On the one hand, as a straight white guy who\'s only experienced systemic oppression as an introvert in a society of extroverts that glorifies the violation of my boundaries, I\'m probably not qualified to comment on Nimona as a character internalizing her mistreatment to the point that she clearly believes that how she acts doesn\'t matter one jot.
On the other hand, her stupid chaotic gremlin attitude did grate on my nerves, and the fact that Ballister never actually manages to articulate the ways in which her wild, destructive impulsivity and childish refusal to think things through for even a second are dumb, counterproductive, and annoying (or at least, not without at first instead undercutting himself by being racist about it, tying her chaotic idiocy to her lifelong mistreatment in a way I don\'t appreciate) got on my nerves almost as much as the dance party I also didn\'t like much. It didn\'t quite undercut the obvious message, but I guess for me personally it fell a bit too much on the \"Making lots of noise and smashing stuff is fun!\" side of punk rock I don\'t much appreciate and never did, rather than the \"Actually good music which actually rewards thinking about\" side I do.
I will say your Robin Williams/Jim Carrey comparison forced me to look deep into my own heart and admit that it\'s probably just because I\'ve become a fuddy-duddy old man myself, and that I now have to force myself to ask myself the same question every time a stupid chaotic gremlin character is getting on my nerves, so in that sense this movie and this review specifically were probably good for me.
And it\'s not like I didn\'t like the movie? So... well, life goes on, and a generation of young people can like something I\'m too old for anymore I guess.
I read some old Roger Ebert reviews where he complained about how annoying he found Jim Carrey movies, and I figure sooner or later we have to admit that some movies aren't made for the likes of us. It's okay, but it makes them harder to review fairly.
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Punks Have Layers
Nimona tells the story of an unlikely alliance between Ballister, a former knight who is framed for murder, and a delinquent shapeshifter called Nimona, as they attempt to break open the conspiracy that keeps their advanced sci-fi society trapped in the Dark Ages.
Nimona works on two levels. The first is in watching the wacky antiques of its eponymous hero. Nimona is perpetually chipper, always rushing on to the next act of chaos, desperate to live up to her reputation of being a villain. I like this level less. I don't enjoy high-energy, zany comedy protagonists, as with Harley Quinn or Deadpool. But then again, these exact same sort of characters were all the rage when I was a kid, usually played by Jim Carrey or Robin Williams, so there is clearly a wider established audience that is fond of such characters. I once loved Carrey and Williams, so it is probably just a bitter age thing.
The second level, which I liked a lot more, is the movie's smart examination of labels. Ballister is not a villain, but society considers him one anyway. He aspired to be a knight, a designated "good person", but in spite of his virtues, the public are predisposed to dislike him because of his common background, making him the perfect fall guy. And despite suffering through all this, he struggles to realise it is his society that is at fault, and he is not just the victim of a few bad apples. As a result of that, he has his own ingrained prejudices to overcome, particular around Nimona, another nominal villain and nominal monster who only decided to start acting the part when she realised she could never convince people to give her a break.
These themes are easily transferable onto any maligned minority group in real life, Nimona picking gender queer people in particular. Nimona is essentially genderfluid, able to transform into anything she wants at any time. Sometimes she identifies as a girl, boy, or shark. Society treats her changes as abhorrent due to their draconian beliefs (and the fact that she keeps wrecking stuff). There is a parallel between how Nimona is regarded and how trans and non-binary people are, by the conservative elements of hers and our world. It is that same subversive wisdom behind Shrek, updated for the 2020s. It is just about subtle enough that the message would pass over the heads of the sort of small people who wouldn't want to hear it, but cheekily apparent to anyone else.
So all this to say that there are parts for anyone can enjoy. Kids will like the colourful, action set pieces and silly interplay between its heroes, and adults enjoy unpicking the clever analogy working underneath it all. I understand this was originally a shelved Disney project, and whilst it may not have the glorious standards of animation of a Disney movie, Nimona's escape from the clutches of the "family friendly" corporation was probably the only way to keep a lot of its more subversive commentary intact.