The Films Of Taika Waititi: An Essentials Retrospective

Our cinematic landscape is a much richer, more rewarding place with Taika Waititi in it. To date, the enviably gifted, self-effacing, and wildly stylish New Zealand-born director has helmed bizarro cult favorites, crossover indie hits, arguably the most divisive movie of this year’s Toronto Film Festival, and a comic-book behemoth for Marvel Studios. What’s even more impressive than Waititi’s eclectic filmography is that he’s somehow managed to leave his own unmistakable creative stamp on each one of these projects, be it a romantic comedy about two Kiwi geeks or a blockbuster about a buff, blonde, hammer-wielding Norse God.

There are directors whose work you can identify from just a few frames: Jean-Luc Godard, Federico Fellini, Wes Anderson, Andrea Arnold, Tim Burton, Agnes Varda, Edgar Wright, and Josh and Benny Safdie, to name a few. Taika Waititi is also a name that belongs on this list. Though his influences are easy to spot, his movies don’t look or sound or feel like anybody else’s. He’s a true original, and someone whose work gets more ambitious and intriguing with each subsequent film. And it certainly feels safe to say that between the success of “Thor: Ragnarok” and the incendiary “Jojo Rabbit” – which followed in the footsteps of crowd-pleasers like “Green Book” and “La La Land” by nabbing the coveted top award at TIFF, almost surely securing the film a slot in this year’s Oscar conversation – that Taika has officially entered the big leagues.

So, here’s an in-depth look at the career and films of Taika Waititi:

“Flight of the Conchords”
While Tenacious D was the first acoustic folk duo to grace HBO screens with their endearingly sophomoric blend of fantasy-metal bombast and bro-ish brio, New Zealand’s popular musical export “Flight of the Conchords” arguably did Jack Black and Kyle Gass one better. Surely you remember “Conchords”: it was the show in which two stumblebum Kiwi musicians found themselves dealing with stalkers, inept managers, antagonistic street hustlers, and pitiful romantic hookups in a rapidly gentrifying New York City. Over the course of its short but sweet two-season run, “Conchords” amassed a niche but doggedly faithful audience who knew every word to the lyrics of “Business Time” (possibly the least sexy bedroom anthem ever recorded, even if the chorus is an earworm for the ages) and “Inner City Pressure” (a Kraftwerk-style electro number about the quotidian burdens of urban living). While the show was created by “Muppets Most Wanted” director James Bobin and stars/lead members Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, Waititi’s signature touch is all over the show. He even helmed some of “Conchords’” most memorable chapters, including an episode where Bret and Jemaine are harassed by a racist fruit vendor played by Aziz Ansari (for what it’s worth, the episode contains a very Waititi-esque stop-motion-animated ditty called “Albi the Racist Dragon”), and a later installment where the Conchords tangle with Lucy Lawless and get hooked on hair gel. While the show isn’t a Waititi product from the ground up, you can sense how he and Clement (and McKenzie, if we’re being diplomatic) used the two-season run as a kind of platform to hone the sensibilities that they would later put to use in more ambitious, fleshed-out narrative features like “Eagle Vs. Shark” and “What We Do in the Shadows.” Some critics may have initially dismissed “Conchords” as being a little threadbare, but few HBO comedies of that era were as innovative, novel and downright hilarious as this goofball rock n’ roll odyssey (for what it’s worth, it’s a way better look at struggling to get by in modern-day N.Y.C. than both “Girls” and “How to Make it in America”). If you don’t start bobbing your head along to the ridiculous folk-rap groove of “Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros,” you’re probably dead from the waist down. [A-]

