows doing so would threaten both him and Rosie.

Johansson really shines in her role as a loving parent who has her adorable eccentricities yet tries to keep Jojo from growing up too fast. The youngsters are stellar as well: Audiences will fall for McKenzie as easily as Jojo does, Davis is a star in the making, and Archie Yates is a hoot as Jojo’s nigh-indestructible pal Yorki.

Waititi (“Thor: Ragnarok”) balances dark comedy and a warm heart throughout, plus embraces his inner Mel Brooks when setting footage of Hitler-heiling legions to The Beatles' German version of “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” But it’s what the New Zealand director does in front of the camera that’s most remarkable.

Playing the most evil person pretty much ever – and with such virtuosic style – would seem tricky for any thespian, though Waititi’s genius comes through in Adolf’s arc: Sure, he’s all witty and weirdly appealing at first, yet as Jojo turns more of his attention toward Elsa, Hitler subtly transforms into the petty, angry monster from the history books, with Waititi exhibiting the dramatic real-life mannerisms of the infamous dictator.

“Jojo Rabbit” succeeds even with a high degree of difficulty, given the sensitivities of the subject matter, the emotional undercurrent of a mother’s devotion to her son and the breaking down of artificial walls to let love in. As much as it makes you laugh, Waititi’s must-watch effort is a warm hug of a movie that just so happens to have a lot of important things to say.

Jojo Rabbit (2019)

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‘Jojo Rabbit’ movie review: Taika Waititi's Oscar contender is one of the best films of the year

Equal parts hilarious and heart-warming, the filmmaker proves that comedy is a powerful tool that can elucidate and satirise a complex issue like intolerance.

Updated - February 01, 2020 01:39 pm IST

Published - January 30, 2020 10:33 pm IST

Nazi throwback: Taika Waititi proves that comedy is a powerful tool. Photo: Special Arrangement

Apparently, Rabbis use the results of a circumcision as earplugs; Jews are scaly because a man of the race mated with a fish. They have horns and can read minds and are the worst of the worst. That is the ridiculous anti-Semitic garbage that Nazis propagate in Jojo Rabbit . It’s funny no doubt, but in line with the extent of lies those in power can impress upon fragile minds. With his new film, New Zealand darling director Taika Waititi ( Thor Ragnarok , What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople ) definitively proves that comedy is a powerful tool that can elucidate and satirise a complex issue like intolerance. Based on Christine Leunens's book Caging Skies , Jojo Rabbit is hilarious, poking merciless fun at Adolf Hitler and fascism.

Director: Taika Waititi
Cast: Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Taika Waititi, Rebel Wilson, Stephen Merchant, Alfie Allen, Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson
Storyline: Ten-year-old Jojo’s faith in Nazism is shaken when he meets Jewish Elsa, who’s being harboured by his mother.

It’s the fag end of World War II and ten-year-old Johannes ‘Jojo’ Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis) is overzealous about his patriotism to the Aryan race. A part of the Nazi youth group, he spends his days with other young fascists, his loving mother Rosie (Scarlett Johansson) and an imaginary friend version of Adolf Hitler (Waititi). After being bullied because of his inability to murder a rabbit, the young protagonist is nicknamed Jojo Rabbit. Embarrassed, he accidentally sets off a hand grenade on himself. Injured and recuperating from his wounds, including a limp — “it’s only hurts 80 per cent, so I’m almost better” — Jojo finds a Jewish girl, Elsa hidden within the walls at home. Striving for lofty literary results — a book titled, Yoo-hoo, Jew — he interrogates her to document the ways of the Jew which leads to some comically atrocious revelations.

With a generous, never-gratuitous, smattering of whimsy and humour throughout, Waititi’s narrative unravels as seamlessly as the loose hold that Nazism has on Jojo. As the imaginary Hitler, Waititi is in his own skin: playing the silly, pulling faces and talking nonsense. As his redemption arc unfolds, Jojo’s sincerity and innocence remain unwavering, wonderfully captured by the director. As Rosie, Johansson gives yet another brilliant performance of the year after Marriage Story. Her maternal love and kindness is so palpable that it’s almost a heart-warming choke hold. But, the clear winner of Jojo Rabbit is Waititi’s ability to translate the absurdity of the power-hungry. Off note, is a lengthy hail-Hitlering scene involving the Gestapo with a skyscraper-tall Stephen Merchant and his beatifically malevolent smiles.

