Summary
There was a time whenTaika Waititiwas the big name in movie making. He was all over the place. He has been involved in dozens of projects as an actor and has put together dozens of projects as a director and producer. There was a time when he came off looking like he had the Midas Touch. Everything he worked on was critically acclaimed and financially successful and then something shifted. Whether he was starting to feel as though he could do no wrong and was, in fact, wrong, or people just got tired of his brand of comedy mixed with drama, he’s in one heck of a slump, and it’s not hard to pinpoint where that slump started.
Taika Waititiwas the person everyone wanted to work with when he put out projects likeJoJo Rabbit. There are few directors and producerswho could ridicule Nazisthe way Waititi did and make people laugh and smile over a subject matter that was so serious. He took his talents to the MCU, and once again, it looked like he was doing something no one else could do withThor: Ragnarok. Waititi made a movie withincredible action and some terrific laughsand (by the way) showed the destruction of an entire culture in the fall of Asgard. He made Marvel fans care about people they didn’t know much about. But it was here, at the height of his power, that he started to find some real problems. His slump began afterThor: Ragnarokand he hasn’t come close to that level of popularity since.
Has Taika Waititi Lost His Magic Touch?
AfterRagnarok, there might not have a director who was a hotter name in the MCU. Audiences wanted to see him do every single project that followed, andThor: Love and Thunderwas oneof the most highly anticipated Marvel movies, post-Avengers: End Game. Then it hit theaters, and more than a few people questioned if he was trying to make it clear he wanted to be done with the MCU.
Then it hit theaters, and more than a few people questioned if he was trying to make it clear he wanted to be done with the MCU
The movie leaned too heavily on laughs and had nowhere near enough action. And the action it did have never made much sense. There were cameos from talented actors like Russell Crowe, who played cartoonish characters like anoverweight, constantly drunk Zeus. There was the villian that could have been one of the most powerful in the Marvel universe that was dispatched relatively easily. And there was way too much focus on Thor having weird relationships with his weapons. When the smoke cleared, Thor: Love of Thunder was one of the worst-reviewed MCU movies ever, according toMetacritic.
The MCU Wasn’t The Problem
It is worth pointing out that there are plenty of Marvel movies that audiences enjoyed which weren’t beloved by critics. ButWaititi’s losing streak continuedwhen he triedNext Goal Wins. This comedic adaptation of a beloved documentary about a burnt-out soccer coach who takes on the job of trying to turn the American Somoa National Soccer Team into a program that could finally win a match. With Michael Fassbender starring as Thomas Rongen, the movie had the kind of emotional punch and feel good story that should have been a hit with audiences and critics. Instead it got a 44 critics score on Metacritic and just a 5.7 audience score.
Waititi then tried to go in an entirely new and different directionwithOur Flag Means Deathand for a minute it looked like he might have finally found his stride. Audiences and critics loved the Max series, with it getting a 95 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and a 96 percent audience score. It’s possible Waititi was the victim of Max making a number of odd decisions about its programming in the wake of a shakeup at the top.
Whatever the reason,Our Flag Means Deathwas canceledafter just two seasons. The dark pirate comedy was definitely geared up for at least three seasons but it wasn’t meant to be. It’s possible this turn of events is one of the reasons why Taika Waititi has made it known that he’s more than a little soured on the industry as a whole. But he tried one more time with a revival of a beloved Disney story inTime Bandits.
The Disney+ series based on the 1981 movie was also greeted with decent reviews, as it got a 76 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. However, audiences weren’t as on board as the critics were, and the series was canceled after just one season. And now, the latest blow is thatTaika Waititi’sStar Warsproject was canceled. The losing streak continues for someone who was one of the hottest names in the business and it’s not clear if he’s able to turn it around at this point.
