Nimona recently came out on Netflix and it’s making quite a bit of waves on their platform. I actually had vaguely seen the cover of the graphic novel it’s based upon but never read it. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I actually found it to be quite an enjoyable film.
The film’s main hero is Ballister Boldheart. He’s a knight in a very futuristic world that somehow still plays with swords and metal armor. He’s the first knight to be the leader of warriors despite being of common blood. But in his official ceremony, his sword somehow fires a laser out of its handle and kills the queen.
And in just a few moments, he becomes the most wanted man in the kingdom. But a very peculiar girl named Nimona sees his wanted poster and decides that he’s perfect to be her new boss in crime.
Except Ballister Boldheart is not a bad guy at all. But Nimona is delightful devilish and nearly un-killable. Whether he likes it or not, he will have to make her his sidekick if he wants to survive long enough to clear his name.
Just a warning, reading past this will have major spoilers. Yes, I highly recommend the movie for both kids and adults. That’s all you need to know.
I will say that I was a little surprised that Nimona was a movie with strong LGBT themes. Ambrosius Goldenloin is unsurprisingly gay, but in some movies and TV shows you would just assume so. Half-way through the movie, it’s crystal clear that him and Ballister Boldheart are literal boyfriends.
Which I’m sure the Republicans watching the movie are probably all mad and rage filled right now.
As the film also low-key tackles transgender people too as the author of the graphic novel is actually a trans-man. Nimona is not a trans anything in the movie, but her shape shifting abilities are a pretty obvious metaphor once you think about it. Social conservatives definitely are not going to be happy that the movie basically makes hateful bigots the true villains of the story.
I was shocked to learn that Disney actually had the rights to this story years ago and the movie was supposed to come out in 2020. But since the film was so highly LGBT, they decided to cancel it. But Disney’s loss is Netflix’s gain and I hope they actually do come out with a sequel in a few years.