Nimona Could Have Shifted The Summer Movie Doldrums

How enjoyable is the Netflix movie Nimona? If it had been released in theaters as intended when Disney had it, it could have been the first big summer blockbuster of 2023 and singlehandedly pulled the movie business out of its current slump. Is it perfect? No, of course not. But it is so enjoyable (even in the dark parts and there are a few) that the small missteps get blown away by the movie’s charm.

Below is my spoiler-free review, which won’t focus on but will touch on the movie’s troubled history.

Nimona is about as subtle as a brick. That doesn’t mean it is clumsy though. It takes a deft hand to repeatedly beat you over the head with messages of xenophobia, bigotry, redemption and acceptance and not make it seem clumsy or heavy handed. Writers Robert L. Baird (Big Hero 6, etc.) and Lloyd Taylor (Spies In Disguise) did a fantastic job adapting the graphic novel by ND Stevenson, expanding the world Nimona is set in while keeping the very queer-positive, trans-positive elements of the novel front and center.

The one thing that didn’t work perfectly was the pacing of the movie. Nimona starts off with a bang, but since the real meat of the story doesn’t get rolling until the end of the first third of the movie, it can seem like a bunch of low-stakes, high-energy action set pieces. Riz Ahmed is wonderful as Ballister Boldheart, the disgraced and hunted former knight, but his character is almost a cardboard cutout of a plot device until that first act closes.

Also to be laid at the feet of Baird and Taylor, according to Stevenson himself in an interview with The Daily Beast, is how well they expanded on Stevenson’s already wildly inventive retro-future world. The setting has knights and commoners, heroes and monster, but also has flying cars, computers and the internet. While balancing the technology with the supernatural elements of shapeshifters would be quite a challenge for any DM, I would love to play a D&D campaign set in this world.

The animation is also top-notch. It has a stylized, angular look that is somewhere between the 3D of How To Train Your Dragon and the 2D of — I kid you not — The Prince of Egypt. So, here’s that aside about Nimona‘s movie history. The film was almost finished when in April 2021 Disney shut down its maker Blue Sky Studios, which it had acquired in the Fox purchase. The movie was originally intended for a January 2022 release in theaters. After the closure, some former Blue Sky Studios members said that as early as 2020 they had received push back from Disney about Nimona’s overt LGBTQ+ themes and scenes. The movie’s producers shopped it around, and Annapurna Pictures picked it up with Netflix coming on board as the streaming platform. To be clear, Netflix did give Nimona a theatrical release last week, but in very few theaters.

So, Nimona has very smart writing and great animation. And in addition to Ahmed, Eugene Lee Yang is excellent as Ambrosius Goldenloin (not a misspelling) and Beck Bennett is hilarious as the moronic chad of a knight Sir Thodd. But this movie is all about Chloë Grace Moretz and her wildly charming and chaotic performance as Nimona. Every second she is on screen is a treat, and every line of dialogue lands perfectly. Kudos to the animators and directors Nick Bruno and Troy Quane for syncing the character looks perfectly with the tone and style of Moretz’s delivery.

If Moretz wasn’t already well known for live action acting, this would have been a star-making performance as a voice actor.

Again, not that everything in Nimona is amazing. The reveals aren’t that surprising, even if they are pulled off wonderfully by the studio (which, after Annapurna picked up Nimona, was DNEG Animation, which made Ron’s Gone Wild). And it is a very intimate story, with just a handful of primary speaking roles, and another small handful of secondary ones. That said, it is one of the most fun, enjoyable movies I’ve seen in years. It’s just a shame it didn’t get that chance to be 2023’s summer movie savior.

I give Nimona (Annapurna Pictures, Netflix; PG; 1 hr 41 mins) an 8 out of 10.