Worth fighting through the first hour

Rating: 6/10 (4 February 2020)

Jojo Rabbit is summed nicely in a single word, which is "divisive." The first hour is an uncomfortable cringe-fest, asking the audience to self-assess the reasons why cinema even exists as an art form. Some natural questions arise, such as whether Jojo Rabbit really was based on a book (it was), whether it is appropriate to portray Adolf Hitler as a bumbling stooge with separation issues (not sure, but the first hour had me leaning toward a "hell, no"), and whether we'll be able to see Alfie Allen in anything after Game of Thrones and not think of sausages (probably not).
The first hour is a bit of torture, thankfully saved by the second hour, which turns the movie into something at least enjoyable. Taika Waititi gets to gobble up some scenery with some truly funny lines, but the best performances come from an amazingly daft Rebel Wilson as some kind of Nazi staffer Fraulein Rahm who likes guns and war far too much, and even better is an incredibly goofy Archie Yates as Yorki, who appears at all the right moments to deliver several good laughs.
This, then, is the divisive point: would it not have been a better movie if it had been Yorki Rabbit, or at least investigate the concept of Yorki and Rahm.