‘Nimona’ Rates 100% on Rotten Tomatoes after Annecy Premiere

A magical, mischievous new antihero is ready to win over streaming viewers this month in Nimona, the ND Stevenson webcomic adaptation rescued from the fall of Blue Sky by Netflix and Annapurna, brough to life by DNEG Animation and helmed by Spies in Disguise directors Troy Quane and Nick Bruno. The pic will release globally on June 30.

Set in a futuristic medieval world, the CG-animated feature centers on Ballister Boldheart (voiced by Riz Ahmed), a knight falsely accused of a terrible crime, who finds his only chance of restoring his good name in a mayhem-loving teenage shapeshifter named Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz). Things are complicated by the fact that Ballister was sent to destroy this permutating pink “monster” … and the knight hunting them down happens to be his ex (Eugene Lee Yang).

The film received its world premiere at the Annecy Festival on Wednesday, and the first batch of critical reviews are raves, ranking the energetic and empowering fantasy-adventure a juicy 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 10 compiled reviews. While it is a small sample, it’s still quite a feat for an animated family feature to win over cinephiles across the board. Nimona is praised for its fresh take on an important (if well-trod) inclusive message, feisty humor, queer representation and compelling visuals.

Read on to see what the critics are saying:

 

“Easily the most appealing thing about Nimona is the outside-the-box animation style. How often have you flipped through the ‘art of’ book for some big-budget animated feature and wondered why the movie didn’t match the brilliant concept art that went into its making? Well, Nimona won’t leave you feeling that way … The characters are computer-rendered in 3D, but gone are the lines and photoreal surfaces, rendered like dynamic comic book panels instead. The ‘camera’ work and editing have loosened up, too, combining with Christophe Beck’s thrash-metal score to yield a distinctly teen-friendly toon.”

— Peter Debruge, Variety

 

“Nimona never loses sight of the fun, delivering an exhilarating adventure filled with mind-blowing set pieces. Still, the movie has enough layers to keep adults engaged as it explores the danger of totalitarian states, how tradition often gets in the way of personal achievements, and even gender fluidity. However, instead of letting the seriousness of these subjects get in the way of creating a light-hearted story that can be enjoyed by parents and children alike, Nimona masterfully weaves its many themes into a narrative that’s still thrilling and funny.”

— Marco Vito Oddo, Collider

 

“[The film presents a] message of queer and trans acceptance (ND Stevenson, author of the source material, identifies as transmasculine and bi-gender). Ballister is in a relationship with another knight … And as Ballister soon learns, accepting Nimona for who she is means understanding her need to transition between forms. ‘What would happen if you held it in!?’ asks Ballister. ‘I’d die,’ deadpans Nimona. She’s joking, at the time at least. But the film makes the case that living within a society that views anything different as monstrous and to be feared will eventually take a considerable toll, even on an effervescent agent of chaos like Nimona.”

— Wendy Ide, ScreenDaily

 

“Nimona is a rebellious, bold animated movie with a fantastic protagonist, a vibrant retro-futuristic world rich in detail and full of possibilities for more stories, an important queer-coded story of longing and being an outsider, and a cool visual style (though it has some problems). It is a miracle that this film exists, and regardless of audience response, nothing can take that away from it.”

— Rafael Motomayor, SlashFilm