INSIDE OUT 2
2024 | Dir. Kelsey Mann | 97 Minutes
"That's not gonna haunt us for the rest of our lives at all."
After turning 13, within aspirational hockey player Riley's mind, a new group of complicated emotions lead by Anxiety stages a coup in headquarters. Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust must journey to the back of Riley's mind to retrieve the girl's sense of self and return it to headquarters before Anxiety completes a new core persona for Riley rooted exclusively in insecurity.
Inside Out 2 is a well-crafted natural continuation to its predecessor that's as entertaining as it is deeply moving thanks to superb character development and clever approaches to building upon its high-concept premise. Kelsey Mann's feature directorial debut captures all of the challenges and complexity of puberty in a way that's realistically messy but also relatively easy to follow on a narrative level even for younger audiences, benefiting greatly from the fun character designs and delightfully distinct personalities of the expanded cadre of anthropomorphic emotions. Both the epic journey within Riley's mind undertaken by her standard emotions and the personal struggles she faces at hockey camp prove to be very engaging due to her relatability as a character, and her desire to identify herself as a good person while more ego-driven motivations begin to take shape. Literally embracing and accepting all of the conflicting facets of what it means to be a human being with complicated feelings, the film reaches a conclusion that's somewhat unconventional for narratives depicting two conflicting factions, but it's refreshingly balanced and an impressively elegant way to portray the first steps towards maintaining emotional intelligence.
The phenomenal artistic standards of Pixar Animation Studios are on full display here through and through. The feature shows off some of the very best in cinematic 3D animation to date, particular in the craft of lighting and 3D textures. To single out two settings, the sub-level housing the threads to Riley's sense of self is visually breathtaking, and the mountain of repressed memories in the back of Riley's mind surging back to headquarters like a massive emotional tidal wave in the final act is quite the sight to behold. One of the most creative and hilarious flourishes of the film is in its presentation of two particular characters locked within a mental vault: for Riley's favorite television cartoon dog from her childhood brought to life in minimalistic 2D cell animation, and Riley's video game character crush rendered as a flawed 3D model complete with stiff movement and janky clipping.
Amy Poehler returns as the voice of Joy bringing more frantic energy, standing out particularly in the moment where Joy admits she's in fact delusional. As Anxiety, Maya Hawke delivers a wild performance that suitably embodies the personification of emotional insecurity, playing the pitiable antagonist to perfection. Playing Riley, Kensington Tallman is the secret MVP of the film, exuding every facet of teenage insecurity from scene to scene. Reprising the part of Sadness, Phyllis Smith doesn't carry as much of the dramatic heft in this story, but the sequel allows her to capitalize on many more funny moments. Lewis Black is once again perfectly cast as Anger, amusingly demonstrating more nuanced facets of the character during the quest to the back of Riley's mind. Tony Hale and Liza Lapira join the ensemble as the new voices of Fear and Disgust respectively, and they fit in seamlessly, both performing with excellent comedic timing. Rounding out the group of new emotions, Ayo Edebiri is incredibly cute as the excitable Envy, Adèle Exarchopoulos is very French and very funny as the ever-aloof Ennui, Paul Walter Hauser perhaps appropriately has one line of dialogue as the painfully shy Embarrassment, and June Squibb is a total scene-stealer as old lady Nostalgia.
A prime example of unexpectedly exceptional Pixar sequels, Inside Out 2 is a must-watch for anyone who loves the first film. The picture explores more sophisticated emotions and appropriately raises the stakes while still delivering an amusing and genuinely touching story about coming to terms with one's feelings in a healthy way. As a work of cinematic art, its gorgeous visuals also demonstrate how Pixar remains one of the very best animation studios in the business.
POST-CREDITS STINGER
The mystery of the Deep Dark Secret is revealed.
The mystery of the Deep Dark Secret is revealed.
JOHN RATZENBERGER AS...
- Mind Worker Fritz
A113
- Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust are brought to Vault ACXIII where they meet other secrets within Riley's mind
PIXAR INTERCONNECTIVITY
- There is a poster in Riley's bedroom for 4*Town, the boy band from Turning Red
FRAGMENTS
- While Andrea Datzman's appropriately brings fresh energy to the film, it's pleasing to that in incorporates Michael Giacchino's theme from the original film
- Pro hockey star Kendall Coyne Schofield lends her voice as a hockey announcer
- I absolutely love Lance Slashblade and how authentic he is to the PlayStation 2 era of Japanese video game character designs, particularly Tetsuya Nomura's work for Final Fantasy
MCU CONNECTIONS
- Yvette Nicole Brown (Phyllis Jenkins in Avengers: Endgame)
