Pixar has a tendency to be able to make movies that appeal to a wide audience. Kids and parents have been known to sing the praises of many of their movies and admit to shedding tears while watching them. Inside Out was one that hit the hardest, as it is easy to see our own struggles with emotions represented in the film. Director Kelsey Mann has stepped in and delivered an incredible follow-up to one of the most impactful Pixar movies to date.
Inside Out 2 is one of the rare sequels whose premise justifies its existence. Riley (Kensington Tallman) was eleven in the first film and turns twelve by its conclusion, and Joy (Amy Pohler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Bill Hader in the first film, now voiced by Tony Hale), and Disgust (Mindy Kaling in the first movie now voiced by Liza Lapira) had successfully guided her through an emotional move. Now she is 13, and teenage emotions and another major milestone introduce Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adele Exarchopoulos), and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser) into the mix.
While it is easy to see oneself in the struggles with sadness and joy in the first movie, it will probably be even easier to see one’s anxiety personified in this one. Hawke’s voice performance is tremendous in the character and brings frenetic life to the performance. Then the way Anxiety moves and acts really brings the emotion to life. One sequence in the film is a perfect representation to overthinking and worrying about all the possible outcomes of a given choice that made me feel so seen. It’s clear that a lot of thought went into this specific emotion, and it pays off multiple times in the film.
There are several funny parts and callbacks to the first film to help balance the weight of the emotions. While this movie never quite shattered my feelings like the first one, it did get me to tear up at least three times. The levity is a welcomed component, however, and it feels right within the film. Embarrassment was a character that managed to get a lot of laughs and was extremely endearing from the moment he awkwardly entered the headquarters. Ennui probably earned the second most amount of laughs and was deployed perfectly as a representation for teenage apathy. All in all, a film whose characters are all various emotions managed to get a variety of emotional responses from the packed audience in my screening.
Riley also feels more essential to the film this time around. While the setting of the film is still in her mind, the frequency with which we cut back to her and the moments she was experiencing felt more substantial than they did in the original. It’s an interesting trick to the storytelling when you consider that our main characters are emotions that ultimately control the humans in the film. In the first film, it takes away her agency. Somehow, in the story’s presentation in this sequel, it doesn’t feel that way despite using a similar structure.
Pixar has arguably a better batting average with the sequel films they’ve made compared to other studios. Inside Out 2 is still one of the best entries into this pantheon so far. Fans of the first film and the studio will be excited to see how successfully they’ve brought new characters in with the old. It’s hard to not notice that much of the plot is similar to the first film, but there is enough new stuff and expanded ideas to make it feel like a sequel that deserves to be here.
Inside Out 2 will be in theaters everywhere on June 14.
Rating: Must See
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