Nimona’s zany shtick gets old quick

A disgraced knight, sworn to a code of honour, Ballister Boldheart, and a hyperactive shapeshifter, scorned by all, Nimona, team up to root out corruption at the centre of their kingdom.

Based on the graphic novel by ND Stevenson, and set in a futuristic mediaeval world, Nimona‘s bold science fantasy setting is refreshing in itself and is portrayed gorgeously: the animation, the character and set design, the direction, it’s all a joy to experience. The story zips along and the two main characters make for an entertaining double act, Ballister the straight man and Nimona the comedy man.

My use of the terms “straight” and “man” are a bit ironic, as the film is unashamedly LGBTI+. Ballister is gay, but that is never the focus of the story, and his lover is a dashing man named Ambrosius Goldenloin(!), and then there’s the casting of RuPaul of RuPaul’s Drag Race fame(!) All this plus the science fantasy setting helps to give an enjoyable and slightly campy vibe reminiscent of The Hunger Games or The Fifth Element. Nimona “her”self, the shapechanger, is apparently a cypher for writer ND Stevenson who is “non-binary, or something like it” — his words (he also uses any gendered pronoun).

But that leads us to the only bum note, and it’s a pretty big one: Nimona herself comes off as an ADHD, egoist who is hyped up on a speedball of caffeine, sugar and E numbers 102, 104, 122, 129 and 211. Basically, she is less charming than she is meant to be; her zany shtick gets old quick. Stevenson has also stated that he himself has ADHD and is bipolar; Nimona is basically Stevenson, or something like it. Setting aside LGBTI+ issues for a moment, any character this hyperactive, unstable and egoistic who does not have an arc where they try to fix that aspect of themselves — indeed, that aspect is lauded — is always going to make for an irritating and hard-to-sympathise-with character. Stevenson would have done better to divorce the non-binary narrative from his own ADHD and bipolar. There seems to be no real reflectiveness on this character flaw or even acknowledgement that this is indeed a character flaw; where is Nimona’s journey?

Nonetheless, this is a very entertaining film. Beautiful and quirky. It’s just a shame Nimona wasn’t slightly more likable or on a journey to overcome her character flaws.

4/5

© 2023 Bryan A. J. Parry

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