The First Reviews For Taika Waititi’s Nazi Comedy ‘Jojo Rabbit’ Are In
The verdict is in, and it's... mixed.
How do you follow up one of the biggest and most beloved movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you’re Taika Waititi, you slap on a Hitler moustache and make a children’s comedy about Nazis. Jojo Rabbit, the latest movie from the genius Kiwi whose previous efforts include not just Thor: Ragnarok but also Hunt for the Wilderpeople and What We Do in the Shadows had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, and the first reviews are starting to filter in.
So, what have the critics had to say? Currently the film sits at 62% on Rotten Tomatoes, with the reviews running the gamut from glowing to fairly dire.
Among the strongest notices, Entertainment Weekly gave the film an A- and called it “an audacious piece of Third Reich whimsy that almost definitely shouldn’t work as well as it does”, while Vox wrote that the film was “both hilarious and grim”. Meanwhile over at Vulture, the film is generating some early Oscars buzz.
Some critics, however, were less kind. The Guardian described the film as “a thinly etched second world war satire” and said that “what Waititi thinks is shockingly audacious is in fact frustratingly timid”. Even more brutal was this review from The Los Angeles Times, which called the film “terminally self-satisfied” and said its “so-called audacity smacks of calculation and emotional cowardice”. Brutal.
As always, you can make up your own mind when Jojo Rabbit hits Australian cinemas on Boxing Day.