Iโm happy that Netflix got the movie and finished it themselves because this movie is so good! I wasnโt expecting that much and the only thing I know is that it was based off on a webcomic, but when I sat down and watched it, I was sold till the very end.
The first act was kinda fast paced and I was still getting used to the character and set design from what I seen from the trailers, but when the second act happened, the movie started to slow down and properly show itโs story beats in a much better way since itโs now allowed to breathe. The comedy was also good.
I love Nimona and how sheโs animated. Sheโs so expressive and kinda cartoony but she also serves as an allegory for how transgender and non-binary people are treated in society. How they use shapeshifting as that is very smart, especially since the author of the webcomics is also trans. I also like Ballister and Ambrosiusโ relationship in the movie, felt very genuine and how it played out throughout the movie felt like a medival romantic drama.
I actually didnโt expect that the Director would be the twist villain and tbh, sheโs very realistic, using the media in the kingdom to keep the people away from the truth is one example. I liked how Ballister was uneasy about Nimonaโs shapeshifting and wanted her to just be a girl, similar to how people woud rather want trans or genderfluid people to be as they are. You can be gay and still be transphobic and vice versa. I also liked the twist that the kingdomโs history is a lie and the truth is that it was formed from a little girl hating her own best friend because society at that time told her sheโs a monster.
There were some bad parts in the movie like Thod (Nimonaโs right, heโs extremely punchable) but that didnโt deter me from enjoying it. Itโs up there with Across the Spider-Verse as the best animated movie of 2023 for me.