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All of Taika Waititi's Movies, Ranked
New Zealand's greatest writer-director-actor has some big new projects coming up, but it's worth looking back at his previous work
05.05.2020
A lot of filmmakers keep themselves apart from their work.
You can watch all of their films, learn to recognize their style and vision, and still be left with the mystery of who their creator is. That's not the case with New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi.
<p>Waititi is a true auteur. As a writer and director, each of his movies fits into a broader framework of his vision—searching for a healthier, more sensitive concept of masculinity, especially through the lens of father-son relationships. And far from keeping himself remote from his stories, he plays a crucial role as an actor in each one. With six films under his belt, and four more coming down the pipeline—including <a href="https://www.popdust.com/taika-waititi-star-wars-2645925490.html" target="_blank">an unnamed <em>Star Wars</em> movie</a>, <a href="https://screenrant.com/thor-ragnarok-original-movie-plan-before-waititi/" target="_blank"><em>Thor: Love and Thunder</em>, and a live-action version of the anime classic <em>Akira</em> (1988)</a><a href="https://screenrant.com/thor-ragnarok-original-movie-plan-before-waititi/"> (1988)</a>—it's time to look back at the best (and worst) of his work so far. Why is it time? Because I said so. Who's asking? Stop interrupting. Shh! The list is about to start...</p>
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1. Eagle Vs. Shark (2007)
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="865a56bb1507d40fc5d6598b6865e141"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-dqW6ZAxbp0?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>Waititi's first feature-length film was 2007's <em>Eagle Vs. Shark</em>, a charming low-budget look at socially-awkward romance, starring Waititi's friends Jemaine Clement (<em>Flight of the Conchords</em>) as Jarrod and Loren Horsley as Lily. Aptly compared to 2004's <em>Napoeleon Dynamite</em>, <em>Eagle Vs. Shark</em>'s comedy leaned heavily on Jarrod's cringeworthy attempts to be tough and to live up to his dead brother Gordon (played by Waititi), who was a star athlete.</p><p>While the film offers a lot of sweet and funny moments, and the use of charming stop-motion sequences add to its appeal, it's clear that Waititi was still finding his voice, and the final result lacks the strength of vision and emotional depth of his later work.<i></i></p>2. Boy (2010)
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3480389206571831f0aceb58c5f6ffc5"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ESD3mlgpSwM?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>The fact that 2010's <em>Boy</em> is number five on this list is a testament to Waititi's talent, because <em>Boy</em> is a sweet, disarming, and silly look at childhood for a young Māori boy in 1980s New Zealand. Boy, AKA Alamein, lives with his little brother Rocky and a large extended family. Their mother died in childbirth, and Alamein paints their father (for whom he's named) as a mythic hero who is off saving the world somewhere. In reality their father (played by Waititi) is in prison, but when he gets out, he comes home with his lackeys to bond with his sons, commit petty crimes, and search for the money he buried years ago.</p><p>At first Boy is ecstatic to have his father back and is wholly impressed by all his apparent toughness. But eventually it becomes clear that the elder Alamein is as much a child as his sons and that beneath his posturing he's a sad, pathetic man. Ultimately Boy learns from him who he doesn't want to be.</p><p>The film's blend of sincerity and silliness is endearing, and its meandering story delivers a compelling emotional arc. It's not quite as polished as most of Waititi's later work, but everything that makes him a great director is there in <em>Boy</em>.</p>3. Thor Ragnarok (2017)
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e5b5ec8473729ff2d1b53c8f496babae"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ue80QwXMRHg?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>2017's <em>Thor: Ragnarok</em> is by far Taika Waititi's most successful film, with box office sales just over $850 million. It's also a legitimately great movie and possibly the only Marvel movie to be genuinely funny throughout. While Waititi brings his sense of humor and his keen directorial eye to this story of super-powered gladiators and intergalactic apocalypse (as well as his voice in the figure of Korg, the would-be revolutionary made of stone), this is the only film on the list that wasn't also written by Waititi.</p><p>So while Waititi definitely <a href="https://screenrant.com/thor-ragnarok-original-movie-plan-before-waititi/" target="_blank">had a significant influence on the film's story</a>—which may explain the emphasis on Thor's relationship with his father, as well as his struggle to define himself without his hammer—the restrictions of working in an existing franchise mean that it doesn't quite fit into the mold of his other works, which are purely his vision.<br></p>4. Jojo Rabbit (2019)
