Jojo Rabbit: Another Movie About WWII. Is It Even Worth It?

The movie Jojo Rabbit was released in 2019 and was directed by producer, director, and actor Taika Waititi. The movie features other very well-known actors such as Scarlett Johansson, Rebel Wilson, Sam Rockwell, and Thomasin Mckenzie in addition to the break-out role of Roman Griffin Davis as Jojo.

The movie follows Davis as Johannes Betzler, nicknamed as Jojo, who is a devoted Hitler youth at the end of World War II. He lives in Germany with his mother, Rosie (Scarlett Johansson), and his imaginary friend who happens to be the comedy version of Adolf Hitler (Taika Waititi).

“My favorite character was the fake Hitler,” said Max D., a sophomore at AISG. “He ate unicorns for dinner and jumped out of windows!”

Jojo’s interactions with other characters such as Captain K. (Rockwell), and Fräulein Rahm (Rebel Wilson) add to the comedy of the movie. Rosie’s lighthearted teasing of Jojo is heartwarming and not only makes Jojo feel better, but the audience as well.

One aspect of the movie that I think makes it even funnier is that some actors cannot do a consistent German accent. Jojo’s best friend in the film, Yorki, has a British accent for the whole movie and personally, I think that makes the character more endearing and adorable.

“I really liked the relationship between Jojo and Yorki,” said Simaza K., a freshman at AISG. “Yorki is such a sweet kid and was my favorite character.”

The worst German accent was from Scarlett Johansson, as there were points in the movie where I could not help but laugh at how bad it was. However, that did allow me to appreciate other actors who were able to adopt the accent in a natural way for the movie.

My favorite aspect of the movie was Sam Rockwell’s Captain K., who is introduced very early in the film and even though he too pokes fun at Jojo from time to time, he’s a great role model. Rockwell’s portrayal of the character is very well done and you can expect to be smiling whenever he is on the screen.

The movie’s soundtrack was excellent and did not seem out of place within the film. I enjoyed that the songs that were chosen to fit the time period and the area in the world as they reaffirmed that the film is set in the World War II time period.

I think this is a very entertaining movie that fully deserved every nomination and award it received. Little parts such as the bad accents are not that big of an issue in the movie because the themes are able to balance out the comedy aspect so well.

I think Taika Waititi did a very good job in making Jojo Rabbit very fun while still talking about and showing more serious parts of World War II, including the Gestapo and Hitler. I also think that there is a multitude of good lessons that are worked into every aspect of the movie.

Jojo Rabbit will make you laugh, cry, and appreciate everything you have.

I give it a 5-star rating.