Not My Favorite Taika Waititi Movie

Rating: 5/10 (16 November 2019)

I have been a fan of Waititi's films since watching Boy several years ago. His follow-up films have been great! But this one seems to have fallen short for me.
I thought visually, the film looks great. I thought he did a great job of capturing the look of the time.
But the characters, which have been his strongest point in past films, are very flat in this one. I never got the sense I knew any of them. Even the Hitler character, I understand he is the boy's conscience, but it just never really resonated with me. Why does Hitler appear when he does, why was he gone for so long?
There were also problems with Jojo's mother played by Scarlett Johansson, and Sam Rockwell's character. Why did the act the way they did, and what made them be against the regime? This inability to get in touch with the two characters made their death moments feel out of place, and disconnected.
And lastly, the biggest problem: Jojo. Why was he such a hard core, pro-Hitler, pro-Nazi person, but his family seemed to be more moderate Germans. Was it because he didn't have too many friends? Why did he not get along with other kids?
So many questions just came up, but it felt like the viewer was just supposed to take everything at face value, so any turns in character just felt contrived and hollow.
And for a coming of age film, I didn't really get that sense with Jojo. I mean, he does appear to change his views, but it doesn't feel like a natural progression, and that goes back to him just not being a well-developed character.
I'm hoping on repeat viewing I might enjoy this film a bit more, but overall, I think Taika Waititi's best work up to this point is behind him. I sure hope his next movie is more enjoyable!