For the first half of 2023, there has only been a handful of movies that hit theaters that have done well. Two of those were animated features with Super Mario Brothers being a huge surprise hit, and Across the Spider Verse, making a case for being one of the best animated super hero movies of all time. However, not every great animated film has been released in theaters this year and Nimona is one of those sneaky movies that fits in that category. Nimona is based off the popular webcomic series of the same name by ND Stevenson and was recently added to the Netflix library.
I’m not 100% sure why the marketing for this movie was so below the radar, but I count myself lucky that I did catch the trailer on Youtube.
The movie focuses on Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed), a knight that comes from a lowly background and wishes to serve the futuristic kingdom, which still has a very medieval royal structure. To keep it spoiler free, I will say that after a series of unfortunate events, he befriends a young woman with shapeshifting abilities named Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz) who seems to want to help save the kingdom from a foul plot, but at the same time, also cause as much chaos along the way as possible.
I admit I never read the webcomic series, so I had no defined expectations coming in. The movie is fun and light, and while it took a few minutes into the film to find its footing, it got there and had me hooked. The character Nimona is a fun and easy protagonist to latch on too. The chemistry between her and Ballister feels organic and never forced which makes the friendship seem all the more likeable. Though I would have enjoyed a bit more thoughtful explanation as to how this world came to be as it was, I enjoyed the mix of futuristic tech and medieval storytelling. Another area for improvement could have been getting into the mindset of the antagonist as I wasn’t quite sure what was really driving them even as we got to the end.
I do want to take a minute to talk about the cast who did a terrific job, especially Chloë Grace Moretz. You could tell she was probably having a blast with this character, and it came through so well. Also, one voice I wish we got more of was Beck Bennett playing Sir Thoddeus Sureblade, just because Beck Bennett is also such a great VO talent and plays cocky jerks so well!
DNEG Animation really did an amazing job with the style for this production. In the last couple of years, Sony and Dreamworks have up’ed the game with Puss and Boots and Spider-Man in the theaters, but DNEG showed that even on smaller budget, a beautiful film can still be produced.
Final Thoughts
Nimona at its core, leans on some of the usual “unlikely friendship” and “not what’s on the outside” tropes, but I had such a fun time watching this movie, I was able to forgive those and even let out a snort at a couple of the funnier scenes. The violence is not overdone so if you have older kids, this is a great movie that shouldn’t go over their heads. The VO work is well done, and the animation is sharp. It may not be on par with the larger budget flicks, it definitely looks better than some other offerings on Netflix, such as the new Kung Fu Panda series.
Nimona – 8.5/10
All in all, Nimona is a fun and lighthearted flick that doesn’t try to be more than it is. Though it had some areas for improvement and some standard tropes, it’s slick animation style, enjoyable cast, and easy to follow plot make it a must add to you summer watch list.
Nimona can currently only be seen on Netflix.
