Ani-May-tion II: Nimona (Dir Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, 1h 39m, 2023)

 By all rights, Nimona shouldn't exist. BlueSky Studios, the people that originally began production on the adaption of ND Stephenson's graphic novel, way back in June 2015 has been dead for three years, the canned version of the film delayed several times, notably by the aquisition of 20th Century Fox by the Walt Disney Company, the very same people who would seemingly kill the film off on Febuary 2021. But like its hero, Nimona was tougher than than, clawing its way back to production, now the opening salvo of Annapurna Animation, a studio staffed and headed by a large number of Blue Sky Studios staffers, the finished film incorporating work from the cancelled film, and finally arriving on Netflix on June 30th 2023, subsequently picking up a Best Animated Film nomination at this year's Oscars. Here stands, at last, Nimona, the film they couldn't kill.

To be fair, I've been rooting for Nimona all along; I first came across Stephenson's comic a fair while back, just after the period when it hit bookshops in collected format, and its meld of science fantasy, supervillain and shapeshifting sidekick, and Stephenson's art and writing-otherwise seen in the excellent Lumberjanes, which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2024, and the cult, and beloved by much of my friendgroup, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018-2020). That whole opening paragraph? The summation of a best part of a decade of watching from the sidelines, seeing a work you've enjoyed-and that has emotionally resonated with you-be battered by the cruel elements of film production, seemingly die, and come back from the dead. That this film exists at all seems against all odds; that it's this good is almost worth it all.

They're the bad guys: Ballister (Riz Ahmed) and Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz)

In a techno-medieval kingdom-a beautiful blend of knights and stone castles and chivalry and Blade Runner style skyscrapers, cars, mechanical arms and a decidedly modern transit system and social media world-knights protect the walled-off kingdom from the outside world. One thousand years prior, the legendary hero, Gloreth defeated a monster-in suitably illuminated manuscript style-and founded the Institute of Elite Knights, where our hero, a commoner named Ballister (Riz Ahmed), is about to become one of their numbers, alongside his (boy)friend, Ambrosius (Eugene Lee Yang). However, tragedy strikes, with the Queen of the Kingdom seemingly murdered by Ballister, who, charged with a crime he did not commit, and losing an arm in the process, escapes to the underground of the Kingdom.

It's here that Ballister meets the teenage outcast Nimona, who appoints herself, much to Ballister's confusion, as his sidekick as a supervillain. Initially turning down her services, and promptly getting himself captured into the bargain, so he unwillingly forges a partnership with the pint-sized punk girl. Nimona is, frankly, the best thing about her titular film, Chloë Grace Moretz and the whip-crack fast animation that hits the sweet-spot between 2-D traditional and 3-D CGI animation imbuing her-and indeed much of the film-with an off-beat energy complete with throwing metal horns, a stylised, almost anime-esque set of facial expressions, and, given the character has long been an avatar for Stephenson himself, an unapologetically messy queer sensibility that carries on into the film at large.

Drawn to life: Concept art of Nimona.

There is, though, more to Nimona than a healthy disrespect for authority and a puckish charm, as she proceeds to reveal her secret abilities as a shapeshifter to break the duo out in spectacular fashion transforming from girl to whale to rhino to shark in a slickly done 'one-shot' that ends with them, back at their lair, beginning to plan how to clear the former knight's name, hatching a plot that eventually sees them face off against the schemes of the Director (Frances Conroy), the head of the Institute. Along the way, Ballister and Nimona begin to bond, despite the latter's guarded nature, and insecurity at others fearing her as a monster. Nevertheless, they begin to trust each other, even as the Director attempts to underplay the conspiracy she is seemingly embroiled in.

All this, however, changes once Nimona's true identity is unmasked, in a sequence that in its "show don't tell" use of visuals over dialogue to isolate and alienate the girl, who proceeds to flee into the wilds, her friendship with Ballister seemingly sundered by discoveries made by Ambrosius that reveals her connection to the very formation of the kingdom; so the film launches into a finale that sees a titanic clash between the city and Nimona, in which Ballister must choose between his duty to the city whose entire system is rotten, and the friend he has seemingly abandoned. It is also here, in a sequence where Nimona is acccepted for who she is, shapeshifting powers and all, that Nimona's subtextual elements meet the film's denoument.

Even without the film's queer subtext, Nimona is a charming, stylishly animated odd-couple action adventure.

Nimona is, undeniably, a queer film-this is, after all, a narrative focusing on two figures outside the norm of society, both feared by the collective and the figures in authority-it's also a film that, even without reading between the lines, casts a critical eye on American law enforcement and minorities, and their questionable efforts to reform. Nimona in particular is undeniably, and painfully sailently, a stand-in for those shunned by all manner of discrimination, in particular homophobia, and indeed transphobia-again, it's difficult not to consider hers as a fictionalisation of Stephenson in places. Its aesop, other than to embrace your own messiness is in a sense of comminity, its denoument one that our man on the inside, Ambrosius, and the Kingdom at large realises that the true 'monster' is the authorities that have, for the last thousand years, kept the kingdom behind walls and distrustful of monsters, and the allegory they represent.

That this is the story thread that undoubtedly gave Disney cold feet says far more about a company that gleefully hauls out its regular "first gay character", yet will edit and entirely cancel projects, than any difficulty in the film's production at Fox; perhaps its delay to finally release via Netflix and to be animated by Annapurna was worth it for this film to be release unbowdlerised. More than this, though, Nimona is a film that wears its queerness unapologetically on its sleeve, and where its heroine is equally chaotic; at points practically running on her unpredicability or in the undeniably endearing double-act between her and Ballister that sees Moretz and Ahmed riff off each other and eventually end up in a surprisingly endearing friendship where their mutual respect for each other is, ultimately, what proves the difference.

There is an undeniable charm to this chaotic energy, the very manifestion of its protagonist's energy in the centre of the film, and it is this, more than anything, that makes Nimona's success all the sweeter; and it is sweet, to see this scrappy underdog of a film win through, against all odds.

Rating: Must See (Personal Recommendation)

Nimona is available to stream via Netflix in the UK and in the US.

Next week, to Japan, as we discuss the anime film adaption of music manga, Blue Giant.

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