Inside Out 2
A fun and compelling sequel to some of Pixar’s best work
It was certainly good to catch up with the gang of sentient, personified emotions living inside the mind of Riley, who has officially entered adolescence. Through the surprisingly accurate depiction of the many “joys” that accompany puberty, “Inside Out 2” is just as emotionally compelling as the first. And Pixar strikes yet again with their ability to tug relentlessly on those heartstrings.
As Riley begins this new chapter in her life, she is confronted not with the prospect of being separated from her best friends in the upcoming school year, which is only further complicated by the changes accompanying puberty. The most noticeable of these changes comes in the form of new emotions that begin to shake things up in a big way. We are first introduced to Anxiety, who soon becomes the catalyst for the emotional spiral Riley ultimately finds herself in. Joy and the other emotions are soon cast out by Anxiety and replaced with Embarrassment, En Oui, and Envy. While Joy, Sadness, Fear, and Anger struggle to return to headquarters, Riley is forced to navigate the meaning of these new emotions as her social life becomes more tumultuous.
In addition to having a wholesome story line, “Inside Out 2” is gorgeous. As expected, Pixar never fails to impress when it comes to animation. The creative character designs for the new emotion are spot on without coming across as heavy handed. The overly large eyes and chaotic shades of orange make the truly frantic nature of Anxiety’s character more pronounced. Meanwhile the curved, lazy lines and somber shades of gray express the apathetic nature of En Oui.
Although “Inside Out 2” does a lot of things well, there are a few questionable moments. For instance, the choice to briefly experiment with a drastically different style of animation out of nowhere. I’m not entirely sure why this decision was made since it doesn’t seem to serve a purpose over the course of the movie. This is not helped by an unclear fourth wall break that occurs during the same scene. I can appreciate the attempt at trying something new, but neither of those things worked and completely took me out of the story when they came up.
However, this sequel does do an excellent job of raising the emotional stakes organically, and in a way that aligns with the growing complexity of Riley’s life as she gets older. Although the struggles Riley faces are common to the teenage experience, personifying the negative emotions that can come with it makes her story more compelling. Giving these emotions a “voice” make Riley’s questionable choices not only understandable, but relatable no matter what your current age is. This also allows this sequel to really drive home the message that all emotions, even negative ones, have a purpose. Along those same lines, the choice to have our heroes from the previous movie unable to intervene, highlights the effect that these emotions can have on a person. However, I was a bit surprised by the gravity of this movie. But, simultaneously impressed by Pixar’s depiction of what Anxiety can actually feel like and how it can cause someone to make choices they normally wouldn’t.
Overall, “Inside Out 2” is a solid follow up to the first. I can’t say that I’ll revisit this one as I have with the first. Sequels are notoriously difficult to pull off. Especially when the first Inside Out was an absolute hit and potentially a classic Pixar movie, but it is definitely worth a watch.