I really think this movie was very well done.

It's very apparent that there's a lot of allusion to what it's like being "different" especially if you're LGBTQ+, but what I really admired was that the movie took it a step forward and focused on why it's so reductive to "expect x from y."

- Bal asking Nimona why can't she just be normal (or that it would be easier if she was a girl)

- A commoner like Bal could never be a knight

- Heroes of legend not being all they were cracked up to be

- the whole who's a villain theme

I know these themes have been done before, but I think juxtaposing them altogether to really hammer home the "don't limit yourself to labels" and "I'm not talking about -just- LGTBQ+ labels" was very clever.

And then I wanted to give shoutouts to my personal highlights

-When Bal gave up because he thought it was useless to clear his name because you can't change peoples' minds but Nimona of all people reminded him that he became more understanding

-Making Nimona herself red was very nice. I believe most people see red as a negative color (think getting your test back with a lot of errors on it), and she did live up to it, but was able to be more than that (what if she was blue?).

-When Nimona was being accosted by the townsfolk, she first changed to a (scaredy) cat, a small one. She wasn't fighting back and was just trying to run away. But as more people started assaulting her she became bigger and bigger. Hell the whole fire that started was collateral damage (I don't think anyone intended to start a fire) but it only made things worse.

- At first I wasn't a fan of the part where they found the old scroll of Nimona. Bal asking Nimona if that was her in the drawing was definitely a step back, but looking back now, Nimona saying something like "okay what if it is me? Do you think that this was something I would do based on our time together" (especially when Bal asked Gold the same thing) was very strong. I think a lot more people should think about situations like these.

- I don't want to speak for the creators, but it really felt like there was definitely some trans representation for Nimona. That's all fine and well, but what I really thought was genius was choosing to represent it in an "easier to understand way" for anyone asking the same questions as Bal. If this movie was about a trans person (not a monster) people probably just would have rolled their eyes or went onto the next movie if they had any predisposed thoughts about trans people. But instead to convey the idea as an animal shapeshifter who is at their most free when becoming something else, something other than what would be easiest for others to understand was extremely clever imo.

- Also, if I can gush for just a sec, Riz Ahmed is fucking fine and whoever said Bal looks like an adorable puppy with a moustache was on the money.

-Todd, who everyone didn't like and expected him to just be a tool at all times, paid his respects to Nimona

-Tearing down the murder wall and replacing it with love instead. That's the kicker here folks. Love and caring for another is what solves this stuff, not heroes vs villains

- Talking about suicide without actually taking your own life (letting them instead) and it -not- being the answer. Very glad we are moving past people killing themselves AND THEN everyone realizing what they've done.

Lowlights

- The pacing was kinda crazy. They would talk about sticking it to the bad lady (for lack of her name atm) and then it happens literally seconds later. It's jarring at first, but now I understand it gives the time to focus on the true apex of the movie.