Emotions are a complex array of sensations that make life both rewarding and challenging. They foster our character, forge our beings and beliefs, and often are a guiding beacon for our responses to actions that may leave us on the news. And this weekend, they are the focus of the movie by the beloved animation studio that stole our hearts three decades ago. Pixar’s first dive into the internal mind was a success for some and an obsession/way of life for others that many of my friend group use as their belief system. Despite a perfectly fine finish, Disney’s desperation for dollars has brought a sequel out with the hopes of recapturing the magic and helping “promote” our characters to new avenues to resonate with the modern audience. Will a sequel prove just as emotionally fulfilling as the predecessor? Robbie K reports his thoughts as he reviews:
Movie: Inside Out 2 (2024)
- Director
LIKES:
The Animation
The Character Development
The Emotional Development
Balance of Inside and Out
Clever
Funny At Times
Cute
Decent Pace
Great Voice Acting
Used All The Characters Pretty Evenly
SUMMARY:
In terms of likes, Inside Out 2 is summarized as the usual Pixar magic with the modern-day approach of Disney’s studio agenda. The animation is gorgeous with vivid colors, immaculate curves and angles, and fluid movements that are now an expectation for the studio to keep. It’s eye-catching and stimulating, easily hypnotizing most of the younger members in my showing, but yet clever in design so that older fans can be entertained by the usual wit Pixar’s cleverness brings. Both inside and outside of Riley keep to the themes, still being that cartoonish style for the humans, but somehow playing with light and shadow to add that flare that we love in a Disney production. It all plays a solid part in eliciting the emotions they are going for and is almost as much of a character as the literal characters themselves.
As for the story and characters, this is where most of the movie is going to shine in my opinion. The second installment’s story does a nice summary and introduction to the transitions in a fun montage, but quickly throws a wrecking ball into things that introduce the new emotions. From there, the movie becomes one part adventure and two parts emotion, in a delicate dance that is reflected in both inside and outside events to what I loved in the first film. Many of the emotions get some level of character development, alongside Riley who has complexity that is just as complicated as the age range the trailers have fixated on for the past few months. Yet, the emotional dive is the biggest development of the movie, with various scenarios coming that strummed the nostalgic strings of growing up and bombarded the relevant elements that added to the experience. It’s a roller coaster that is deep and entertaining for viewers like me, moving at a decent pace that brings comedy, cleverness, storytelling, and cuteness into one vibrant package. The voice acting further adds to the mixture, sometimes being done to levels that had me envisioning the actors experiencing this pain as they delivered their lines to shockingly accurate degrees. All the emotions get shockingly balanced time, nine characters, plus Riley, actually having importance for inclusion and giving me adequate time with every emotion, which many studios fail to accomplish. All of this was very surprising to a degree given the amount of delays and controversy with this movie, but Mann’s direction with her writers has made a story that is very relevant and somehow still holding some of the Pixar 90s-2000s adventure that for a while has been gone.
DISLIKES:
Less Creative World Building
The Antagonist Is More Metaphorical Than A Threat
More Contributions By Some Characters Could Have Been Done
The Adventure Is Okay, Yet Still Mundane
The Retconning
Relevance Plays A Big Key
Summary:
Where some of the cuts and costs of this balanced emotional tale come in the cost of the adventure and creative elements though. Maybe it’s the teenage years and the metaphorical development that comes with growing older in some, but Inside Out’s second ordeal didn’t quite have the same creativity and unique flavor that the first did. The layout changes, but kind of in the laziest way possible with only a few moments being humorous more than wow. Even the antagonist and threat are less stellar than Joy’s monster and Bing-Bong’s shifting direction, as the new waves are again more a relevant force than a truly unique character. It leads to the adventure part being a bit blander and superficial, the excitement ebbed by very flash-in-the-pan moments and exaggerated jokes that fit well in the modern era. Some characters could have had more, Disgust needing to do more than just sound like a Valley Girl, or Fear maybe adding a little more protection or something, but that’s a nitpicky component that ties back to other areas to get Riley through puberty. And true there are story misfires and changing an entire structure that is a bit farfetched to make the new belief system work, but they are easily overlooked in the long run. Perhaps the biggest thing I can warn, is that relevance and relatability may be more of a motivating factor for people to enjoy this movie that might sway the review scores one way or another.
The VERDICT:
Inside Out 2 is a movie that has been timed beautifully given the current timing of the year and the lack of animation movies for at least the next three weeks. Much like the first movie, it hits hard in both emotional/poetic glory with the same fun adventure that Pixar proves it still has despite a focus on realistic stories. I loved the balance to many degrees, and because of my own relevance with these emotions and characters had extra levels that enhanced my viewing experience. With a great blend of acting, design, animation, and storytelling, despite not paying attention or explaining some key factors being changed, the movie does accomplish much for the targeted audience group and the supporting group around them. True, the adventure lacks some of the originality, cleverness, and obstacles that add spice to a movie that I enjoy and want Pixar to return to. However, the movie was worth a theater visit, with only the animation style’s colors being the 3-D nature of the movie. I’d check this one out if you can get a chance, but also I won’t call this the best sequel or Pixar movie ever.
My scores are:
Animation/Adventure/Comedy: 8.0
Movie Overall: 7.0
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