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8777a725839ef20896e892912d887aa0"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tL4McUzXfFI?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p><em>Jojo Rabbit</em> is Waititi's 2019 film telling of the story of Jojo, a young Austrian boy whose imaginary friend and father-figure is his hero...Adolf Hitler (played by Waititi). Ostensibly adapted from Christine Leunen's dark novel <em>Caging Skies</em>, <em>Jojo Rabbit</em> explores concepts of war, nationalism, and xenophobia through a child's perspective, and won Waititi the academy award for Best Adapted Screenplay.<br></p><p>While there's something deeply unsettling about <em>Jojo Rabbit's</em> madcap humor being set in Nazi Germany near its collapse, the movie succeeds in portraying the universal challenges of childhood and the struggle to understand a world that is full of deception and hate. Waititi—whose Grandfather was a Russian Jew—humanizes some of the film's Nazis, not to diminish their crimes, but to show how even decent people can end up participating in terrible evil if they don't actively resist. While Jojo initially demonizes the Jewish girl he finds hidden behind his mother's bedroom wall, in the end she's the only one he has left.</p><p>Some will no doubt find that Waititi's humor undercuts the poignancy of the film's message, but the film's outstanding cast holds it together, and the thrilling moment when Jojo finally rejects Nazi ideology (by telling Hitler to f*** off, and kicking him out a window) is irresistibly cathartic.</p>5. What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="88c70af30da13e42b21e31f5971309a9"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wxt2DSWS_eI?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>2014's <em>What We Do in the Shadows</em> is an absurdist mockumentary that tells the story of a group of vampires from different eras, living together in modern-day New Zealand. While it doesn't attempt to touch the sort of serious drama that some of Waititi's other work touches on, it doesn't have to, because it's his funniest movie. From confrontations with a gang of polite werewolves to the fruitless hunt for virgins, <em>What We Do in the Shadows</em>' semi-improvisational style delivers frequent laughs as the vampires struggle to navigate the modern world.</p><p>Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi wrote the movie together, as well as portraying two of the main vampires. As silly as the movie is, it still has an emotional core, provided mainly by Waititi's character, Viago—a lovelorn 18th century dandy. While it's since been adapted into a TV series for FX, Waititi's original remain's untouchable for silly vampiric humor.<span></span></p>6. The Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7d2b72c873a19446680735f7e749f702"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dPaU4Gymt3E?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>According to Waititi, 2016's <em>Hunt for the Wilderpeople</em> was the first film in which he really found his directorial voice, and it shows. Following young delinquent Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison) and his cantankerous foster uncle Hec (Sam Neill), who go on the run together in the untamed wilderness of New Zealand. It's a touching exploration of boyhood and manhood and the dynamic relationship between the two. It also features what might be <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32QcvEuJYFA" target="_blank">the greatest funerary sermon</a> in cinematic history, delivered by Waititi's minister character. While all of Waititi's movies are worth watching, <em>Hunt for the Wilderpeople</em>—which he spent more than a decade adapting from the stories of acclaimed New Zealand writer Barry Crump—delivers more of the heartfelt and joyful strangeness that makes his movies so satisfying.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Sony's PS5 Event Delay Is the Right Move (Even If It's Just PR)
If a brand can back positive social change through financially beneficial PR, that's still a positive.
06.02.2020
Sony
Corporations have one interest and one interest only: profit.
No matter how much you love a nostalgic toy brand from your childhood or a fast food chain's Twitter account, it's worth remembering that their primary goal is always to get you to buy their product. Brands are not your friends, and it's naive to think that they ever "do the right thing" out of some higher sense of justice beyond their bottom line.
