Although you may not know him by name, Taika Waititi is a hot director. His 2019 film Jojo Rabbit won an Academy Award, and his 2017 picture Thor: Ragnarok was a big box office hit. His next Marvel movie Thor: Love and Thunder promises to take audiences on another wild and wacky ride.
Taika is from New Zealand, and like his fellow Kiwis, he has a warm and silly sense of humor that you can experience full-strength in three of his earlier pictures—Boy, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and What We Do in the Shadows.
What We Do in the Shadows is a mockumentary about four vampires—862-year-old Vladislav, 379-year-old Viago, 183-year-old Deacon, and an 8,000-year-old Nosferatu—rooming together in Wellington.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople tells the story of Ricky and Hec, a defiant city kid and his cantankerous foster uncle, who flee into the New Zealand bush to escape the police.
Boy is the coming-of-age tale of 11-year-old Alamein and his immature, ex-convict father who reappears in Alamein's life.
What We Do in the Shadows is one of those rare films packed with so many good jokes it’s worth watching several times. It’s also the inspiration for the FX TV series. Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Boy are movies that care about their characters and are filled with kind and sympathetic feelings.
All three are great fun.
Watch them on Kanopy.