Nimona

Nimona at a high level, in my opinion, is a story about a pair of outcasts struggling with how society perceives them and the challenges they face trying to just live the way that they want to live. I FULLY understand that there are much more specific themes that the author and other creative minds involved are trying to get across. But the strength of Nimona actually lies in how well it handles this as an abstract. But more on that later.

My rough ratings are as follows:

• Quality: 6/10
• Story: 8/10
• Message: 10/10
• Overall: 8/10

Quality:

The movie is good. But in terms of quality, it is hard to say much else. There was never a point where I wanted to stop watching it. However, there also were not any points where I was "gripped" and felt compelled to continue watching it.

The fact that I didn't feel any urge to stop does say one positive thing though; the pacing is good. And for that reason, it tips a notch past the half-way mark for me. 

On the comedic side of things, there is a decent string of gags. They aren't the best. But, they weren't so bad that I found myself sighing at any of them. It is an animated feature, so on some level in North America that means it is aimed at kids or family. But, I have also seen family oriented movies with better comedy.

At the end of the day, if the lens through which you view movies is all about the quality, this one isn't going to knock your socks off.

Story:

For me, the story works well. It isn't amazing. But it wins a couple of points for me. There are no real "Deus ex-machina" and there are no plot twists which are totally impossible to predict. In my opinion, it should always be *possible* to predict the plot twists and outcomes even if it isn't obvious. Movies which introduce new information at the last minute or simply ignore all available evidence treat the audience like idiots.

A good story provides enough evidence to allow you to suspect the correct outcomes but provides enough competing evidence to keep you unsure until the reveal. And this movie does that. 

I would also say that the movie is more original than most Hollywood productions and I can appreciate that it tries to tackle a lot of complex themes, even if most of them revolve (on some level) around the same core message.

Also, where I pointed out that there were no points where I wanted to stop, this speaks to a strong story. If your story can drive someone away from it, that speaks to bad story telling. The fact that I wasn't strongly compelled to continue however, is not a fault in the story telling my opinion, but rather in the delivery. In other words, a bad story drives you away, a good story can hold your interest. But the difference between a good and a great story is more about how it is presented.

I'll also applaud the story for how the love interest in worked in. Specifically in that it isn't forced into the story. It isn't a love story. There is neither a reason for there to be a love interest or not. And it is treated that way. I really wish more stories would cut out these useless plot lines that just exist to try and cram in more elements to cater to more people. Even more impressive is that the romance part of the story is pressed more even though it really does tie in nicely with the central theme (in my opinion).

On the story, it is clear that this story is a labor of love. The story itself is good. It could be made better from a cinematic perspective. But I don't think it was originally made to be a massive movie hit. For instance, I think that the tension in the reveal on the true culprit could have been delayed with a few more plot twists and some of the chase scenes could have been shorter. But, all in all, the story itself is pretty solid.

Message:

The message is where this movie really shines. I often find that movies will either be very vague about a their message (usually when it isn't the focus anyway) or they go full bore in the other direction and try to ram a very specific message down your throat.

Nimona does a VERY good job of generalizing it's message and making it available for a much broader audience. This really is where the movie shines. It even has layers, and those are also INCREDIBLY well executed. 

For me, the main example of this is the relationship between Ambrosius and Ballister. People in their situation would be treated much like Nimona within society, but the story here COMPLETELY normalizes it. It isn't focused on. It isn't attacked or questioned. And it isn't shoved down your throat. It just is. It is simply treated as what it is and what it should be. A relationship between two people.

Dad Thoughts:

This movie was pretty good to watch with my daughter (9 yrs old). She enjoyed it enough, and there was a scene at the end with Ambrosius and Ballister kissing which prompted some disgust from her. And, back to the layers, I thought that this created an excellent opportunity to put that central message from the story into practice.

The movie has some heavier elements as well though. For instance, of the trickier problems it tackles are depression and suicide. They aren't phrased as such. But those scenes can be hard to watch. I'm not really sure what the right age group is for this movie. I'm quite certain my daughter didn't fully grasp the gravity of that scene. And I'm not sure if that is for the best or not. 

She did re-watch the movie almost immediately despite it not seeming to be a very exciting movie for her. So, I think it left her with some questions.

Overall:

Nimona is a decent movie. It seems like it could have benefitted from a larger budget (not sure what the budget was so that is a bit of a guess). But then, a larger budget may have also brought in more scrutiny and changes. So I'm torn on that. 

The story is good and it is entertaining enough to keep you watching until the end. The message is great. I would definitely watch it with your kids as I suspect that they would have questions even if they don't know how to ask them.