<p>That said, there's still value in brands taking stances on social and political issues. The fact that brands aren't people doesn't mean that some of the people behind brands don't sincerely care about social issues. If a brand can back positive social change through financially beneficial PR, that's still a net positive—at least within the context of a capitalist society where brands are put on pedestals and treated as if they have more rights than the average living, breathing human.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><p>On Thursday, June 4th of 2020, Sony was scheduled to host the long-awaited reveal event for the PlayStation 5 wherein launch games would be outlined and a release date would presumably be set in stone. </p><p>That was until George Floyd's cold-blooded, state-sanctioned murder by a group of Minneapolis police officers. Now the Black Lives Matter movement has taken on a newfound fervor in the public eye, with major protests against police brutality in every major city. Police are responding with unprecedented violence (tear gas, rubber bullets, etc.) <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/06/01/867532070/trumps-unannounced-church-visit-angers-church-officials" target="_blank">against peaceful protestors</a> and journalists which, in turn, is driving some protesters to violence. Riots rage across the country. Trump is threatening <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/politics/donald-trump-national-address-race/index.html" target="_blank">military violence</a> against his own citizens if the protests don't stop, which is all the more reason for the protests to continue in full force.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><p>Amidst all of this Sony decided to delay their event, posting on the official PlayStation Twitter: "While we understand gamers worldwide are excited to see PS5 games, we don not feel that right now is a time celebration and for now, we want to stand back and allow more important voices to be heard."</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1267525525825900549" id="twitter-embed-1267525525825900549" type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1267525525825900549&created_ts=1591036609.0&screen_name=PlayStation&text=https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FZAY8StN0EU&id=1267525525825900549&name=PlayStation" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="99a57c2d6c9c6e2b57aba317f8e45f4b"></iframe><p>Their decision has received wide support, with their "rival," the Xbox account, standing in solidarity.</p><iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1267583493254475777" id="twitter-embed-1267583493254475777" type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1267583493254475777&created_ts=1591050430.0&screen_name=Xbox&text=We+stand+together+%F0%9F%92%99%F0%9F%92%9A+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FHMZNHeNzLd&id=1267583493254475777&name=Xbox" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="60835d08e03051dbb9f217eac2ddb6a6"></iframe><p>But sure enough, Sony's decision to delay their PS5 event isn't popular amongst a <em>certain</em> gamer demographic. Their comment section is predictably a toxic waste pit. For context, this guy choosing to represent himself with an <em>Assassin's Creed </em>logo and saying, "Wtf? C'mon dude! Seriously?" is one of the more mature people on the thread.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1267525734014345230" id="twitter-embed-1267525734014345230" type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1267525734014345230&created_ts=1591036659.0&screen_name=Azix30&text=%40PlayStation+Wtf%3F+C%E2%80%99mon+dude%21+Seriously%3F+%F0%9F%98%A4%F0%9F%A4%AC&id=1267525734014345230&name=PhantomR" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="7395151e7ff7adcf3202151a08f8e467"></iframe><p>A good number of the more popular complaints, however, hinge on the assertion that Sony doesn't actually care. </p><iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1267550001518874624" id="twitter-embed-1267550001518874624" type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1267550001518874624&created_ts=1591042444.0&screen_name=Beni12Sackboy17&text=%40PlayStation+Last+November+government+in+Iran+Slaughtered+1500+protesters%2C+did+you+care%3F+What+about+protesters+in+H%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FQUMygv2f9w&id=1267550001518874624&name=Bs" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="37d8183ef8764fc0b86726d30f344bb0"></iframe><p>To some extent, this is valid. When the commenter with a <em>Rick and Morty </em>avatar says that "it's all about MONEY" for Sony, he's most likely correct. But here's the deal: Who cares? Regardless of whether Sony made this decision because the people behind the company actually support the cause or because the marketing team decided that any announcements they made would be vastly overshadowed in the media (and it's honestly most likely this one), they're still doing the right thing. Now is not the time to be hosting a celebratory media event in America. Black people and allies are out in the streets fighting for their lives. PS5 announcements can wait.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><p><strong>Most importantly, though, when brands speak up like Sony did, they help to normalize progressive sentiments around important issues.</strong> </p><p><span></span>Typically speaking, when a brand decides to publicly promote a social or political issue, we can usually assume that they've made a decision based on market research that supporting the cause will not lead to financial downfall. Thus, brands tend to support causes that are already popular amongst large demographics of people. Even if their support is hollow, which it almost always is, the benefits of normalization outweigh the loftier moral issues of intent. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><p>To be clear, by advocating for black voices amidst the Black Lives Matter protests, Sony has essentially told its customers that it doesn't care about losing sales from whatever demographic of racist gamers might be against the cause. Quite frankly, it's not important why they decided this. Nobody is turning to Sony for community leadership, anyways. The important part is that it rightfully makes that racist demographic of gamers who hate BLM and disagree with the protests <em>understand </em>that their views and values are unwanted. This, in turn, takes power away from their ideas.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><h2></h2><p>By all means, continue to be critical of corporate greed from <a href="https://www.popdust.com/gillette-ad-2626185510.html" target="_blank">obviously pandering brands</a>. Brands aren't people, and they don't have feelings to hurt. But at the same time, it's useful to recognize positivity in a situation as dire as this. A popular company normalizing support of BLM can only help spread the message.</p>
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In February New Zealand writer-director-actor Taika Waititi was awarded an Oscar for the screenplay of his film Jojo Rabbit.
