Great kids - not so sure about the adults!

Rating: 7/10 (9 February 2020)

I was really looking forward to this movie but was a tad disappointed when I finally got to see it. I think comedy drama is a difficult genre anyway and this movie uneasily traversed the two. I think it should have been a straight out satirical comedy. The pathos when it came, just didn't sit well with the surreal lunacy of the plot. The child actors are wonderful and all of them give honest and believable performances which is an accolade given the script and what they were expected to do. The adult actors not so much. Scarlett Johansson was particularly annoying as Jojo's resistance agent mother. She didn't feel real as a character. Neither did most of the adults in this movie. I know it's a satire but some of the performances were just too cartoon like to evoke any real emotion. I did find Rebel Wilson's performance amusing but that was about it. All in all, a strange concoction which was neither witty or satirical enough to really lampoon the Third Reich and neither dramatic or heartfelt enough to portray a Germany coming to the end of its quest for World domination. I so much wanted to like this but I found it underwhelming and if I want to watch Nazis being made fun of, I prefer "Allo Allo" (British sitcom set in occupied France)!