Waititi’s WWII is sanitised with mere glimpses of the atrocities committed upon Germany’s people. But aggressive depictions of brutality and violence alone cannot convey the horror and pain of tragedy. In using comedy, the director snares a lure that’s just about enticing enough for a sneak-peek, but before you know it, you’re entirely invested. So much so that it would take someone really heartless to remain unmoved. Hopefully, there aren’t too many of those, since we are at the precipice of history repeating itself.

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Jojo Rabbit Review: Taika Waititi Further Affirms He's One Of The Best Filmmakers Working Today

At this stage in Taika Waititi ’s career, the making of Jojo Rabbit practically feels like him showing off. The evolution that he’s undergone as a feature filmmaker over the last 12 years is absolutely extraordinary, as his movies never fail to find a stunning balance of humor and heart. Just prior to this movie he proved so on arguably the biggest stage in the world, helming the hilarious and captivating Marvel Cinematic Universe adventure Thor: Ragnarok , but now he has followed up that blockbuster work with what is his best film to date yet.

Being a satire that takes on some serious issues in a serious time, the movie has a high wire to walk as far as balancing tones, but Taika Waititi makes it look absolutely effortless as he dances back and forth on that high wire dressed up as Adolf Hitler. It’s a film built with a brilliant script, by a filmmaker with a fantastic and unique vision, working with a cast of amazing stars, all of whom are putting everything up on the big screen in one the best releases of 2019.

Transporting audiences to truly one of the worst periods in human history for a whole lotta laughs, Jojo Rabbit takes audiences back to Germany during World War II, and tells its story through the eyes of Johannes "Jojo" Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis). Jojo is an imaginative, determined, and naïve 10-year-old, and while he is a gentle soul who can’t even remember how to tie his shoes properly, he is also a fully-committed nationalist proudly signed up to be a part of the Hitler Youth.

Not truly understanding the stakes of anything he believes, he is infatuated with Nazism, and even has Adolf Hitler (Taika Waititi) as an imaginary friend – albeit not so much a realistic replica, so much as one formulated from the mind of a 10-year-old child. Unfortunately for him, he fails to impress any of officers as his training camp – including the disillusioned Captain Klenzendorf ( Sam Rockwell ), the toadyish Finkel (Alfie Allen), or the brash Fräulein Rahm ( Rebel Wilson ) – and things get even worse when a brash overcorrection of sorts during a grenade exercise goes horribly wrong.

With Jojo’s dreams of serving as part of Adolf Hitler’s personal guard dashed, and kids his age having even more reasons to pick on him, it seems like he might be at rock bottom… but then he discovers a massive secret. His vivacious, supportive, loving mother, Rosie ( Scarlett Johansson ), has been hiding a Jewish girl named Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) inside the far wall of his deceased sister’s old room.

Believing all of the horrible propaganda spread by Nazis, Jojo is at first terrified by this surprise revelation, and it doesn’t help that Elsa threatens the safety of his mother should she be discovered. As his fear wanes, though, he starts to see an opportunity in interviewing the girl in hopes of writing the definitive book on Jews. As they continue to talk, his perspective starts to broaden, while the world around them begins to violently change.

Thanks to geniuses like Charlie Chaplin and Mel Brooks , there is tremendous precedent for this kind of satire, and one of the most incredible things about Jojo Rabbit is that rather than wilting in the shadow of the greats, Taika Waititi has crafted a film worthy of the legacy. He knows all the right notes to hit as he applies his spectacular brand of absurd – never straying too far from reality – and it not only creates regular laugh-out-loud scenes, but also gives him the power to stop your heart with a perfectly applied dramatic beat.

Jojo Rabbit obviously has a particular advantage in its favor given that, as you may have noted, it is outfitted with an outrageously talented ensemble of actors – but what’s even more next-level about the work is that the movie both plays to each of their comedic strengths, while also offering impressive character depth. For example, in retrospect it is awe-inspiring to reflect on the trajectory that’s experienced by Sam Rockwell’s Captain Klenzendorf through the story. We are introduced to him as a half-blind, recently-demoted bumbler who is excessively cynical about the fact that he has to work with children, and it’s so easy to imagine a different film only allowing him to play that note over and over again.

Instead, there’s a tremendous and subtle transformation that totally changes the way we look at him by the end of the story.