On May the 4th—the holiest of Star Wars holidays (Revenge of the 5th is sacrilege)—it was announced that he'd received what might be an even bigger honor: He's going to co-write and direct a new Star Wars movie.
<p>For disaffected fans of the series, this is great news. While recent <em>Star Wars</em> movies have featured plenty of stunning visuals, dramatic battles, and vague spiritual musing (as they should), the one department where they've been a bit lacking is fun...and competent storytelling. Okay, two departments. Fortunately, Taika Waititi is a master of both.</p><p>All the self-serious brooding in the world can't replace Yoda messing with Luke in the swamps of Dagobah, or the novelty of all those weirdos in the Mos Eisley cantina. Babu Frik can only get us so far. We need a filmmaker with a proven ability to bring an absurd sense of fun to an existing mega-franchise. Someone who can jump off a drab, brooding mess like <em>The Rise of Skywalker</em>—or, say, <em>Thor: The Dark World</em>—and deliver some silly good vibes... Boom. Taika Waititi.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzIxOTI1Mi9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTA3MzI4MH0.8ocoi5yfCHplEO1PX5RiE3xvS4XJx7vj67Ab8OFlXTw/img.gif?width=980" id="86ac1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="818bf95bb3684dd4d019ad227f149e2e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Jojo Rabbit, f*** off, Hitler">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Like this, but in reverse</small></p><p>Just look at the evidence. Have you seen <em>Thor: Ragnarok</em>? It's definitely one of the best Marvel movies—with lots of fun, over-the-top action—and it might be the only one that's truly funny. From Hulk and Thor bickering, to <a href="https://www.popdust.com/marvel-no-nut-november-2641216043.html" target="_self">Jeff Goldblum achieving peak Goldblum</a>, and Waititi himself voicing Korg—the goofy rock-man/would-be revolutionary—<em>Ragnarok</em> delivers genuine laughs. Or how about <em>Jojo Rabbit</em>, which managed to make Nazi Germany fun somehow, and featured Waititi as Jojo's imaginary friend Hitler, getting punted out a window—"F*** off, Hitler" indeed.<br></p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><p>On top of all that, Waititi has already done some of the work of making <em>Star Wars</em> fun again, directing the season finale of <em>The Mandalorian</em> and voicing reformed murder-droid IG-11. Now that he's proven himself, he's the perfect choice to take on a feature-length <em>Star Wars</em> story that can follow up the disappointment of <em>Episode IX</em>. If we're really lucky, maybe we'll even get a cameo from Waititi's frequent collaborator, Jemaine Clement, as some kind of freaky space man.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzIxOTI2NS9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNjY4NjI3M30.gRfM48d8mRwoSaflAVwdUQ4x69bE1FoXIrQVbBlN1Bg/img.gif?width=980" id="a58fc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="61ee2837df498f81f89f4b585f367c0d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Jemaine Clement as freaky Bowie">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">It's the part he was born for</small></p><p>Whatever he makes of this opportunity, we can count on Taika Waititi to bring the weird fun of a space adventure back to the fore in <em>Star Wars</em>. The fact that he'll be working with screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns—who was nominated for an Oscar for her work on <em>1917</em> and most recently collaborated with <a href="https://www.popdust.com/edgar-wrights-movies-ranked-2641357003.html" target="_self">writer-director Edgar Wright</a> on the upcoming horror film <em>Last Night in Soho</em>—only serves to make the whole prospect that much more exciting.<br></p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><h2></h2><p>Now we just need to get Bong Joon-Ho to make a class-conscious <em>Harry Potter</em> movie.</p>
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