Whether or not you only know Taika Waititi as the director of Thor: Ragnarok or not, the man has made it clear that he has a truly unique sense of humor wherever you find him. As such, it could only be from the brain of Waititi that something like JoJo Rabbit could exist. The new trailer for the World War II-era satire is here and it promises something absolutely bizarre, biting, and hilarious. Check it out below.
What we have here in the Jo Jo Rabbit trailer is a story that focuses on a young boy in Germany around World War II who is having trouble fitting in with the other children at camp. Of course, in this particular case that camp is a camp for young Nazis, but that's just semantics. The boy attempts to deal with this trauma by conjuring an imaginary friend.
But not just any friend, in this case that imaginary friend is Hitler, who is exactly who you would conjure up to give you confidence if you're trying to fit in with Nazis, I suppose. The title comes from a nickname the boy has obtained because the other kids think he is scared like a rabbit.
The trailer gives us small children carrying grenades and playing with knives, which is surely a recipe for a fantastic movie. What more could people possibly want?
The cast for JoJo Rabbit is stellar, in addition to Taika Waititi himself playing imaginary Hitler, the film also co-stars Sam Rockwell, Rebel Wilson, Scarlett Johansson and Stephen Merchant.
While we don't see much of the film itself or get a great deal of dialogue, the trailer comes right out and says what it is about. The movie says it "goes to war on hate." There's no easier target for that than the Nazi's, though JoJo Rabbit plans to do it by channeling a bit more of "Springtime For Hitler" and a bit less of Schindler's List. Here, the best weapon against hate appears to be to simply point at it and laugh.
Still, the idea of a boy's imaginary friend being Hitler is as bizarre and disturbing as it is hilarious. Taika Waititi has said that playing the role of Hitler himself was the best insult possible. Being Jewish himself, it seems the actor/writer/director is reveling in the idea that Hitler would hate being portrayed specifically by him.
While Taika Waititi might be best known now for his work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a place he will be returning to shortly with the recently announced Thor: Love and Thunder, he's created many other well received films like What We Do In The Shadows and Hunt For The Wilderpeople each has contained Waititi's trademark sense of humor and this one will be no different.
JoJo Rabbit hits theaters in October.
