Can Great Black Monsters Reform?: a review of Nimona

Directed by Nick Bruno & Troy Quane

Screenplay by Robert L. Baird & Lloyd Taylor

Story by Robert L. Baird, Lloyd Taylor, Pamela Ribon, Marc Haimes, Nick Bruno, Troy Quane, Keith Bunin

Based on Nimona by ND Stevenson

Produced by Karen Ryan, Julie Zackary, Roy Lee

Starring

Chloë Grace Moretz as Nimona, a shapeshifter who insists on being the sidekick to Ballister Boldheart.

Mia Collins voices Nimona’s Demon Baby disguise.

Riz Ahmed as Ballister Boldheart, a former knight for the Institution who was kicked out when he was accused of murdering Queen Valerin.

Zayaan Kunwar as young Ballister

Eugene Lee Yang as Ambrosius Goldenloin, the champion knight of the Institution, direct descendant of Gloreth, and Ballister’s boyfriend.

Frances Conroy as The Director

Lorraine Toussaint as Queen Valerin

Beck Bennett as Sir Thoddeus Sureblade

RuPaul Charles as Nate Knight

Indya Moore as Alamzapam Davis

Julio Torres as Diego the Squire

Sarah Sherman as Coriander Cavaverish[

Karen Ryan as Gloreth. Ryan also voices a knight version of herself, as well as providing additional voices.

Charlotte Aldrich as young Gloreth. Aldrich also provides additional voices.

Cindy Slattery as Syntheya – voice of the Kingdom. Slattery also provides additional voices.

Sommersill Tarabek as an Institute Analyst. Tarabek also provides additional voices.

Lylianna Eugene as Patinece. Eugene also provides additional voices.

Edited by Randy Trager & Erin Crackel

Music by Christophe Beck

Production company Annapurna Pictures

Distributed by Netflix

Nimona is yet another feature that was much of the way through production when the major studio arbitrarily dumped it, and it got pulled out of the waste bin and resuscitated by Netflix. In in this case it was Disney which dumped the entire studio (Blue Sky) that was producing it.

I’m sure some Disney execs have since seen the finished product, and wondered what in the hell they were thinking. The fact is Nimona is an absolute hidden jewel, pulled from the rough.

The plot setup is like this: there is a monarchy, headed by a queen, and it’s a walled city, a kind of a blend of mediaeval and modern tech, where knights and video screens exist side by side, lasers and fishmongers. The wall has been there for a thousand years, and the monarch and knights buttress it to keep an ancient evil known as “The Great Black Monster” from attacking and destroying the city, as happened a millennium ago.

The present queen, Valerian, has had an episode of democratization, and appoints a commoner (Riz Ahmed as Ballister Boldheart) to her coterie of knights as a part of her “anyone can be a hero” policy. This is greeted with a variety of har-rumphs from the rest of the knights, not unexpectedly.

However, at the investiture ceremony, it turns out that Boldheart’s sword has been gimmicked, and fires a laser bolt that assassinates the queen. Boldheart ends up on the run, missing an arm (sliced off during the chaos) and his reputation.

While crafting a prosthetic replacement for his arm in his hideaway, he is visited by a strange, short, stout little ginger girl (Nimona, played by Chloë Grace Moretz) who sees in Boldheart a sympatico alienated character seen as evil by the greater community. Announcing herself as Boldheart’s sidekick, she displays an extraordinary variety of powers, including nearly unlimited shapeshifting ability.

Nimona has ‘grrl power’ which all too often in American animated features tends to get too self-conscious and forced to really work. Disney can be particularly bad about this. But when it works, it’s a thing of beauty (think Fiona from Shrek, Lana Kane from Archer, or Toph from Avatar), and Nimona, one of the most sophisticated and heartfelt characters to come along in years, is one of the best and most memorable of them. Some of the plot twists only serve to deepen and broaden her presence, making her unforgettable. She is, above all, genuine.

The pacing and dialogue are remarkably good, and the animation and art often breath-taking. This is probably the best animated feature of 2023, and could end up considered as a classic.

Now on Netflix.