Not as enjoyable as it could have been, but still more than worth a watch

Rating: 8/10 (17 March 2020)

Tenderly sweet, at times charming, but ultimately falling to find its own footing; Jojo Rabbit may not be the potential filled dream that it could have been, but is certainly an enertating work that is certainly unique and surprisingly colorful. To start, the acting in the film is fairly impressive for the majority of the performances throughout. Scarlett Johansson truly gives a fantastic job playing the part of Jojo's mother Rosie Betzler. Sam Rockwell also gives quite a memorable performance as Captain Klenzendorf, and both make for some extremely well executed, humourous, and heartfelt moments throughout. The cinematography is stunning, and most likely my favorite part about the film. Taika decided to not shy away from the beauty of Germany at the time, which was so often ignored in other WWII films, and is heavily spotlighted throughout. It's a true joy to see, but unfortunately, Jojo Rabbit is not always a joy to watch. Often enough, the humor throughout the film seems to fall flat. With jokes not only seeming lazily written, but also quite awkward and poorly executed. Some of the humorous moments throughout also just seemed to dragged out, or simply tiresome from oh so many viewings before. The film can be entertaining to a point, but does have a bit of a pacing issue, and a bit trouble finding its footing with its story as well. It's a bit sad how little things like this, if fixed, could make the movie clearly so much better, but sadly it is not to be. In the end though, Jojo Rabbit is more than enough of an enjoyable time, that will leave a smile on your face as the credits role, even with its fair share of flaws before.
My Rating: 8.25/10