Nim's Island

2008 • 96 minutes

About this movie

Anything can happen on Nim's Island, a magical place ruled by a young girl's imagination. It is an existence that mirrors that of her favorite literary character, Alex Rover - the world's greatest adventurer. But Alexandra, author of the Rover books, leads a reclusive life in the big city. When Nim's father goes missing from the island, a twist of fate brings her together with Alexandra. Now they must draw courage from their fictional hero, Alex Rover, and find strength in one another to conquer Nim's Island. Based on the book by Wendy Orr and Kerry Millard.

Ratings and reviews

Nim's Island is a cute colorful diversion that has a story that will show it's strong creativity and has ingredients to inspire. No spoilers, but there is one questionable element to the end of the story where I was thinking "is Alexandra Rover going to do it or not?" The decent CGI and special effects surprisingly gives effective charm and cuteness. The story first shows us the background/depth of our main protagonist (Nim) and gives us an opportunity to see and explore the South Pacific Island and then when the buccaneers arrive, the story gets really serious. The story brings in a message about showing that the wild outdoors is no place for human civilalization. Also, Alexandra may have Agoraphobia (which makes her a stereotype), but that's the big thing to inspire humans to have courage and confidence. and it's also about helping others. The music by Patrick Doyle is decent enough at best, it does what it has to do. Nim can talk to her animal buddies which reminds me of George of the jungle, but in a Hawaiian form. Nim's Island gets a solid recommendation for families for sure.

Honestly, the way the writer's agoraphobia is handled is pretty terrible. As someone who intermittently suffers from it, this movie is a great example of how NOT to treat let alone cure this dibilitating mental illness.

This story showcases the struggles between fierce independence and interdependence, and manages to demonstrate how the surrender of our control can benefit other people. It displays the themes of loyalty, love, and great courage. (And this movie is so much fun to watch!!)