Nimona on Netflix

[hammerofglass]

I thought it was a decent kid's movie taken on its own merits, it's not bad by any means.

But as an adaptation it's so completely different from the comic that I don't see why they even bothered to license it. It's not like it had a ton of name recognition.

If you haven't read the comic this isn't a spoiler because it's right in the premise: Ballister is an actual mad scientist villain who is openly controlled opposition for the "heroic" Institute champion Goldenloin, and Nimona doesn't just joke about killing enemies but actually does it so casually Ballister is horrified. It's a completely different story. It's pretty good, they should adapt it into a movie someday.

I was actually surprised to find out Nate Stevenson was even involved in this with how radically it changed his comic. Just a paycheck I assume.

[Winter]

I thought it was a decent kid's movie taken on its own merits, it's not bad by any means.

But as an adaptation it's so completely different from the comic that I don't see why they even bothered to license it. It's not like it had a ton of name recognition.

If you haven't read the comic this isn't a spoiler because it's right in the premise: Ballister is an actual mad scientist villain who is openly controlled opposition for the "heroic" Institute champion Goldenloin, and Nimona doesn't just joke about killing enemies but actually does it so casually Ballister is horrified. It's a completely different story. It's pretty good, they should adapt it into a movie someday.

I was actually surprised to find out Nate Stevenson was even involved in this with how radically it changed his comic. Just a paycheck I assume.

You can definitely tell that this was made by Disney before it switched studios. Personally the comic isn't a favorite of mine as I find it to be just to dark while the film, as per-usual for Disney, lightens things up with a happy ending and more heroic characters.

However, it is missing that ND Stevenson charm that was abundant in the comic. What I like about ND's work is that he always puts characters first and while that's present in the film a lot of more, for lack of a better term, Shakespearean levels of writing are kinda absent. The film is still good, the scene where Nimona goes to commit suicide is so POWERFUL but I felt that her rampage in the comic was more personal.

It's like, the difference between Belle and Beast vs. Catra and Adora. The Beast's outburst is terrifying and him saving Belle is moving but Catra activating the Portal and later dying to save Glimmer is SOUL Crushing and Uplifting.

At the same time there are changes that I think are an improvement over the original, I much prefer Ambrosius in the film over the comic as he comes off as a lot more likeable and it's easier to see why he and Ballister are in love. Stevenson take on exploring toxic relationships are always interesting but in Nimona it was a little hard for me to swallow (She-Ra handled this much better with Catradora IMO). Here I had an easier time getting engaged in this relationship.

I personally think the comic would be a hard sell as a movie and at the very least we still got a good film and one that's brought Stevenson to a wider audience which, along with She-Ra, might set him up as one of THE creators for this generation.

[stryke]

I was actually surprised to find out Nate Stevenson was even involved in this with how radically it changed his comic. Just a paycheck I assume.

From what I've read he was pretty involved so you could see it more as an 'Author's saving throw' like Kirkman with Invincible where on coming back they attempt to make some improvements on the original work on based on the reception to both it's certainly paid off.

[hammerofglass]

Two days later and I'm still chuckling at the sea otter/river otter bit. Mostly because it's the exact kind of getting completely distracted by trivia that I'm prone to in everyday life.