Review by Jan Mangion
The sequel to one of Pixar’s smartest works to date, Inside Out 2 sees the return of Riley and her emotions inside her head. She is now all grown up, about to enter high school, and experiencing puberty. She adapts to this sudden and big change in her life when four new and complex emotions enter the fray.
Comparing it to Pixar’s work and sequels over the last few years, Inside Out 2 is one of the better ones and it’s a worthy follow-up to the 2015 Best Animated Winner. The animation with every design is top-notch and filled with incredible detail and a vast amount of colors which are the standards you expect when watching a Pixar movie. I loved the simple creative approach they took but also challenging to execute. There is one scene depicting a situation that many people go through involving one of the new emotions that surprised me with how accurate and unsettling its depiction is.
Speaking of the new emotions, Maya Hawke as Anxiety is a super addition to the cast. She has the most screen time here and she personifies the emotion of how it looks and the negative feelings we experience inside our heads. Ayo Edebiri as Envy also has plenty of time to shine here. I also liked how it paid more attention to Riley’s development here. She is dealing with excitement because of her new change with her school life, and hockey team but also inclusiveness, stress, and awkwardness. Seeing a new path of her character being internally explored was an intelligent move and probably my favorite aspect of this movie. It doesn’t have a dull moment with the main cast delivering to the max, and it’s embarrassing that I had to sit through a 10-minute intermission in the cinema I watched.
However, it isn’t that surprising to say that it is not on the same level as the original. It falls into the same trap as its fellow Pixar sequels have done, where it lacks the emotional resonance or punch the original had. It goes by extremely fast. It’s only 95 minutes and characters talk quickly between one and the other. There also aren’t many moments where it slows down and I wish it gave us the time for the emotions to take the spotlight and absorb their creativity. The new emotions are the ones that suffer the most here apart from Anxiety. The humor also doesn’t quite stick the landing from the main emotions with the laughs coming mostly from a minor character named Pouchy who is clearly taking the piss on Dora The Explorer.
Inside Out 2 isn’t anything groundbreaking as it rethreads into familiar ground with what the main emotions experience. However, it’s another quality addition to Pixar’s locker room which will again impact both kids and adults.
Final Score: ✰✰✰1/2