An imperfect yet oddly compelling and very memorable movie

Rating: 7/10 (22 January 2020)

It's been a little while since I saw Jojo Rabbit, and I neglected to review it straight away because it was somewhat difficult to work out exactly how I felt about it. It's a bold, entertaining, sometimes funny yet sometimes heartbreaking premise, it's confidently shot and well acted, it uses music to great effect, and also carries a strong, agreeable message. But something felt off, and it's prevented me from loving it as much as all those positive qualities would suggest. Perhaps the end result is less than the sum of its parts, but a rewatch at some point in the future could help things click a little better.
For now though, this is still a very good film that doesn't quite cross over into 'great' for me personally, but is still worth recommending. Looking at WW2 through the eyes of a child isn't something that's never been done before, but to have the child not only be on the side of the Germans but initially idolize the Nazi Party certainly feels like a new take. It mostly works, and I didn't find the film insensitive- or offensive for the sake of just being offensive- in any manner. Lampooning WW2 and the Nazi Party was done nearly 80 years ago, in Chaplin's The Great Dictator (while the war was still going no less!), let's not forget.
I was reminded of Chaplin playing a clear stand-in for Hitler in that film when watching Jojo Rabbit director Taika Waititi play (an imaginary friend version of) Hitler in this film. The best thing about this is the fact that Waititi is part Jewish and part Maori, so the real Hitler would have absolutely despised being portrayed by someone of Waititi's background. It's an entertaining performance and leads to many of the movie's funniest scenes, but one flaw with it is that I think the same story and its messages could still come across just fine without the imaginary Hitler subplot.
That might make the film overall less of a dramedy/tragicomedy and more of flat out war drama, and as for whether or not this would have made it better overall, I'm not sure. The comedy works, and when the film goes for drama, it works too. Neither really clashes. But still, as a whole it never clicked for me quite the way I wanted to. It could be on me more than it is on the film, especially because even now, almost a month after seeing it, I still can't put my finger on exactly what stopped me from absolutely loving this movie.
The only other mild problem I can cite is that the film drags slightly in its second act, with some of the scenes between Jojo and the girl he discovers hiding in his house's attic being not as engaging as other parts of the film. Oddly enough, this is the most prominent aspect of the film, but I found other characters- like Scarlett Johansson's and Sam Rockwell's- more interesting. It still works and eventually pays off well, but I didn't love every scene while the movie was happening.
It's been obvious since his Flight of the Conchords days that Waititi could write great scripts, but with Jojo Rabbit it's apparent that he's continuing to get even better as a director, with this being his most visually pleasing and well-directed movie yet. The screenplay is mostly great too, though the end product does not quite coalesce into something I totally loved. However I do want to see it again, and all the stuff I liked has really stuck with me.
Maybe for films like this, that are particularly tonally ambitious and out there in terms of some of their creative decisions, are simply worth watching and forming your own opinion on.