Jojo Rabbit

Jojo Rabbit is one of those movies that I knew I was going to like and I knew that I likely wasn't going to see in theaters and I knew I was going to write this review and say I regret not seeing in the theaters. I love Taika Waititi, the premise seems hilarious and I went in with high expectations. Jojo Rabbit did not disappoint. 

Jojo Rabbit follows the story of a young boy by the name of Johannes "Jojo" (played by Roman Griffin Davis). He is growing up in the tail end of World War 2 in Nazi Germany, where Germany is losing the war, but Jojo remains steadfastly loyal to the Third Reich despite being a small kid without a violent bone in his body. He also happens to have Adolf Hitler (played by Taika Waititi) as his imaginary friend. I understand how this might give some people pause, but when you watch the movie, you understand what Hitler comes to represent and the comedic efforts of Waititi make him a very effective part of this movie.

After an accident, Jojo is left scarred and limping at home with his mother Rosie (played by Scarlett Johansson), and he gets a job putting up propaganda and gathering scrap for the war effort. But he soon figures out that his mother has been hiding a Jewish girl named Elsa (played by Thomasin McKenzie) in the walls of their house. Jojo is torn by his loyalty to the Nazi ideology and the desire to protect his mother from any kind of harm, so he begrudgingly keeps the secret of Elsa's hiding and decides to use it as an opportunity to learn more about Jews, at first in a way to defeat them, but later out of a friendship that blooms between the two of them. 

So there's a lot there. It should be noted that the movie is very satirical in nature and comes in with the understanding that Nazism is bad. Nonetheless, the movie takes some risks. Sam Rockwell, Afie Allen, and Rebel Wilson all play Nazis and the good thing is, they're played off as fools for the most part, but you also have a whole environment where we're supposed to be relating with characters who consider themselves Nazis. 

The movie only lightly grazes the real horrors of the Holocaust, persecution of Jews and others affected by Nazi Germany, and instead focuses on the smaller, but more personal interactions of a young boy experiencing it all.

While a lot of the movie is satire, the reason this movie resonates with me is the sincerity it has with the interactions between Jojo and his mother, and his interactions with Elsa. 

That familial relationship hits to the core and it's what makes the movie meaningful. Johansson is just too damn charming in this film and Griffin and McKenzie crush it, especially since they carry much of the film. 

The movie is also really, really funny, but also hits a lot of emotional chords. If you're prone to crying in emotional films, you better bring the tissue box because this one is gonna get you. 

I think some of the weaker parts were when they were focusing on Rockwell, Allen, and Wilson. I am starting to understand the underground love for Sam Rockwell and he really crushes it in this film, but again, those three are mainly played as the fools and the movie probably could have done a little bit less with them. 

There's just a lot that is really charming about this movie. And even the weaker parts still got a laugh out of me now and again. 

The messaging behind the film is pretty relevant for today when it highlights the different opinions and belief we all have and how those opinions, or worse prejudices, can be crystalized into ideology when we lose track of the humanity of one another. 

The difficult thing about my last two reviews is that I watched two really good movies, this and I, Tonya. It's frankly hard to really criticize these two movies that I had a lot of fun watching. 

I highly recommend watching Jojo Rabbit. 

But what did you think? Comment and Discuss below! I obviously need some help finding what's wrong with this film. You can also send your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog. 

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