SLFS Summer Showdown: Jojo Rabbit vs. Isle of Dogs

Jojo Rabbit is a very light movie about very heavy things, like World War II. Johannes Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis, The Long Walk), a 10-year-old German boy, wants nothing more than to be a Nazi. His imaginary friend, Adolf (played by Jewish director Taika Waititi, What We Do in the Shadows, Thor: Ragnarok), is there to hype him up when he has doubts about himself or his mission. Left behind by his father who is fighting in the war, he lives with his mother, a playful, engaging and mysterious woman (Scarlett Johansson, The Avengers). During a highly anticipated weekend of Nazi training for little boys, he earns the nickname “Jojo Rabbit” after refusing to snap a rabbit’s neck. Embarrassed by his cowardice and emboldened by imaginary Hitler, Jojo grabs hold of a hand grenade and throws it, but when it hits a tree and bounces back on him, he is left deformed and disabled (at least that’s his perspective – in reality, he’s still so cute, and it’s just a slight limp). 

Taking a break from school due to the accident, he spends much more time at home, hearing noises in his late sister’s bedroom. Eventually, he realizes his mother has hidden a Jewish girl, Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie, Last Night in Soho), in their walls. At first, Jojo is terrified of Elsa, believing she is a monster he must slay. But the more time he spends with her, he realizes she is just a person, and he is not a killer. The film ends with the Germans losing the war, and Jojo and Elsa dancing in the street to celebrate her newfound freedom. Jojo Rabbit was a laugh-out-loud movie that at times made me wonder whether I should be laughing. Yet, I don’t think it discredits the seriousness of the Holocaust, rather shines light on how absurd war is. The true consequences of the war were finally brought home after the hanging of Jojo’s mother, but even then, it didn’t hit as hard as you might expect.

The tone shift from Jojo Rabbit to Isle of Dogs was palpable. The theatre cleared substantially, and I won two trivia prizes simply because barely anyone else was around to answer (I’m pretty sure I got one of the questions wrong, and they just gave it to me). His style is undeniably distinctive, but Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Phenoecian Scheme) is far more understated than Waititi. 

In this one of Anderson’s two stop-motion animated films, a pandemic of “Snout Fever” spreads throughout the dogs of a futuristic Japan, who the mayor has exiled to an island made of trash. The first of these dogs to be exiled is the mayor’s ward, Atari’s, beloved bodyguard, Spots. Atari hijacks a plane to Trash Island in search of Spots, but crashes and is found by a group of disheveled canines: Boss (Bill Murray, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou), Rex (Edward Norton, Moonrise Kingdom), King (Bob Balaban, Moonrise Kingdom), Duke (Jeff Goldblum, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) and Chief (Bryan Cranston, Asteroid City), the rowdiest of the bunch. Chief, who in a past life was a stray until he got put in the pound and was briefly adopted before biting the hand of his new owner’s child and escaping, is at first very wary of this new potential master. But after the rest of the group gets separated and Chief is left as Atari’s sole protector, he warms up to the boy and dedicates himself to finding Spots. 

Meanwhile at home, it is revealed that scientists have found a cure for Snout Fever, but the mayor is deliberately denying it so he can introduce his robotic hounds and even kills off the scientist who discovered it with poison wasabi. A teenage journalist, Tracy (Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha), develops a crush on the missing Atari from afar and starts to unravel the mayor’s conspiracy. 

Back on Trash Island, Atari gives the previously soot-black Chief a bath, revealing that he is truly white with black spots, just like Spots. When they finally find Spots, it is revealed that Chief and Spots came from the same litter, and Chief becomes Atari’s new bodyguard. Atari and his new entourage of dogs make it back home in time for the mayor’s announcement that all dogs on Trash Island will be executed, where he is confronted by Tracy and her pro-dog advocacy group, and the believed-to-be-dead Atari reads a haiku for the crowd: “Whatever happened / to man’s best friend? / Falling spring blossom.” The mayor is usurped, Atari becomes the new ruler and all of the dogs are cured. 

After watching these two films, I considered what parallels were between them. Both show young boys and their complicated relationship with corrupt rulers leading the battle against a needlessly oppressed group of people (or dogs). Both show the boys’ attempts to enter the war and win it, whether it’s for the side they were originally fighting for or not. Both show the boys form bonds with beings believed to be harmful beasts but who truly hold hearts of gold. More importantly than anything, though, they are both films that would be introduced to you by your friend’s shitty, pretentious boyfriend (it happened to me).

I’m not one of those people who is annoying about this, but I love Wes Anderson and have seen all of his films. If I had to rank them all, though, Isle of Dogs would unfortunately be toward the bottom. Especially after the hilariously charming, heartwarming yet heartbreaking Jojo Rabbit, it just felt dry and sluggish. It’s also worth mentioning that with Jojo Rabbit, Waititi takes on the role of the man who tormented his ancestors to paint him as the raving lunatic that he was. Yet, I’m not really sure where Anderson’s choice to set Isle of Dogs in Japan came from. Jojo Rabbit wins the war. –Braxtyn Birrell

Read more about this year’s SLFS Summer Showdowns:
SLFS Summer Showdown: Hackers vs Tank Girl
SLFS Summer Showdown: Phenomena vs The Last Unicorn

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