It’s pretty uneven in its pacing, and it might not be -quite- as big on laughs as the rest of Taika Waititi’s filmography, but Jojo Rabbit is a charming third-reich meet-cute which I think successfully rides the thin line between being offensive and playing it safe.

I found the opening credits sequence to be particularly funny and poignant, as it encapsulates the overall themes of the movie perfectly. Waititi hilariously mixes a Beatles song with old newsreel footage to underscore everything strange and terrible about Hitler’s rockstar status in 1940s Germany. Right off the bat he makes the nazis seem patently ridiculous, but in a way that hits closer to home than I had anticipated. They were a terrifying but bizarre group of people that seemed to synthesize all of the worst in humanity... oh wait did I say were? Oof. There’s still a ways to go, I guess. 

Anyway, as always, the good in humanity rises to meet the challenge of evil with courage, humor, and kindness. That’s what the movie is about.