“Eagle Vs. Shark”
It’s easy to think of “Eagle Vs. Shark” as Taika Waititi’s “Bottle Rocket,” and not just because Wes Anderson has been such a considerable influence on the Kiwi filmmaker. Like “Bottle Rocket,” “Eagle Vs. Shark” is far from Mr. Waititi’s most stylistically assured film. It’s rough, even patchy in places. And yet, it nevertheless arrives with a defiantly personal vision, announcing Waititi as a unique comedic filmmaker uninterested in broad pratfalls or pandering gross-out gags. If “Eagle Vs. Shark” is shaggier and less memorable than some of Waititi’s later works, it’s still a largely enjoyable ride: every great director has to start somewhere, and this slight but sweet rom-com is most certainly the advent of the unofficial Taika cinematic blueprint. Jemaine Clement, returning from “Flight of the Conchords,” plays Jarrod, the film’s male lead. Jarrod is a nerdy, stunted man-child who works in a video game store, and while he’s far from the most appealing protagonist that the director has sketched, Clement still imbues him with enough of his signature comic individuality that we want to root for him. Loren Horsely (Waititi’s romantic partner at the time) fares better playing Lily, an introverted songwriter who works at a burger chain restaurant called Meaty Boy and feels self-conscious about her status as a single woman in a social landscape increasingly dominated by couples. Early in the film, Jarrod invites Lily to his party, under one condition: she has to dress as her favorite animal (hence the title of the movie). What ensues is a predictable but nevertheless winning depiction of an uncertain courtship, peppered with twee claymation sequences and amusing interludes where Jarrod fantasizes about killing the bullying jerk that made his high school existence a living hell. In any other movie, this would be a disturbing development, and Jarrod might come off as a Travis Bickle-style alienated loner. However, this is Taika Waititi’s universe, where darkness is leavened by humor and heart, and even the nastiest of high school tormentors are ultimately forgiven. In some ways, “Eagle Vs. Shark” is for Taika completists only. It’s definitely his least polished directorial effort, and a few of its stylistic affectations feel borrowed from other, thematically analogous films. And yet there’s something about the spirited earnestness of this movie that sneaks up on you: it compensates for its occasional bumpy passages with pure pluck and invention, making it a movie that no one but Taika Waititi could have directed. [B-]

“Boy”
If “Eagle Vs. Shark” was a test run for what would eventually become the patented Taika Waititi style, then “Boy” is the moment where all of the director’s pet themes and idiosyncratic flourishes crystallized into something identifiable. While Waititi’s first feature was derided by some critics as a Wes Anderson knockoff that was a bit too precious for its own good (these critics are off-base, but I digress), “Boy” was a smash with both audiences and critics, introducing the world to the director’s gently skewed worldview as well as his natural affinity for misfits and outsiders. James Rolleston (who gave a miraculous supporting performance in this year’s underseen Netflix comedy “The Breaker-Upperers,” which was executive produced by Waititi) gives an utterly winning and star-making performance as the “boy” who gives this lovely film its title. Boy loves and cherishes the music of Michael Jackson (this element of “Boy” is undoubtedly dated, though it does result in an inspired recreation-of-sorts of the iconic “Thriller” video), although he’s also interested in girls and making trouble with his mates. It’s 1984 in New Zealand’s Waihau Bay, and Boy is growing up without a mother or father to guide him. Waititi realizes the period of “Boy” with affection and great attention to detail without being overly fetishistic or resorting to nostalgia porn. The director shows up early on to play Boy’s no-good father, Alamein: a pot-peddling ex-con who’s constantly talking about a biker gang that may or may not actually exist. Like many of the misguided weirdoes in Waititi’s universe, Alamein’s bark is far worse than his bite, and the tender father-son bond that develops between these two waylaid eccentrics is more affecting than it has any right to be. The film is rich with wistfulness and an understated sense of regret, mastering the balancing act of mirth and sadness that would later become Taika’s trademark. Generally speaking, Waititi makes two kinds of films: wacky genre items like “Thor: Ragnarok” and “What We Do In The Shadows” and more scaled-down, humane works like “Eagle Vs. Shark” and “Hunt for the Wilderpeople.” “Boy” is most certainly in the latter category, and while the film offers no shortage of chuckles and hijinks, it’s also a thoughtful and genuinely moving look at how boys become men, and how some men stay boys forever. [B+]

“What We Do In The Shadows”
Big-screen bloodsuckers are all the rage these days: from the “Twilight” franchise to Jim Jarmusch’s droll, sultry “Only Lovers Left Alive,” it feels safe to say that movie vampires aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. So you can’t blame Taika Waititi for wanting to put his own poker-faced stamp on this perennial genre. The result is “What We Do In The Shadows,” the director’s funniest and most imaginative work, and one that seems all but predestined for future Midnight Movie status. Based partially on a 2005 Taika short called “Interviews with Some Vampires,” this micro-budgeted treasure is an ageless laugh riot filled with raucously committed performances, imminently quotable dialogue, and an unaffected, totally sincere appreciation for the very specific genre it occupies. You could call it Christopher Guest without the unwelcome strain of scorn directed towards small-town America, or Monty Python with a mordant streak, but “What We Do In The Shadows” is indisputably, 110% unfiltered Taika, and aren’t we all very lucky that that’s the case. One of the film’s masterstrokes is its demystification of vampire lore: the ghouls in this movie aren’t centuries-old demonic wraiths, but rather, recognizably neurotic comic archetypes who share a run-down flat and fret over everyday tasks like doing the dishes and picking the right clothes for a night out on the town. Taika himself plays fussy Viago, the most uptight member of the film’s central trio (he’s the one who invents a chore wheel so that his housemates don’t start slacking off). Jonathan Brugh is a riot as Deacon, the self-professed “bad boy” vampire of the group, who fancies himself an Anne Rice character even though he dresses like a Sunset Strip has-been. Waititi mainstay Jemaine Clement is funnier than he’s ever been as Vladislav the Poker, a self-conscious tyrant who really just wants to be left alone so he can do his dark bidding on the internet. Some of the film’s most uproarious bits involve the plight of poor Nick (Cori Gonzalez-Macuer), an unwitting human specimen who is turned into a vampire by Viago, Vlad, and Deacon, and starts enjoy the spoils of his new life (drinking blood, transforming into a bat on a whim, telling people he’s “the ‘Twilight’ guy”) just a little too much. Waititi’s macabre farce is a purposefully modest affair, but one that’s had an unusually potent shelf life (just this year, FX premiered a 30-minute sitcom that takes its name and premise from the film, and a sequel, “We’re Wolves,” is rumored to be in the works). Normally, this kind of news would be cause for alarm. In the case of a brilliant oddity like “What We Do In The Shadows,” it’s a reason to celebrate. [A]

