Nimona

Directed by the makers of Spies In Disguise, Nimona is a film that had to face a lot of roadbumps before it saw the day of light.

To say that the fact this movie got released is a miracle, would be an understatement.

But I am glad to say that even after all those hiccups, they delivered with the end product. It's funny, heartfelt and everything you want from a movie about a shapeshifting-sadistic-sarcastic teen. Though the plot is somewhat predictable, the way it is directed and executed does leave you wanting more. The "2 and a half D" animation style that this movie features, might be my new fav artstyle.

Rare Netflix W.

There is no doubt that Nimona is a movie aimed at a younger audience. That being said, I, as a 32 year old man, and enjoyed it thoroughly. Aside from the usual action packed high jinks you would expect from a fast paced story such as this, there are a number of twists in the story that I didn't see coming, as well as a few humorous moments that caught me off guard. Usually, movies like this fall under the banner of "fun, but predictable". That label does not apply to Nimona. The story feels refreshing. It takes things that feel familiar and gives them a new twist. Kudos to the writers.

Speaking of Nimona, the titular character of this movie, she is definitely the big draw of this movie. Watching Nimona, it's clear that a lot, if not most of the animation budget went into animating her character specifically. Add to this the voice acting of the very talented and experienced Chloë Grace Moretz and you have quite a gem on your hands. Her voice is like bubblegum. It feels like she can do just about anything with it. Her character is tragic in a way, and you really empathise with her sense of loneliness. All the other characters are well voiced and animated as well, with the character of Ballister functioning as the "straight man" (ironic term I know) to her wacky antics. This balance, though it's definitely been done before, works well.

As for the visual style and the animation. It's all computer work (no motion capture on the faces far as I could tell), and at times it does look a little "video gamey" to me. This seems to have become a standard in the industry, especially when it comes to platforms like Netflix, so I won't complain about it for too long. The animation itself is definitely very well done. It's always lively and never feels stilted. I read that Nimona faced some production issues, so I suppose we should all be glad it even got made. I must say I really enjoyed the soundtrack as well. It really hit during some of those more somber beats in the story especially.

I would recommend this movie to just about anyone.

Nimona is a heavier movie than expected, but for the most part in a good way. One character is severely wounded early in the film, which sets the tone for an animated film that isn't quite aimed at young-young kids but is more aimed at a "ready for the Lion King" age range. That was surprising given the trailer, but not bad.

The character of Nimona is fascinating; she's a shape-shifter character who doesn't clearly have a "base form" but takes advantage of that characteristic in the full range. Whale, Gorilla, Ostrich--it's all fair game, and she enjoys the transformations and causing chaos generally. If you enjoyed the shapeshifting in the Dungeons and Dragons movie, this will be right up your alley.

It's based on a comic by Nate Stephenson, who is the same creator that made She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. So, think the energy and vibe of She-Ra if you happened to see that, but with a much better animation budget. (And if you end up liking this film, and haven't seen She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, that might be a good follow-up).

In a technologically advanced kingdom, the kingdom and its citizens are protected by an institute of knights who carry on the traditions set forth by their heroine Gloreth who as legend held slayed a monster to protect a village. Ballister Blackheart (Riz Ahmend) has trained to be such a knight despite his lack of noble heritage but has been given the opportunity with the support of the Queen (Lorrain Toussaint) and his fellow knight and lover Ambrosius Goldenloin (Eugene Lee Yang). When Ballister is framed for the Queen's assassination he finds himself a wanted fugitive and loses his arm at Ambrosius' hand. As Ballister starts making plans to unravel who framed him, he attracts the attention of shapeshifter Nimona (Chloe Grace Moretz) who wishes to be a sidekick to a "supervillain" and believes Ballister fits the bill, despite Ballister's assertions that he's not one. With Nimona's help, Ballister unravels revelations about what truly happened.