As the lovely Rosie, Scarlett Johansson delivers one of the greatest performances of her career, showcasing a bright, optimistic energy that’s not typical of her characters. More than just having the spirit of a mother who wants to do what’s best for her child, there is a wonderful theatricality about her that evokes vaudevillian sensibilities – whether she’s trying to quietly sneak through a hallway, or quickly applying a charcoal-dust beard from the fireplace so that Jojo can have a chat with his absent father (a scene that also showcases an excessively sweet chemistry between Johansson and Roman Griffin Davis). It’s a wonderfully-written role beautifully enhanced by an excellent turn.

Comparing Jojo Rabbit to Taika Waititi’s directorial debut, Eagle vs. Shark , it’s also amazing to see how far he has come stylistically and developing his personal style. It’s not only recognizing how to visually get the most laughs out of a set-up (which he clearly knows), but also playing with character perspective (adding a bit of flair when imaginary Adolf shows up), and establishing stunning foreshadowing imagery that you pick up on over the course of the movie.

To say that Taika Waititi is slowly becoming one of the best filmmakers working today would be a lie, because there is nothing slow about it. The world has recognized his talent, and now he’s using that spotlight to show audiences what he can really do. Jojo Rabbit is a showcase of a director at the height of his powers, and it’s a remarkable thing to see.

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.

