Another great film from Waititi.

Rating: 8/10 (16 January 2020)

Set against the backdrop of WWII, ten-year-old Johannes Betzler (Davis) navigates his way through Nazi Germany accompanied by his imaginary friend Hitler (Waititi), albeit a more goofy, childish incarnation of the notorious tyrant. Aspiring to become one of Hitler's most trusted Nazi's, Johannes commences his first day at a Hitler Youth training camp with giddy optimism. Johannes is certain of his path towards becoming a full-fledged Nazi, until he learns his mother, Rosie (Johansson), is hiding a Jewish girl upstairs. Rosie's reservations and disapproval towards the war are a well-kept secret, confined within the walls of the Betzler household. Johannes is immediately suspicious of Elsa Korr (McKenzie), but rather than immediately turn her into the Gestapo, he chooses to learn about the people he's been indoctrinated into believing are the enemy. Given the subject matter it selects to satirise, Jojo Rabbit may have been a recipe for disaster in the hands of a lesser filmmaker. Fortunately, Waititi works wonders with the source material (Caging Skies by Christine Leunens) and produces a film that is both hilarious and tragic.
Waititi employs a brilliant line up for Jojo Rabbit. Davis and McKenzie are terrific as an aspiring Nazi/on the run Jew duo who's worlds are forced to collide in the midst of war, and Waititi's hilarious interpretation of the tyrannical leader is a performance very few could accomplish. Johansson's portrayal as a desperate single-mother operating in a society she's secretly opposed to whilst striving to do the right thing results in one of the more nuanced performances of her career, and Stephen Merchant's cameo as a Gestapo agent fuses both light humour with towering intimidation during one of the films tenser scenes. A fundamental strength of Waititi's screenplay is how it accomplishes the balance between comedy and tragedy. Jojo Rabbit has moments of gleeful silliness accompanied with clever, off-beat dialogue, but Waititi masterfully incorpates several gut punch moments that certainly hit hard during the films more sombre moments. For a Nazi-satire flick, it's surprisingly heartfelt. Perhaps most importantly, it never undermines the severe casualties brought about during Hitler's vile dictatorship. Waititi knows when to poke fun and when to tackle the material seriously. Jojo Rabbit is another great film from the New Zealand filmmaker and is absolutely worth watching; it's quirky, sincere and at times, strikingly real.