REVIEW: Nimona (2023)

Movie Reviews

Nimona has had an interesting path to the screen. This adaptation of ND Stevenson’s graphic novel began life at Blue Sky Studios, best known for animated comedies like Ice Age and Rio. The film was 70% complete when Disney purchased the studio and scrapped Nimona. A year later, Annapurna and Netflix would team up and salvage the film, which has been in Netflix’s top 10 movies since then, at least according to them. Nimona has an impressive cast, including Chloë Grace Moretz and Riz Ahmed, and received a lot of buzz for its subversive source material and unique animation style. Did Disney make a mistake in letting Nimona go, or was this a dodged bullet during an already-challenging year for the studio? Let’s get shifty. 

Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz) is a shape-shifter branded a monster by Gloreth, The City’s ancient heroine and founder. When a Knight named Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed) is framed for the murder of the Queen, Nimona offers to be his sidekick, spreading mayhem everywhere he goes. Can Ballister clear his name and regain the trust of the man he loves? Can Nimona find her place as more than a monster? 

The first thing that struck me about Nimona, aside from the obviously dazzling visuals, was the setting. The City is a strange mashup of medieval customs, modern technology, and punk sensibility. I’m not sure I like this. Machiavellian schemes plunge The City into chaos while the people get their updates from Instagram-like apps on pseudo-cell phones. This is entirely subjective, but I was disappointed to find the story doesn’t take place in a traditional fantasy time period. I haven’t read ND Stevenson’s graphic novel or the webcomic it started as, so I went in blind in this regard. Other media has done a better job of mashing time periods and cultures together, like Arcane for a recent example. This may not be a problem for others, but it distracted me and broke the immersion. 

I quite like the character designs in Nimona and how female characters like the Director are actually allowed to be pretty. Nimona’s shapeshifting is used expertly in fight scenes and chase sequences. Netflix is usually excellent about showcasing different animation styles, and Nimona makes a fine addition to their library. I don’t like the soundtrack that much, especially the songs. This just boils down to personal taste; I don’t like intentionally edgy or rebellious music. 

With that being said, I think some people are over-praising this movie. I don’t think it’s bad; on the contrary, I enjoyed it. However, I’ve seen headlines and YouTube thumbnails about how this film has Disney worried. I question that, personally. Disney is failing at the box office this year so far; I’m not denying that. But I’m not sure maintaining Nimona as a Blue Sky project and sending it to theaters would have saved Disney or made them tons of money. Nimona doesn’t strike me as a mainstream blockbuster, and if anything, I find Netflix to be a fitting home for this movie. It’s also difficult to envision a major animation studio releasing a movie that looks like this, let alone for people to then show up for it. Nimona also contains some adult humor Disney doesn’t include in its movies anymore, or even allow its subsidiaries to include. You can see that in the difference between The Incredibles and Incredibles 2. Finally, despite the claims by some that Disney has a gay agenda, they would never allow an openly gay protagonist like Ballister to be in a loving relationship as he has with Goldenloin. None of this is intended as a slight against the movie. Again, I actually think it’s good. But it doesn’t feel particularly cinematic, and it’s not Disney’s style at all. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that they didn’t want anything to do with it. On the other hand, we can wish they had left Blue Sky open and to their own devices. But modern Disney eats other companies and studios; it’s just how they function now. Hollywood is like a mythical creature slowly devouring itself until there’s nothing left. 

I’m sure the relationship between Ballister and Ambrosius will be a common topic. I like Ballister a lot. He’s the story’s straight man, which lends to some amusing moments as he gets to know Nimona and see her powers on display. We don’t get to know Ambrosius that well, which is a shame as so much of Ballister’s journey is intertwined with their romance. But I do like him from what little we see. He’s honorable and doesn’t break down easily. I particularly like the moment where he tells the Director how he’s feeling; he’s essentially losing it. Then we learn that this was all in his head, and he remained composed, telling her there’s nothing wrong. I find moments like this very honest; most of us would prefer to keep such information in, especially when speaking to a superior. Regardless of the muddled setting, he behaves as one would expect from a Knight.

I expected more from the movie’s villain. I mean the Director, not the generic ideas of prejudice and classism within society. She tells Nimona (disguised as Ambrosius) about her nightmare, in which she sees monsters invading The City. That explains her aversion to creatures like Nimona, but why does she oppose the Queen allowing commoners to become Knights? That’s Ballister’s status/story and why the Director chooses him as the scapegoat in her murder. She seems to conflate monsters with any outsiders, which confuses me. Her fear of someone like Nimona, justified or not, makes sense, and we see the genuine harm she can cause with her shape-shifting. Her fear of and opposition to someone like Ballister rising above his station makes far less sense. What threat does he pose to her? Even as a Knight, she is still his superior and teacher. They could not choose between a reasonable, thoughtful villain and an irrational, nutty one. Either way could have been great, but the Director, in her final state, is unworthy of the film’s other facets.

Overall, Nimona is an enjoyable but imperfect film. I don’t think it’s as amazing as some in the animation community have been saying, but it’s solid, and I appreciate its attempts to do something different, at which it succeeds.