Inside Out 2 (2024) Review


“I’M A GOOD PERSON”


 

In 2015, Pixar Animation Studios released their fifteenth animated feature film titled Inside Out, showcasing a “wave of emotions” within this now beloved cartoon motion picture. Directed by Pete Docter, the film, which starred the voice talents for Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, and Mindy Kaling, follows the inner workings of the mind of Riley, a young girl who adapts to her recent family’s relocation as five personified emotions manage her thoughts and actions during this transition period. Debuting in theaters on June 19th, 2015, Inside Out went onto reach critical acclaim during its theatrical run, with many praising the film for its craftmanship, screenplay, plot, subject matter, and all the vocal performances. In addition, the movie went on to gross over $858 million at the box office worldwide and finished as the seventh highest grossing film of 2015. In conjunction with that, Inside Out went on to receive numerous accolades during the various award season, including winning Best Animated Feature for both the 88th Academy Award and the 2015’s Golden Globes. Furthermore, many news journalist and film institute / organization praised Inside Out, citing it to be one of the best animated films ever made. Now, almost nine years since its original release, Pixar Animated Studios (in association with Walt Disney Studios) and director Kelsey Mann present the long-awaited follow-up sequel to the critical 2015 film with the release of Inside Out 2. Does this sequel find merit and heart within its colorful cartoon narrative or is it a subpar and emotionless film that can’t replicate the same type of charm and magic that the original movie was able to capture?

THE STORY


Riley (Kensington Tallman) is growing up and is now a teenager, turning the age of 13 and putting pressure on her emotions to deal with her new puberty setting in. At the ready are Riley’s core emotions, including Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear, (Tony Hale), and Disgust (Liza Lapria), with the gang working to protect the human’s Belief system, which makes up who she is. Disrupting Riley’s HQ is the arrival of new emotions that coincide with her new teenage angst, which includes Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adele Exarchopoulos), and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser). Moving into Riley’s control room to express her new feelings, the hockey-loving teenager is now off to camp with her friends, exposed to older teen girls, including Val (Lillimar Hernandez), and getting to prove herself to Coach Roberts (Yvette Nicole Brown) for the upcoming school year. Probed to looking to make a good and strong impression for the nervous girl, Anxiety seeks to take control of Riley’s thoughts, setting out to alter the core Belief System, exiling Joy and the other original emotions when they get in the way. Setting out on a journey, Joy and her gang are tossed into the far reaches of Riley’s subconscious, looking to make their way back to HQ and put things right, while Anxiety and the new emotions struggle to deal with teenage situations and peer pressure.

THE GOOD / THE BAD


As many of my readers know about me….I do love a good animated movie. Maybe its because of the “child in me” type of feeling, but I always enjoy a good and wholesome cartoon motion picture. There have been too many to count of which one is my personal favorite animated feature films, so I won’t bored out with a long laundry list of them. When it comes to Pixar releases, I do enjoy them. Like many out there, I believe to be some of the best animated movies out there and they do have a track record to prove it. Of course, not every release of theirs is a big hit, but they have certainly epitomized animated tales of love, laughter, and tears within their narratives of colorful characters and emotional beats of storytelling. 2015’s Inside Out is one of the prime examples of what Pixar can do with their animated films. The story was captivating from beginning to end and was indeed well-animated (even to this day), showcasing a wide range of imagination and thought that was placed in making this feature come alive with such humor and heart. Plus, the voice talents involved were solid across the board, with each one embracing a uniqueness that played the feature’s strength of lively voice performances for the characters that populated the endeavor. To the film’s credit, Inside Out has some of the best heartwarming and gut-wrenching scenes of emotions within its narrative being told. While there is plenty to laugh about, be amused over, and fall in love with about this particular animated film, I personally believe (besides one or two other moments from Pixar’s features) that this movie has some of the most emotional moments in the studio’s company, which includes Bingbong’s farewell. Overall, I felt that Inside Out was another one of those defining releases that Pixar Studios is known for. It showcased everything that the animation studio is known for, including their own signature identity of characters and storytelling, and showed to children how each of their emotions is important and how….sometimes…..it’s okay to be sad and can actual bring around a sense of happiness / joy by doing embracing it.

This brings me back to talking about Inside Out 2, a 2024 animated feature film and the follow-up sequel to the 2015 Inside Out film. Given the amount of success and popularity that the first movie was able to garnish over the years, it was almost a guarantee surefire idea that a sequel to Inside Out was eventually going to be greenlit in the near future, especially with the potential it had for the studio. Sure enough, sometime later, Pixar officially announced Inside Out 2 would be coming out sometime in 2024 and that many of the voicing talents from the first film would be returning as well as featuring a teenage Riley and with her emotions encounter new ones that goes along with hitting puberty. After that, I really didn’t hear much about the movie until the film’s marketing campaign began to appear online and in-theaters. From the previews alone, the movie did look like a genuine sequel, which featured many of the emotion characters from the first one as well as new additional to teenage Riley. Presumably, it was going to be another emotional rollercoaster of an animated endeavor (much like the first one) and I, for one, was excited to see it. All in all, I was definitely looking forward to seeing Inside Out 2 when it was set to be released on June 14th, 2024. Like so many high-profile movies of 2024, I did get to see the movie (in theaters) during its opening weekend, but this film (sadly) sort of fell through the cracks of getting my review done and completed for the remainder of the year. Now, trying to play catch up with the 2024 movie review leftovers, I am finally ready to share my thoughts on this Pixar animated feature sequel. And what did I think of it? Well, I really liked it. Despite going through the motions of some similarities to the original film, Inside Out 2 is still quite the compelling and entertaining sequel that brings a lot of enjoyment what made the 2015 likeable as well as heartwarming with its emotional awareness and grouping up. It doesn’t overtake nor surpass the first movie, but it sure a terrific, animated follow-up adventure.

