‘Jojo Rabbit’ TIFF Review: Taika Waititi’s Anti-Hate Satire is Blunt, But Effective

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Taika Waititi’s anti-hate satire, as advertised extensively, is a different sort of coming-of-age film but as one would know from the sense of humour that Waititi’s career has been built upon, there’s also a whole lot to be admired about the risks that Waititi could already find himself facing when tackling a subject of this sort. There are a whole load of laughs to be had with watching Jojo Rabbit, like all the best of Taika Waititi’s past films but this is where he finds himself taking on a subject of yet another sort of scope. This is a film that’s clearly been made through the eyes of someone whose own people had been so visibly damaged in the past, but given the sort of risks that there’s another point where he clearly wants to broaden the reach of the film’s message by trying to reach out to a younger audience. To a certain extent, it works perfectly – because there’s not a single moment in Jojo Rabbit where I didn’t find myself laughing my heart out. For a movie about the Hitler Youth, it’s very funny, charming, and even sweet too, a nice crowdpleaser for what it’s worth.

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Claire Foy is a Great Lisbeth Salander, but The Girl in the Spider’s Web is Not a Great Lisbeth Salander Story: Review

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David Fincher’s original trilogy based on the late Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series of novels unfortunately had gone without completion, prompting Sony to reboot the entire franchise by instead adapting a book continuing off the series without Larsson’s involvement. But because Rooney Mara’s presence as Lisbeth Salander was one that would have been so difficult to replicate, you can only ask yourself what Claire Foy would be able to bring to the table – especially since this is such a drastic change for her. Although before getting into that, I must admit I was very much looking forward to Claire Foy’s take on the character of Lisbeth Salander because I really like her as an actress and it makes me glad to see that she’s getting more recognition in leading roles on film. It was for this alone I was not worried about seeing her as a replacement for Rooney Mara, but excited because she already looked as if she can play the part – and I certainly got one promise kept on the spot. Sadly, all I kept wondering to myself was whether or not this truly was a Lisbeth Salander story that I was watching, no matter how much did I love seeing a new take on the character.

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Logan – Review

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The end of an era has come upon us with Logan, James Mangold’s second film for the X-Men series to star Hugh Jackman as The Wolverine together with the final intended performance from Jackman in the role. I’ve grown up watching the X-Men films but now a heartbreaking end must come for a character whom I’ve grown up watching all the years and with the Wolverine standalone films not particularly being above average (X-Men Origins: Wolverine being rather dire), it’s only pleasing to see that Logan was as wonderful as it was but at the same time, it packs the emotional gut punch not only supported by knowledge this is going to be Jackman’s final appearance, rather instead from the journey we’ve taken and how far we’ve gone.

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