Time: 99 Minutes
Voice Cast:
Chloë Grace Moretz as Nimona
Riz Ahmed as Ballister Boldheart
Director: Nick Bruno, Troy Quane

While I had heard of Nimona, I decided to check it out after it was nominated at the Oscars for Best Animated Film. From my small amount of research, I gathered that Nimona was originally in development at Blue Sky Studios, and when that studio was shut down by Disney, it seemed like this project would never be completed. Eventually, it got picked up at Netflix and Annapurna and it’s just as well, because I’m really not sure that it would’ve been this good under Disney.

This movie is based on a graphic novel and while I’m not familiar with it, I can certainly imagine this story as a graphic novel, especially with the visuals. It was very fun, fast paced, and full of this infectious energy throughout. The dynamic and chemistry between the two lead characters play a big part in that, and Chloe Grace Moretz and Riz Ahmed do amazing jobs at providing their voices. The humour was very hit or miss, very typical of a modern animated movie, but even its misses aren’t enough to take from the experience. There’s a lot of creativity to this fantasy setting, with some good worldbuilding. The story is perhaps overly simplistic but is also very heartfelt, and the emotional beats hit like they need to. As you watch Nimona, the queerness allegories become quite evident; it’s really a story of identity and prejudice as it focuses on the ostracization of the two leads. It even has a gay relationship which is actually central to the movie and not just thrown in (which definitely would’ve been a different case if Disney made the movie instead). It has a short runtime at 100 minutes in length, and while I liked the fast pace, I wished that the movie was a little longer.

The movie is directed very well by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane. The animation style is a little experimental, it will take some time getting used to and not everyone will be into it, but I found it to be exciting, fluid and stellar. This futuristic medieval world is a great fusion of multiple different types of settings, and the animation really helped to convey that.

Nimona is entertaining, creative, heartfelt and energetic, with vibrant and gorgeous animation. It is relatively under the radar alongside some of the more known animated movies from 2023 like Across the Spider-Verse and Disney’s movies, and I think it deserves some more attention.