Nimona is the long awaited adaptation of the 2015 graphic novel of the same name by ND Stevenson that was originally published in a series of chapters on Tumblr. Nimona was acquired by 20th Century Fox's animation division shortly after publication of its graphic novel form and actually made it through a significant part of development until of course Disney bought Fox and shut down Blue Sky Studios and many in development projects with Nimona being among them despite being about 75% complete at the time. According to former staffers Disney pushed back on the film's LGBTQ themes and the same sex kiss which may have been a factor in cancelling it. Thankfully like other cancelled animated Fox projects like The Magician's Elephant the forthcoming Escape from Hat, and the in development adaptation of Eric Powell's The Goon, Nimona found itself revived as a collaboration between Annpurna Pictures and Netflix and after an 8 year journey and I'm happy to say it was well worth the wait.

First on a purely technical level, Nimona looks fantastic. The creative team have done a fantastic job adapting the simple but charming art style of Stevenson's comic and with the film's mixture of cel shading and shadows it really does feel like a graphic novel come to life with some dynamic movements and designs that are truly breathtaking to look at. The animation on Nimona is especially to be commended because the way she moves and shifts from one form to another is near pitch perfect in its execution which is further complimented by the expressive faces each of the characters has that offers a wide range of emotions. Artistically speaking, the Kingdom in Nimona is a really unique take which I can only describe as "Medieval Futuristic" and its very much a mixture of Princess Bride by way of Blade Runner in terms of its mixture of fairy tale iconography mixed with holographic billboards and hover cars that creates a world that's got some many amazing details intermixed to make this feel like a living breathing world.

But Nimona doesn't rest on its visuals alone and they're in service of a great story with compelling characters. While needless to say the creative team have made some changes adapting the episodic graphic novel to fit in a feature film narrative, the story's core remains very much in tact even in spite of little details and side characters having been excised for the sake of a more focused narrative. Riz Ahmed is quite good as Ballister and his relationship with Ambrosius equally well played by Eugene Lee Yang is an endearing one that you do get invested in and it's probably been slightly strengthened in translation as the film starts off more tonally consistent as opposed to Nimona which started off more anarchic and silly while gradually getting darker (not a criticism of the book, they're both good in their own way). But at the center is undeniably Chloe Grace Moretz as Nimona who is pitch perfect in her casting and delivery. Moretz does incredibly well in the role as her rapid fire and hard edged delivery is well complimented by the animation team in a manner that reminded me of the perfect marriage of animation and performance that went into Robin Williams' Genie from Aladdin. Moretz gets some solid laughs out of her appetite for destruction, but she also gives us a heartbreaking undercurrent to her performance that we see more of as it's revealed her abrasive edge is a shroud for her inner pain. All these characters and threads culminate in a really satisfying way and I won't dare spoil it for you.

Nimona is a great animated film in a year where solid animation hasn't exactly been in short supply. I really can't say enough good about this film other than you owe it to yourselves to see it. Funny, exciting, heartbreaking, visually interesting. At this point I'm just repeating myself.

Nimona has become a somewhat unique and troubled production, partly because it was based on a web comic that got its film rights picked up by Blue Sky Studios (sometime after Disney bought Fox I think) only to be cancelled after 75% of the film was completed; then Netflix and Annapurna Pictures came into the rescue and saved the film from oblivion. And it's become a success too: people are already making fan-art, remixes, and reviews are glowing for this unlikely underdog of a film.

Now the film itself is like a cyberpunk Legend of Zelda mixed with trace elements of Blade Runner, Zootopia, Monster's Inc, Kick Ass, and the subversive fantasy tropes of Shrek (with additional satire for society and government institutions). It's also a good, briskly paced time in this medieval cyberpunk land of flying horse carriages, glowing swords and doe-eyed children evoking anime kids and Disney heart melters too. The vibe of this film... it's unlike anything from PIXAR, DreamWorks or even Blue Sky; and maybe that was part of the reason the project suddenly ceased to be. It's good that Netflix picked the film up RIGHT from where Blue Sky left off.

Nimona has a world in it that's just begging to be explored even further, because the film itself is like the tip of an iceberg in a self-aware way with its in-universe life of dragon-themed cereals, toys and of course the soldiers being the Gate Keepers of a world dictated by myth. So what other myths exist in the world of Nimona? Who knows?

As a film Nimona is un-pretentious entertainment that knows it's audience likes multilayered worlds that live beyond the screen, that animation is best when it's a remix of long-standing tropes and styles making for an experience that's unconventional yet it becomes a foundation in itself.

Nimona gets 4/5 stars. 8/10 IMDb points.