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COMMENTS

Jojo Rabbit
Jojo Rabbit ist eine US-amerikanische Kriegstragikomödie von Taika Waititi.In der Leinwandadaption von Christine Leunens' Roman Caging Skies entdeckt ein 10-jähriger, begeisterter Hitlerjunge, dass seine Mutter eine Jüdin im Haus versteckt, und berät sich mit seinem imaginären Freund Adolf Hitler.Der Film gewann den Publikumspreis des Filmfestivals von Toronto 2019.
Jojo Rabbit
Jojo Rabbit è un film del 2019 diretto da Taika Waititi.. Il soggetto, tratto dal romanzo del 2004 Il cielo in gabbia (Caging Skies) di Christine Leunens, già pubblicato col titolo Come semi d'autunno, è stato adattato piuttosto liberamente dallo stesso regista, che per questo ha ottenuto l'Oscar e il BAFTA alla migliore sceneggiatura non originale nel 2020.
Jojo Rabbit movie review & film summary (2019)
When one steps back from "Jojo Rabbit" and looks at the individual pieces, there's a lot to admire. Once again, the director of "Boy" and "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" proves to have a gift with child actors, drawing a great performance from Davis and a nearly-movie-stealing Archie Yates as his pudgy buddy at Nazi camp.And a score by Michael Giacchino and cinematography by Mihai Malaimare Jr.
Jojo Rabbit
Jojo Rabbit. PG-13 Released Nov 8, 2019 1h 48m Comedy Drama. TRAILER for Jojo Rabbit: Trailer 1. List. 80% Tomatometer 431 Reviews. 94% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Verified Ratings. NEW Updates to the ...
'Jojo Rabbit' Review: The Third Reich Wasn't All Fun and Games
The tumult of his feelings, beautifully realized by the 11-year-old Davis, gives the film sweetness and charm as well as a sense of ethical urgency. Scarlett Johansson plays Davis's mother in ...
Jojo Rabbit
Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 14, 2024. Taika Waititi's Nazi comedy Jojo Rabbit is delightfully absurd and surprisingly poetic, and unlike anything you've ever seen before. Full Review ...
'Jojo Rabbit' Movie Review: A Hit-or-Miss Hitler Comedy With a Heart
At a Nazi boot camp for kids, Jojo is trained by the one-eyed Captain Klenzendorf (Sam Rockwell) and his minions, broadly played by Rebel Wilson and Alfie Allen.Though he finds a pudgy best friend ...
Jojo Rabbit Movie Review
Kids say ( 121 ): Most viewers will agree that Nazis aren't funny, but Waititi's comic voice is so ridiculously lovable that, against all odds, this singular movie somehow is -- at least fitfully. At other moments, Jojo Rabbit whipsaws so quickly between light satire and the heaviest tragedy that the uneven tone is bewildering.
'Jojo Rabbit': Film Review
PG-13 rating; 108 minutes. THR review: Taika Waititi's 'Jojo Rabbit,' a comedy about a German boy during World War II whose best friend is an imaginary Hitler, also stars Scarlett Johansson, Sam ...
Jojo Rabbit (2019)
Jojo Rabbit: Directed by Taika Waititi. With Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Scarlett Johansson, Taika Waititi. A young German boy in the Hitler Youth, whose hero and imaginary friend is the country's dictator, is shocked to discover that his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home.
Review: 'Jojo Rabbit' Is Silly
Review: 'Jojo Rabbit' Is Silly - Until It Suddenly Isn't Taika Waititi writes, directs — and stars, as a 10-year-old boy's imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler — in this very silly film about a very ...
Film Review: 'Jojo Rabbit'
Taika Waititi's feel-good hipster Nazi comedy is a movie that creates the illusion of danger while playing it safe. ... Film Review: 'Jojo Rabbit' Reviewed at Toronto Film Festival (Special ...
Jojo Rabbit Review
Jojo Rabbit Review. Ten-year-old German boy Johannes 'Jojo' Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis) has grown up in Nazi Germany idolising Adolf Hitler. But when he discovers his mother (Scarlett ...
Jojo Rabbit Review: The Funniest and Sweetest Movie with Nazis
Read Matt Goldberg's Jojo Rabbit review, Taika Waititi's movie stars Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Sam Rockwell, and Scarlett Johansson.
Jojo Rabbit' is a Tender Black Comedy About Dark Times
Roman Griffin Davis plays Jojo, a tyke growing up in 1940s Germany who, with his rapturous smile and blond hair combed up into merengue-like tufts, would be adorable except for one thing: at 10 ...
'Jojo Rabbit' Review: Taika Waititi Expertly Balances Darkness And
There's some sort of strange magic residing in Taika Waititi's Jojo Rabbit, a film that really shouldn't work - but does, with remarkable results. Waititi's World War II satire is both a magic ...
Jojo Rabbit Movie Review
Jojo Rabbit thrives as both an intrepid satire and a sincere coming of age dramedy, seamlessly blending wacky humor with genuine heartbreak. Set during WWII, Jojo Rabbit revolves around one Johannes "Jojo" Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis), a 10-year old German boy obsessed with becoming a Nazi.
Jojo Rabbit
Jojo Rabbit - Metacritic. 2019. PG-13. 20th Century Fox Argentina. 1 h 48 m. Summary A lonely German boy's (Roman Griffin Davis as JoJo) world view is turned upside down when he discovers his single mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a young Jewish girl (Thomasin McKenzie) in their attic. Aided only by his idiotic imaginary friend, Adolf ...
Film review: Four stars for Jojo Rabbit
Taika Waititi's Jojo Rabbit is a sweet-natured, cheerful, brightly-coloured family comedy, that is also a howl of rage at the cruelty of war, Nazism, and the way adults impose grotesque dogmas ...
'Jojo Rabbit' review: Taika Waititi goofs on Hitler in fab WWII satire
2:17. There's quirky charm and so much historical baggage to be had when Taika Waititi, playing the goofiest take on Adolf Hitler ever in his brilliant satire " Jojo Rabbit ," greets a young ...
'Jojo Rabbit' review: A very funny and deadly serious satire
★★★½ "Jojo Rabbit," with Roman Griffin Davis, Taika Waititi, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Rebel Wilson, Thomasin McKenzie, Archie Yates. Written and directed by Waititi, based on a ...
Jojo Rabbit critic reviews
Sep 8, 2019. Jojo Rabbit doesn't lack for ambition or sincerity of purpose — which only makes it more disappointing that the film proves to be so meagre. ... Rather than being bracing or dangerous, this comedy ends up feeling a little too safe, a little too scattered, and a little too inconsequential. Read More.
Jojo Rabbit (2019)
Jojo Rabbit demonstrates that there is hope, both for humanity and Hollywood. By the latter I mean it's hard to imagine how a film this original got made in an era of reboots, remakes, sequels and prequels (mostly bad) The characters are charming and quirky, the dialogue clever and the plot wisely confines itself to telling an intensely personal story rather than one of the war itself.
'Jojo Rabbit' movie review: Taika Waititi's Oscar contender is one of
'Jojo Rabbit' movie review: Taika Waititi's Oscar contender is one of the best films of the year Equal parts hilarious and heart-warming, the filmmaker proves that comedy is a powerful tool ...
Jojo Rabbit Review: Taika Waititi Further Affirms He's One Of The Best
Transporting audiences to truly one of the worst periods in human history for a whole lotta laughs, Jojo Rabbit takes audiences back to Germany during World War II, and tells its story through the ...

Jojo Rabbit

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