a unique idea with some fun moments, but they aren't sustained throughout

Rating: Null/10 (30 March 2020)

In the latter days of the Third Reich with growing disillusionment setting in due to the pending outcome of WWII, a jingoistic ten-year-old boy reaches a milestone in his life as he prepares to join his first Hitler Youth training camp. Though certain of his loyalty, he makes a shocking discovery that calls his entire belief system into question. Film's content is risky, but director Waititi (also appearing onscreen as a tongue-in-cheek caricature of The Führer himself) treads carefully to inject subversive humor that preaches against the same hateful vitriol that the regime inspired. Initially witty, outlandish, and irreverent, but loses a lot of steam after a strong start, and despite some dramatic turns in the third act it lacks a really strong, convincing conclusion to wrap things up. Well-acted, with incredible work from Davis in the central role, quality support from Johansson as his conflicted but fiercely protective mother, and an unselfconscious Rockwell as a bumbling camp commandant, but the parts are greater than the whole in this bold attempt to satirize Nazi Germany. **½