Inside Out 2 Review
The addition of new emotions is fun, but this sequel fails to capture the magic of the first.
When Riley (Kensington Tallman) hits puberty, the emotions in her mind are joined by a host of new ones; Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser) and Ennui (Adele Exarchopoulos). Anxiety decides that now, she’s running the show, and boots Joy (Amy Poehler), Disgust (Liza Lapira), Fear (Tony Hale), Anger (Lewis Black) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith) out of the control room and into the vault of secrets. Now, with Anxiety on the verge of destroying Riley’s identity, the original gang must find their way back to the control room to stop her.
The first Inside Out movie was a unique, lightning in a bottle thing; showcasing a truly unique and wonderful interpretation of the mind and our emotions. It pulled on the heartstrings perfectly, and had a well thought out and engaging through line to keep us grounded to the struggles of the protagonists. It made you laugh, and cry.
This sequel, while sure to be perfectly entertaining for kids, unfortunately fails to recapture that magic. It’s too overcrowded, and the journey not only too nebulous for our heroes, but also a bit of an also ran; it’s too held together by the experience of Riley outside of the mind, instead of the struggles and interplay internally within the mind.
That being said, the new emotions are quite fun (and at times, a tad annoying). There’s also a heap of inventive elaboration around the Inside Out world, with the sar-chasm and the stream of consciousness particularly fun. There are also a lot of laughs, and the characters in the vaults of secrets are amazing; pouchy had me laughing out loud frequently.
Ultimately, this is the sort of film that will certainly keep you in your seat throughout, and will be a blast for kids, but a classic Pixar it is unfortunately not.
