Where I Watched It: Netflix

English Audio Description Provided By Roundabout Entertainment

Narrated by: Andy Solas

I’ve been seeing quite a lot of posts online about a certain film that Disney refused to release. It’s basically a copy paste, and it’s such an odd flex, and clearly targeting Disney in the continual bullshit culture war perpetuated by a fascist Governor. And, yet, when just a week before, another film that Disney originally had no plans of releasing was finally brought to life by Netflix… crickets. Fucking crickets.

Yeah, despite what your angry Fox News buddy would ahve you believe, Sound of Freedom surprisingly isn’t the only film released this summer once owned by Disney. nimona, the film about a gay knight, was also originally something that Disney inherited when they bought out 20th Century Fox and inherited all the projects on deck. And that meant some projects were dropped. BOTh nimona and Sound Of Freedom were originally developed by Fox, only to be dropped by Disney. Nimona was still in early production, so it was more of a turn around, whereas Sound Of Freedom was shelved for the time being.

but, since this is a review about nimona, which started at Fox’s Blue Sky Studios (the studio that brought you Ice Age), we will focus on that. Sound Of Freedom fans, I’m sure your time will come soon.

I thought this was a delightfully original film about a knight framed who must align with an unlikely entity to prove his innocence. That entity, of course, is Nimona, a shape-shifting outcast voiced by Chloe Grace Moretz.

And yes, this is the gayest animated film developed for a wide audience. i say that, because I’m sure there’s an animated short or something that defies that being a broader statement, but when you have a proudly out character named Sir Goldenloin, it feels like something that came up conceptually in a sketch on RuPaul’s Drag Race. It’s unabashedly what it is, and it also may not be for everyone. And that’s something that should be OK. Just like how people still want to watch Jim Caveziel bleach his hair and fight sex trafficking, there’s an audience for nimona. No one ever has to watch anything. you can always choose not to. Both films were cast off, and both have every right to exist in this space.

Nimona promotes a story about a knight whose main problem isn’t his sexuality, but rather the fact that this one job he’s been dying to do, he can’t because he was framed. It’s a project worth mentioning, because his character’s sexuality is never met with any kind of contempt, nor does it ever become the focal point of any character in this film as to whether they are good are bad. it’s just like people in nimona are who they are, the world accepts that, and we can have a story where the lead character is something without exploring decades of being held as a second class citizen.

There is a bit of that in nimona, but it feels a little less LGBT with her character, and more the fact that people are afraid of what they don’t know, and ancient prophecies. I suppose you could choose to read into that, and draw a conclusion, but remember that Nimona shapeshifts into so many different things of different sizes during the movie, that it feels a lot more How To Train Your Dragon. in that film, people feared something because they had been told to for so many years, and it wasn’t until the plot of the movie rolled out that the usefulness and empathy of the dragons could be seen by the Vikings.

Here, it’s that. it’s not a biblical allegory. if it is, then so is how To Train your Dragon. But, it’s still a strong story either way, full of rich characters who are atypical of what you would find in any other animated film.

The audio description here does a great job of trying to always make sure that we know what this fantasy world looks like. My only problem with the film is that it has this odd blend of feeling like it’s embracing this King Arthur/Sword In The Stone mentality, but mixing in 21st century technology. I never felt like the world in which these characters exist was explained, how there can be Knights and mythical beasts, but at the same time… cell phones and TV’s.

Last year, in the middle of the summer, Netflix surprised with The sea beast (honestly, a film that shares some similar themes as well), which went on to an Oscar nomination. I wouldn’t be surprised if nimona ended up in the same place. I think it’s great they rescued this along with AnnaPurna, and it lives in this space. in a world full of sequels, there’s something refreshing about nimona.

But, if it’s not your thing, I suppose that’s why there’s a thousand other films on Netflix for you to watch.

Final Grade: A-