Jojo Rabbit follows young Jojo Betzler a member of the Hitler youth in the later stages of World War Two. His imaginary friend is Hitler- well his interpretation of Hitler- and he worships the Nazi regime. This ideology begins to crumble though, when he discovers the Jewish girl his mother is hiding in their house. This is a film I have been curious about since the very first pictures of Taika Waititi in costume were released. After watching the trailers, and having seen Waititi’s previous films, I expected his performance to dominate the film. Don’t get me wrong, his appearances are a comical treat, and they really explore the way that a child might perceive Hitler. He is a father figure of sorts, to replace Jojo’s absent one, but he also reflects Jojo’s own childishness and naivete (given that he is just a projection of Jojo’s thinking). But, its actually Roman Griffin Davis who steals the show in his acting debut. In the wrong hands, this character could have been extremely unlikable, but this young actor manages to convey so much innocence in his performance that you care for him instantly, despite his questionable points of view. His delivery of humour is also great and he more than manages to hold his own against more established actors such as Sam Rockwell and Rebel Wilson.

Although there are a few key scenes in this film which are excellent- such as a gestapo raid of the house which is tense, and absurdly funny in equal measure- this film comes across as quite… how should I put it? Safe, bland? Its attempts at darkness never quite hit the mark like Waititi’s other films (such as Hunt for the Wilderpeople), and the themes he tries to deal with are often skimmed over and never explored too deeply. This is a real shame, given the darkness that Taika Waititi has previously shown he is capable of. This film is hopeful and idealistic, which is enjoyable, but means that a lot of its potential to be a clever and hard hitting satire is wasted.

Overall, I enjoyed this film, I found it very funny, it just didn’t live up to my expectations, being a big fan of Waititi’s previous work. Its message is that blind fanaticism is wrong, and that Nazi’s are bad, and that you should never stop fighting for freedom. It’s not a revolutionary message by any means and delivering it through the eyes of a child is not a unique idea at this point. But it’s a message that some people might need to be reminded of at the moment.