“Inside Out 2” takes place about two years after the first part and continues the story of Riley, a girl in the transition phase of her development who struggles through the challenges of high school, fits into a new circle of friends and goes through a change in her personality.
Inside Out 2 is wonderful, but it also has some problems. Riley is older now and has more emotions, which are portrayed as literal embodiment and contribute to Riley’s life choices and memory formation.
Boredom, fear, embarrassment and envy displace previously existing emotions such as joy, sadness, fear, anger and disgust.
Overall, it’s impressive how the film managed to balance the large number of characters. Even though the number of emotions doubles, it still feels like everyone gets enough screen time and Riley gets more attention.
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The dialogues in the film are interesting because the flow and rhythm of the dialogues have a musical element.
The jokes from the first film were also unappealing, such as the inclusion of “broccoli pizza” on the menus of pizzerias in San Francisco.
The second film had a lot of relatable humor. One of the best was a nod to anxiety:
“Oh my God! I’m scared! Where can I put my things?”
It’s a metaphor, but it’s funny because many people can relate to the unexpected stress that this feeling brings.
The ideas in Inside Out 2 are harder to grasp. The film says a lot about why people shouldn’t let their feelings dictate who they are.
These are relatable and important themes to convey to younger audiences. Even adults will find plenty to think about in this film. You rarely expect animated films to blow you away with insightful ideas and deep concepts, but how they convey these themes matters.
This film gets its themes across surprisingly well and was fun to watch.
The disruption of the new emotions hitting the window like a wrecking ball was appealing.
The color tones of the characters, especially Anxiety, whose orange color matches her personality as it is a color that induces fear, are a creative touch.
There were also other new characters introduced that were well fleshed out. Embarrassment, the male character, is very cute and humble, especially his big nose that he constantly pinches with his hoodie; Boredom is a funny little female character that is slow and well captured; and Envy is a small, green-colored female character who is jealous of everything everyone else has and she isn’t afraid to covet it.
The first part was about what it’s like to grow up and let go of your inner child, and the second is about being a teenager. You captured that perspective in a very authentic way.
It took me back to my childhood, but it also made me reflect on my present life, which gave me a lot of insight into my future plans and dreams.
I highly recommend watching this returning Pixar creation, especially during exam week. It will go a long way in helping you reduce anxiety and worry and bring joy back into your HQ.
Year: 2024
genre: Family/Comedy
length: 96 minutes
reviews: 4/5
