SPOILER FREE
Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust are joined by some new emotions, creating turmoil inside of Riley’s mind.
“Inside Out 2” is the follow up to the very well received Pixar film “Inside Out.” This film explored a young girl’s difficult transition moving from Minnesota to San Francisco through the personification of her emotions inside her mind.
The sequel follows that basic idea and explores Riley’s transition into high school and the beginning of puberty. When the puberty alarm goes off in Riley’s mind in the middle of the night, the original emotions are distraught. They must share their space with Anxiety, Embarrassment, Envy, and Ennui — with cameos from Nostalgia. These emotions take over and cause trouble in Riley’s mind — and in her real life.
With a runtime of only 96 minutes, this movie moves quickly and engages the audience. It knows when to speed through and when to take a breath. This is an important quality for any movie but especially one meant for children. In my theater, any silence was only filled by the gasps and laughs of children.
“Inside Out 2” hits many of the same emotional notes as its predecessor. The themes of togetherness, acceptance, and embracing change ring true by the film’s conclusion. It sends positive messages to children about staying true to themselves and recognizing the importance of all of their emotions.
For adults, this movie provides plenty of nostalgia. It very accurately portrays the experience of feeling anxiety and insecurity of the first time and how that can impact our relationships. However, that accuracy has a nasty side effect. The entire movie was very anxiety inducing as I was transported back into my insecure middle school brain. The moment that this movie captures makes it more difficult to feel the same warmness that the first movie evokes.
For children slightly younger than Riley is in the movie (13), it would be a perfect reflection and preparation for that pivotal time. However, younger children would likely not be as engaged since the story is more complex. Pixar has been known for making movies that adults can enjoy as well, but I do not think “Inside Out 2” falls under this category. Its message is much more specific, and its jokes are distinctly juvenile.
Keeping with the legacy of Pixar, the animation in “Inside Out 2” is very impressive. It looks just as imaginative and beautiful as the first movie. The design of the new characters perfectly evoke the emotions they embody. They also experimented with combining different animation styles in the movie. While this was very well done, it is a sign that Pixar may be lagging behind other studios. It was founded as a beacon of innovation, but most major studios have already experimented with the animation styles that Pixar is only now introducing. Pixar is not in trouble by any means, but it is safe to say that its role in the industry is changing.
“Inside Out 2” was fun and a solid kid’s movie. I would recommend it for children 7-12. It is not groundbreaking by any means, but it shows that Pixar is still in the game — and probably has some very anxious designers.