Inside Out 2 Review

Inside Out 2 Review

We’ve had to wait nine years but we finally got a sequel to Inside Out with Inside Out 2. Despite being disappointing as of late, this was one I was very excited for because I thought Inside Out was the type of film that lends itself to a sequel and more stories. There’s other emotions to introduce and explore. Did the movie live up to my expectations? Is it another great Pixar movie or another disappointing Pixar movie? Let’s get started!

The Good

For me, the best thing about this movie is that it’s the sequel I hoped it would be. What I mean by that is when I was thinking about a sequel for the film I was thinking about exploring Riley at a different phase in life. A sequel can explore more of her high school years with puberty and anxiety getting involved. And that’s what the plot of this movie is, everything I had in the Inside Out 2 checklist this movie checked off. What this movie is able to do so well is what a bunch of other Pixar movies do so well is have these big ideas about puberty and anxiety and package them in a way for kids to understand. There’s a very clear message of the movie of how anxiety and growing up can fit with the other emotions like joy, anger, fear, sadness, and disgust. And it tackles this in a way that makes sense. It’s easy for kids to understand what’s going on, but it’s also a movie where teenagers and adults can get something out of. As I was watching the film, I could relate to a number of things going on in the film. I’ve felt (we’ve all felt) the different struggles that Riley is going through in this movie. I think it’s a good movie to watch with teenagers or kids becoming teenagers because it's good for kids, teenagers, and adults to learn. 

But it also has all of that Pixar charm and magic that you’d expect. It’s a very fun movie, there’s plenty of laughs in here. My theater wasn’t packed, but there was a fair amount of people and all of the kids were laughing. The adults seemed to be having fun, I went with my family and everybody in my family really enjoyed it. When the movie was over, people started clapping. It’s a movie that’s good for everybody, it’s a great family movie that everybody can enjoy and have a good time with. Pixar has always been very good at balancing the fun and humor with the big emotions. One of the things about Pixar that made this legendary film studio for 15 years from 1995 to 2010 was being appealing to adults and kids, so they were making family movies. Other animation studios are making kids movies, Pixar is making family movies. This was a great family movie, it was a great Pixar movie for the entire family to enjoy and love. Maybe it’s because I grew up watching them, but Pixar movies always have this special charm and appeal about them. They’re very charming to watch and they make you feel good…or sad, depending on the movie. 

For me, the Pixar charm is two fold. First up, the fun and humor. But it’s also the heart and emotion of the film. So many of Pixar’s films have an emotional core, the movie is exploring themes and ideas that are emotional and make you sad. The first film is one of the most emotional Pixar films out there. People cry every time Bing Bong’s scene happens. The arc and journey for Riley in that film is very emotional, you understand what she’s going through. You get into this movie and it has all of the Pixar emotion. When it comes to the dynamic and relationship with her friends and family, it’s emotional. But I would say it’s emotional because you know it’s true. You know that these are emotions, these are situations that real people can go through and it makes it real therefore emotional. 

From there, I just love the different emotions going on inside of Riley’s head. All of them are fun and lively characters. Sense all emotions are different from one another, all of the characters stand out in their own ways. You like what all of them bring to the table because no two characters are similar. And we have a bunch of new emotions in here, Anxiety is the most prominently shown in the trailers. Anxiety is a very good character in the movie, in the movie she’s portrayed as antagonistic. She’s not a villain, but she’s working against our heroes so she’s an antagonist. You fully understand what she’s doing and why she’s doing it. Anxiety is what helps communicate the message of the movie. She learns that Anxiety and happiness can live together, it’s just finding that right balance. Too much happiness isn’t the best, too much anxiety isn’t the best. But the right combination of the two of them can work very well. I really liked how Anxiety was used in the film. What helps these characters work so well is the lively voice cast. All of our main emotions from the original film have a fun actor playing them that fits their character perfectly. The actors they got to play the new emotions also work very well. All of the characters are fun, all of them have a part to play the plot of the film. A nice touch to this movie is that our group of characters from the first film are on the adventure. In the first film, Joy and Sadness were on the adventure while the others stayed back. That’s not the case with the sequel, all of five of our main emotions are on the adventure. 

Finally, this movie reminds me of the good ol’ days of Pixar. For years, Pixar was the top dog. From 1995 to 2010, they had a fantastic streak of films. All of their movies in that run were fantastic. Except for two films, they were still very good. In the 2010s, it wasn’t as successful but still had a number of great movies. In the 2020s, Pixar hasn’t had the same level of success. There’s not as many Pixar movies that I love, it’s been a while since I’ve loved a Pixar movie. Like I said earlier, this movie has that Pixar charm that made their run of movies earlier work so well. I hope Pixar movies in the future feel more like this, they remind you what made Pixar so legendary for so many years. 

The Bad

The first thing that comes to mind is the basic structure of the movie is very similar to the first film. Our characters get sent into Riley’s mind, they have to find an object to return to headquarters and save the day. That’s the very general, very broad story summary of both films. Obviously there’s more to both films, the films are very different. But even certain emotional beats happen at very similar times. This wasn’t a big issue, but it’s something that I certainly did notice while watching the film. I wish they added in a few more dynamics, a couple more things to change the story up a bit. 

Also, when they’re to communicate some emotions it feels a bit too heavy handed. It doesn’t get preachy at all, it’s not preaching at the audience the message they’re trying to communicate. I’m not trying to spoil anything, but there’s a scene where the emotions are portraying Riley as being sassy. Teenagers are sassy, I get that (I was sassy too). But the way they portray Riley being sassy, it seemed a bit much. 

Final Thoughts: Inside Out 2 was a movie that I was very excited for. I thoroughly enjoyed the film and it’s Pixar so they’ve made a lot of very good movies. I was very excited to check it out and I thought it was great. It’s the sequel I wanted it to be, it’s very much what I envisioned an Inside Out 2 would be. Plus, it reminded me why I love Pixar so much. Easily, this is the best Pixar movie since Toy Story 4. 

The Score: 9.0/10 (A-)