“Hunt for the Wilderpeople”
“I didn’t choose the skux life – the skux life chose me.” The aforementioned quote, spoken by Ricky Baker – the rebellious, pure-hearted hero of the indie-comedy smash “Hunt for the Wilderpeople,” who is played to the hilt by the terrific Julian Dennison – doesn’t make a lick of sense on paper. However, it makes a great deal of sense in the silly, surreal, topsy-turvy universe of Taika Waititi’s outdoor adventure fable, which went on to cement its status as the highest-grossing New Zealand film production of all time. Honestly, it’s not hard to see why. “Wilderpeople” is adorable, original, and totally charming from beginning to end: a rollicking ode to outcasts that’s very much about living life on your own terms. The film returns to many themes that Waititi has explored throughout his short but impactful career: life as an orphaned child, mothers who are absent in one way or another, dry humanist comedy, and the bucking of authority, to name just a few. And yet, in the wake of the more arch and fantastical “What We Do In The Shadows,” “Wilderpeople” feels like the next logical step for Taika as a storyteller. The world is a scary, unforgiving place, and Ricky Baker knows that even before he’s cast out into a merciless wilderness landscape with the gruff, illiterate Hec (Sam Neill, in a role that wittily riffs on the actor’s career of playing humorless he-men) at his side. Ricky is an orphan and a “bad egg” who has been cast out from the world for burning stuff, breaking stuff, lighting stuff on fire and just being a general nuisance. Early in “Wilderpeople,” our hero is sent by child welfare services to live with the irrepressibly cheerful Bella (Rima Te Wiata, marvelous), who is married to Hec. Bella takes immediately to Ricky’s ragamuffin charm – Hec, less so. In a tragic twist of fate, Bella dies, leaving Hec and Ricky to their own devices (Waititi has a cheeky cameo as the weirdo priest overseeing Bella’s funeral proceedings; he compares life’s hardships to being “a sheep trapped in a maze designed by wolves”). What transpires is a boisterous, crowd-pleasing yarn filled with heart, hilarity, hunger-induced hallucinations, car chases, a cameo from “Flight of the Conchords” bit player Rhys Darby as an ill-equipped survivalist nutjob, and a loyal pup named after Tupac Shakur. Is it any small wonder that the success of this film helped Waititi land a gig directing a Marvel movie? [A-]

“Thor: Ragnarok”
Even the riskiest Marvel movies tend to adhere to the studio’s in-house formula, as it’s proven to be both pleasingly predictable and wildly profitable (check the box-office receipts for “Avengers: Endgame” if you remain unconvinced). Outliers like “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Ant-Man,” and “Black Panther” are all fine, enjoyable films in their own right, but they also all manage to dutifully check the boxes for the ever-demanding Marvel faithful. This, understandably, can make these films occasionally feel more like acts of corporate synergy than standalone stories. In that regard, let’s give “Thor: Ragnarok” some credit for being undeniably the strangest Marvel movie to date, and also the one that even professed non-fans of the comic book monolith can find joy in (Quentin Tarantino went on the record to state that “Ragnarok” is his favorite Marvel effort, which is quite an endorsement). The first and second “Thor” films are some of the most forgettable entries in the Marvel canon, so give Taika props for having the chutzpah to shake things up. “Thor: Ragnarok” is a live-action disco ball of a movie: a tongue-in-cheek lark that turns everyone’s favorite chiseled God of Thunder into another one of the director’s dweeby, reluctant heroes (the Norse warrior has never come across as endearingly insecure as he does here), while fusing the worlds of Jack Kirby and “Flash Gordon” into a pleasurably ridiculous fantasy-adventure throwdown. “Thor: Ragnarok” does so many things right that it’s easy, at times, to forget that it’s a Marvel movie at all – although you can definitely tell that Waititi’s heart is more invested in the scenes of Thor and Hulk/Bruce Banner trading Martini-dry banter than it is in the comparatively thankless subplot involving Hela, the Goddess of Death (Cate Blanchett, looking like the frontwoman of a black metal band), and her army of faceless minions. Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo make the most of their outstanding comic repartee here: this is the closest the MCU has gotten to a Hope and Crosby Road movie, and that’s a great thing. “Ragnarok” also boasts an out-of-this-world supporting cast, including Tessa Thompson as the sardonic, hard-drinking Valkyrie, a magnificent, glittery Jeff Goldblum as a fey madman called the Grandmaster, and Tom Hiddleston, given much more to do in this third installment as Thor’s troublemaker brother, Loki. “Ragnarok” isn’t the deepest or most soulful Waititi movie to date, but if it’s fun you’re after, this movie is a one-way trip to comic book Valhalla. [B+]

