JOJO RABBIT: Every emotion ever

Rating: 🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇
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I wish I could have been a fly on the wall during Taika Waititi's pitch to make a comedy centralizing on an adolescent Nazi fanatic whose imaginary best friend is Hilter. Oh, and he finds a jewish girl hiding in the walls of his house.

Well, that's the story of Jojo Rabbit in a nutshell. The craziest part? It's a nearly perfect movie. If a film can make me run the gamut of human emotions in 1 hour and 48 minutes, it's firing on all cylinders.

Let's just get this out of the way. Sometimes I hear people say that Taika Waititi ruined the Thor franchise. Here are some Rotten Tomatoes scores that they might find interesting: Thor 78% and Thor: The Dark World 67%. Well, how did Taika Waititi's Thor installment go? Only a 93% Rotten Tomatoes score.

That's just, you know, a movie that was better in virtually every way to every other installment in the entire series and also arguably paved the way for some of the goofier bits in Infinity War and Endgame especially regarding the Thor character himself. That's all. Taika Waititi is a master of his craft and one of the best filmmakers we have.

Side note: What We Do In The Shadows sits at a healthy 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.

But a successful resume doesn't mean new projects will be great, and since we're already tossing numbers around, Jojo is sitting at what looks like a middling 79% even if that is the best RT score in the top of the Box Office at the moment. However, the audience score is currently a ridiculously awesome and well-warranted 97%.

Yes, we all know to take a Rotten Tomatoes score with a grain of salt. For example, Joker is sitting at a 69% (audience score of 89%) and is currently the highest grossing R-Rated film of all time. But, it's safe to say that this entire review could just be "Jojo has an audience score of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes so you should totally watch it" and would get the job done. While anemic in content, that ringing endorsement alone would be a strong enough case for people to see it.

But. Math. Is. Hard. I. Hate. Numbers.

So let's head over to the right hemisphere of the brain for a minute and talk about real movie stuff.

From start to finish, I loved Jojo Rabbit. It's charming and fun, which are two words that I haven't associated with a Nazi-related narrative since "Hogan's Heroes." Taika Waititi makes a great Hitler which, prior to pre-production of Jojo Rabbit, would have sounded like a terrible insult. But he plays it just right. You can't take it too seriously because, I mean, it's Taika himself. Is he a spot-on rendition of Adolph Hitler? Not at all. He's a spot-on rendition of Hitler through the eyes of a patriotic German child and this distinction is set up immediately for the viewer.

Speaking of performances, I've never been a big fan of Scar Jo's acting chops. She was fine in Lost In Translation and was, at least in my opinion, very bland as Black Widow. I hear she was really good in Under The Skin, but I've never seen it. With that having been said, I really like what she did in Jojo. The connection you make with her character is immediate and organic. I incorrectly assumed that she would be a weak link in this movie. Instead, she was a true strength. Without her powerful performance, this movie would have fallen limp.

This star studded cast didn't disappoint, even in supporting roles. Rebel Wilson, Alfie Allen, and Stephen Merchant had small parts, Wilson getting the most lines and screen time, but all of them completely nailed it when they got their chance to shine. This is easily my favorite Rebel Wilson role. We get to focus less on self-deprecating writing and more on her comedic timing and solid acting chops. She was great, and I hope this small but strong performance lends to less roles centralizing on "three slices of cake" jokes. Child actor Archie Yates who plays Jojo's second best friend steals every scene he's in and is purely enjoyable.

I might be saving the best for last by saying Sam Rockwell is amazing and wonderful and might have even provided the best performance of this entire great cast. The roll of Rockwell's "Captain K" is another example where if the acting hadn't been amazing, the movie would have fallen completely flat. Rockwell was truly great and lends a real depth and humanity to a character we wouldn't conventionally enjoy watching on screen.

Roman Griffin Davis as the adorable and misguided Jojo Betzler and Thomasin McKenzie as the Jewish refugee living in Jojo's walls, Elsa Korr, are as good as you could ask for in young actors. McKenzie, 19, has a long list of IMDb credits including the upcoming Top Gun sequel. She didn't disappoint at all. Her plight felt real and her emotions came across as sincere.

The surprising gem was 12-year-old Davis in his first theatrical role. Davis is fantastically believable and genuine and the type of kid you just want to hug and chastise at the same time. Despite having to fight through constant nervousness and terror, Roman Davis gave a complete performances and demonstrated range you wouldn't expect from someone so young and inexperienced. You have to give him a ton of credit since he's the one that's actually in front of the camera, but huge credit has to also be given to Waititi for directing a child actor in his first theatrical role and finding a way to make it work.

Behind the camera, Taika Waititi was great as usual. The comedic timing was sharp, the acting was superb, and the look was great and oddly fashionable for 1940s Nazi germany. While we definitely know this is a period piece from the set design, I couldn't help but notice a modern flair throughout the movie despite being set nearly 80 years ago. The look really helped keep things light even in the darker moments and is just another example of Waititi having a great directorial eye.

As if being an amazing director wasn't enough, Taika Waititi is the only credited screenwriter on Jojo. According to Sam Rockwell, "Taika has a really good comedy compass." This has been on display for many years and I think it shows no more so than in this project. When you're trying to tell a comedic story revolving around the worst atrocity in human history, you have to have the right instincts to get the job done.

The only JoJo complaint that I've heard in person so far is "the comedy sometimes dilutes the seriousness of some of the moments." I can see that argument as being somewhat valid, but I never felt that way while watching everything unfold. Instead, I thought Waitit's narrative carefully addresses a nightmare and handles the awfulness of the holocaust with care but also isn't afraid to poke fun at it while telling a charming and brutally honest story. I think the writing was sharp, hilarious, and also mindful of the pitch black gravity surrounding the story being told.

This is by no means a dramatic retelling of the holocaust and was never meant to be though there are dramatic elements. Jojo is a story about a misguided little boy trying to find his way in the world, a loving mother who wants her son to be kind and stay innocent, and a brutally lonely and fearful young lady trying to survive while surrounded by danger and evil. Make no mistake, you'll get punched in the gut a few times. But the best films punch us and then hug us immediately afterwards while somehow making us laugh in the process. In that regard, I can think of no movie that accomplishes this better than Jojo Rabbit. For that reason, I give it five out of five rabbits.

Also, Jojo has an audience score of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes so you should totally watch it.