If you followed the story about the production of Nimona from the days when it was initially in development at Blue Sky Studios before being shut down by Disney, the first thing one can say upon watching the final film is that all their years of asking for lip service from the LGBTQ+ community for background queer characters only rings hollow - given the nature of Nimona itself. For that alone, I'm very glad that this film was actually made - especially since it didn't deserve what happened to it.

Won't deny that the film's sense of humour was not always my thing, but I think that there's an infectious energy present to the chemistry between the title character and Ballister Boldheart which makes it all work. It helps that Chloë Moretz and Riz Ahmed are a wonderful pairing together, and I like the fact that it isn't afraid to present itself as an allegory for how queerness is treated especially among young audiences by the ruling adults. Which I suppose isn't all that surprising given the fact that it's based on a graphic novel written by ND Stevenson, but the presentation alone is more than enough to win over most children who will at least find something they can relate to in its title character. And above all, it's just very beautifully animated.

Had Blue Sky Studios been allowed to finish this, it would easily have been their best film to date. But I think that DNEG might just as well be a studio I'm ready to look out for within the coming days, if this film is anything to go by. For all I know, it's probably going to be better than whatever Disney has in store coming up this year.