Inside Out 2

4 outta 5

Inside Out 2 is a solid sequel to a fantastic film that may not quite live up to its predecessor, and at some points just seems to be retreading the same ground, but still has fun and emotional bits throughout. Adding new emotions creates a different dynamic, although having the controlling emotions punted out of headquarters and working their way back is basically the same plot again. But there’s enough unique new additions to make this feel like fleshing out the Inside Out world. Also, apparently the overriding theme of this sequel is teenage emotions are inherently bad and Riley really needs to be on some mood stabilizers.

As Riley (Kensington Tallman) turns 13 the emotions in her head are flourishing. There’s Joy (Amy Poehler), Anger (Lewis Black), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Tony Hale) and Disgust (Liza Lapira). But as puberty hits, Riley’s emotions are very extreme and then suddenly arrives a new emotion, Anxiety (Maya Hawke) and their buddies, Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), and Eny (Ayo Edebiri). Ever the leader, Joy tries to get along with the new emotions, but eventually Anxiety just throws them out of headquarters, along with Riley’s newly developing Sense of Self. Soon with Anxiety running the show, Riley starts to act out and disregard her friends at hockey camp to win over newer and “cooler” friends. Now the emotions must race back to headquarters before Anxiety creates a whole new, and much more emotionally unstable and meaner, Riley.

The conceit of the film, when the emotions do something and then it shows Riley acting out in the real world, is compelling. When the emotions get a new switchboard installed at headquarters, they notice every time they slightly press a button, Riley has a huge emotional reaction. Also, a new element in this film is a glowing ball that represents Riley’s Sense of Self, she believes she is a good person but when Anxiety kicks Joy and company out and throws out the old Sense of Self her new Sense of Self is sobbing “I’m Not Good Enough!” When Riley has a full-on anxiety attack in a visually impressive and intense scene, Anxiety is speeding along the switchboard until it is a blur. Sometimes it seems like Riley could use some pharmaceutical assistance, but it probably wouldn’t make for a compelling movie if the emotions were just subdued by Riley popping pills. The mutable “sense of self” for Riley is a complex notion although the “return the glowy thing to headquarters” is pretty much the exact same thing as the core memories from the first flick.

Anxiety and the group of new emotions that overtake Riley are the start of puberty. There is a very funny scene when the emotions are woken up by a buzzing alarm that signals the onset of puberty with Riley’s emotional state going haywire. Although Anxiety is basically the villain of the film which does imply that teenage emotions are inherently bad. Also, as seen in the Inside Out universe, the five main emotions (Fear, Disgust, Joy, Sadness and Anger) exist in everyone’s head. But the introduction of the new emotions disrupts the idea that there’s only five emotions as previous glimpses never featured them. It takes until the end of the movie during the credits when Anxiety pops up in the parents’ head from out of nowhere. I guess they just keep all the adolescent emotions on a tight lockdown.

There are a lot of great jokes in the film that just breeze by (the brief flashes of Nostalgia are amazing), and the zippy pacing crams in gags but also emotional pathos. There is a moment when Riley is trying to come up with the name of a musical band to impress her new cool friends and she can only name kid friendly bands or her father’s rock or the incredibly catchy TrippleDent Gum commercial jingle (a hilarious running gag carried over from the first film). So, she channels her teenage sarcasm to seem cool but alienates her closest friends. This leads to a funny bit inside of Riley’s head where it creates a sar-chasm where the emotions unintentionally sound like jerks. Another funny moment is when the emotions meet repressed memory characters and they run into a talking dog like something out of Dora the Explorer talking to the audience, and there’s also a videogame character rendered like a PS2 character. This also incorporates different animation styles, something that usually isn’t done in the pretty yet somewhat static Pixar house style. The running plot of Riley trying to fit in with the new kids at hockey camp but ignoring her old friends is heartfelt. And as Anxiety takes control of Riley, she just becomes more isolated. The vocal performances by everyone is great, Hawke’s Anxiety sounds appropriately high strung. The core five emotions bounce off each other amusingly, and Poehler’s Joy is very expressive with both her vocal performance and the animation is fun to watch as she bounces between emotional extremes.

Inside Out 2 is a great looking, very funny, and emotionally involving return to one of their best movies. It may be a bit guilty of recycling a few plot points and twists from the original, but it makes up for it with charm and dramatic payoffs and lots of laughs.