Taika’s irresistible comic voice is in full bloom in his bittersweet, award-winning black-and-white short film “Two Cars, One Night,” as well as the lesser-seen “John and Pogo.” Since his gradual liftoff into the cinematic major leagues, the director has found himself attached to a number of exciting projects. Currently, Waititi is slated to direct an episode of the “Star Wars” streaming series “The Mandalorian” for Disney+, where he’ll be working alongside the likes of Rick Famuyiwa, Bryce Dallas Howard, and writer/showrunner Jon Favreau.

“Jojo Rabbit” is Taika’s latest, and it’s without question the director’s most ambitious, contentious, and high-profile project to date (read our review here). It’s a WWII-era “anti-hate satire” about young Jojo Betzler: a German boy who aspires to be the biggest, baddest Nazi of all time (his imaginary friend just so happens to be a prissy, childlike version of Adolf Hitler, played by Waititi himself). Jojo eventually comes to learn that his mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a Jewish refugee (Thomasin McKenzie, to be seen later this year in David Michôd’s “The King”) in the attic, causing him to question the poisonous values he’s so steadfastly devoted to. The initial response to “Jojo Rabbit” at this year’s TIFF was certainly mixed, with some critics praising Waititi’s high-wire act and others insinuating that the film was conceptually miscalculated (some even damningly compared it to Roberto Benigni’s “Life is Beautiful”). Despite the fact that “Jojo Rabbit” has polarized viewers more than any previous Waititi film, we’re nevertheless confident that it should please (most of) the director’s loyal fans.

One of Waititi’s passion projects – “Bubbles,” a stop-motion animated tale about Michael Jackson’s beloved pet chimp – looked as though it was going to see the light of day until recently, when the legendary pop singer’s heinous sexual transgressions were brought back into the public spotlight via Dan Reed’s harrowing two-part HBO documentary “Leaving Neverland.” Obviously the optics on this aren’t great, so it’s probably for the best that Waititi is stepping away from this one. Still, it’s a shame, because we’re sure Taika could have brought a much-needed innocence and a fresh perspective to this tricky material.

Waititi was also scheduled to direct a presumably irreverent live-action update of the seminal cyberpunk anime epic “Akira” (with none other than Leonardo Dicaprio co-producing), slated for release sometime in 2021. Although this project seems to be in distribution limbo at the moment, it’s still something that we hope sees the light of day sooner rather than later. Recently, it was also announced that Taika would take a crack at an animated “Flash Gordon” reboot for Fox/Disney (which is not surprising when you consider what an influence “Flash” had on “Thor: Ragnarok”), although whether or not this will see a release before Marvel’s Waititi-helmed “Thor: Love and Thunder” remains unclear.

No word on whether or not “We’re Wolves,” the “What We Do In The Shadows” spin-off, is still happening, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed for that one. One of Taika’s next confirmed projects will be the sports comedy “Next Goal Wins”: a true story about Dutch MLS coach Thomas Rongen, who was tasked with leading a hopeless Samoan soccer team to international victory (Michael Fassbender is currently in talks to star).

In the meantime, do yourself a favor and check out some of the films on this list! A few of them are streaming via Netflix (“Thor: Ragnarok”, which will eventually go to Disney+, and “Eagle Vs. Shark”) and Hulu (“Hunt for the Wilderpeople”), but all of them are also available for reasonable prices on DVD/Blu-Ray. The partially Taika-directed “What We Do In the Shadows” T.V. spin-off – which is quite funny, and somehow manages to stay true to the spirit of the film – is currently streaming on FX Now. “Jojo Rabbit,” meanwhile, will see a stateside release on October 18.