Jump to the good stuff: The Story | Some Thoughts | Final Verdict
The Story:
Nimona is an animated science fantasy adventure film based on the graphic novel of the same name by ND Stevenson.
Nimona is about a walled kingdom that was attacked by a “Great Black Monster” a thousand years ago. The monster was vanished by the heroine Gloreth, and the citizens have been waiting for its return ever since.
Now the land is guarded by a group of elite knights, all of them descendants of Gloreth. Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed) is the first commoner to be knighted and his best friend and lover, Ambrosius Goldenloin (Eugene Lee Yang), a direct descendant of Gloreth, is also to be knighted.
During the knighting ritual, the queen hands Ballister his sword and the end opens and shoots lasers that kill the queen. In a knee jerk response to get the sword away from Ballister, Ambrosia raises his weapon and cuts off Ballister’s arm. Knowing that it looks as if he had killed the queen, Ballister flees.
While in hiding, Ballister makes himself a prosthetic arm and becomes friends with a young shapeshifting woman named Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz), who wants to be his evil sidekick. After a bit of convincing that he is not evil and was set up, Nimona decides to help him prove his innocence.
There’s much more to the story, but I don’t give anything away. This is worth seeing.
Some Thoughts:
The movie is quick to set up the characters and landscape, and when Nimona shows up, things really get moving. She’s a fireball of energy, darting to and fro, setting the tone and pace of the film.
Although the basic premise of the story is the need to prove Ballister’s innocence, it’s also about how society misrepresents people. Because Nimona is a shape shifter, she’s assumed to be the bad guy. Nobody questions it except Ballister, who has seen her good nature. I’m not going to ruin the story and get into this in depth but suffice it to say that Nimona’s story is an allegory for how it feels to be transgender.
When Ballister first meets Nimona, he tries to get her to keep to the shape of the girl. This is the shape that makes him comfortable, the one he understands. She tries to explain that she needs to change, that her insides become itchy when she doesn’t. Ballister doesn’t understand, but slowly comes to accept her for who she is.
As for Ballister’s relationship with Ambrosius, it’s refreshing to see gay representation that isn’t a plot point. Although Ballister plays down his love for Ambrosius, it’s never a major discussion…past the fact that Ballister’s lover sliced off his arm. The pain is there, even if Ballister insists Ambrosius only did it to save the queen.
It’s the subtleties in this fast paced and highly entertaining film that make it great.
The Final Verdict:
Nimona is a well written and animated film that deserves to be seen. The action never stops, nor do the laughs, and the story is witty. While young children will enjoy Nimona for the action, humor and adventure, adults will get the extra benefit of the more subtle aspects of the story. Nimona is a win/win.
You can see Nimona on Netflix.