Inside Out 2 is directed by Kelsey Mann, who previously works includes working on projects like Duck Dodgers, Lightyear, and Foster Home for Imaginary Friends as a writer / storyboard artist. While she has directed projects before, including Megas XLR, Green Screen Show, and Party Central, Mann hasn’t directed a full-length feature film endeavor, making her debut with this particular film. Given her background and inherit hype that this sequel (to a popular and beloved animated movie), Mann certainly makes Inside Out 2 her most ambitious project to date. Moreover, Mann, to her credit, actually does quite an exemptional job in helming a project like this, which is something of a rare occurrence with directors who are handed such large and anticipated project and mostly crumble underneath such lofty and weighty expectations. Mann approaches the film with a sense of respect and understand what made the first film so likeable, loveable, and highly enjoyable, never losing sight of what she wants to achieve within the feature’s presentation, characters, and story.

Like in the previous installment, Mann carefully balances a lot of the heavier material for the feature in a correct and focus manner, while also touching upon the more lighthearted moments the right way. This results in the merging of Pixar’s classic “humor and heart” mantra and is executed in a timely manner throughout the feature’s presentation and narration. Aiding in this endeavor is the film’s script, which was penned by Mann as well as Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein, which does a great job in navigating and charting a course for the film’s story to take shape and follow a familiar trajectory. Following Riley into her early teenager years was always a good pivot for a sequel narrative to follow, especially in the unexplored range of emotions that occur when puberty happens and that her original “core emotions” having difficult dealing with their new emotions’ companions, who try to dominate control of Riley. It’s a clever usage of storytelling that, as mentioned, is still appropriate and meaningful, yet also has lot to say within the studio’s elevated signature style of storytelling, which I love.

The comedy aspect of Inside Out 2 is spot on, with the writing team delivering such a sharp and brilliant usage of play on words as well as many back-and-forth banter moments that are hilarious to watch. I found myself laughing a lot throughout the movie and found the humorous bits (both sight gags and verbal dialogue), with many (if not most) hitting their intended target correctly. In addition, a lot of the heavier /dramatic dialogue driven moments are presented quite well in their written material, but also in how they are presented and vocalized in their delivery. Such a combination works incredibly well together that makes for some wholesome scenes come alive with great effectiveness. Plus, with the film clocking in at around 96 minutes (one hour and thirty-six minutes), Inside Out 2 moves at a steady and good pace to make everything flow correctly in a manageable speed. Sure, some things could’ve been extended or expanded upon (more on that below), but Mann knows what to say about this movie and stages everything in an easy manner that all comes together in a somewhat breezy length without overstay its welcome. Collectively, Mann manages to take a familiar tale (pros and cons together) and creates another great addition to Pixar’s library of comedy, cleverness, storytelling, amusement, and warming sentiments within a vivid animated narration.

What made the first Inside Out truly fantastic was in the ways the feature was able to explore the “core emotions” of a young tween girl and how displaying and dealing with said “core emotions” produced a vital and healthy lifestyle, with one working together to make a perfect balance. Basically, the movie visually showed (to its younger viewers) it was okay to express their emotions and how the story gave each one physical personification of said emotions. Inside Out 2 carries that same type of bravado and pedigree into this sequel, with a story that reinforces such basic and fundamental ideas of emotions and bouts of various moods that make up a person’s self-being.

Like before, there is a rollercoaster of emotions to be had within the narrative and subtext of the feature’s story, which does retread some familiarities within its plot and beats (more on that below), but, for the positives, Inside Out 2 does showcases and demonstrates such a great attention towards growing up and learning how to embrace such newer emotions as well as using older ones. Such examples can be found within the characters of Joy and Riley, who both personify such idealisms, with the former struggling to let go of Riley’s main “core emotion” control and becoming less relevant in the process while the latter showcases the youthful change when growing into the adolescent years, including making new friends and the difficulty of keeping the older ones. At the film’s natural core, this is a paramount importance of human behavior, one that most of us out there have experience in our lives, with Mann treating such thematic messaging with a delicate touch, much like what Docter did with the first Inside Out, and delves into such deep material with kids’ gloves, making the subject matter easy to understand and easy to digest for everyone to learn and embrace.

Overall, I feel that Mann did actually quite a fantastic job with Inside Out 2 that acts as a proper extension to the original film and gives the movie a familiar identity (good or bad), but plots a new and engrossing tale of a young teen’s growth, friendship, and dealing unexpected emotions that’s wrapped and presented in a loveable animated tale.

Presentation-wise, Inside Out 2 looks absolutely gorgeous, with the 2024 film being the best looking Pixar release to date. The richness and vibrancy that was well-highlighted in the original film makes a return and is greatly enhanced by the updated computer-generated animation f today and displays some of the most detailed and intricately drawings of this cartoon movie’s caliber and aesthetics. Much like before, while the “real world” of where the character of Riley interacts in with all of her friends and family, the more intriguing visual nuances coming from the colorful and imaginative setting that takes place within Riley’s mind as the film’s artisans create such a wonderful and fun palette for Joy and her friends (as well as us….the viewers) to go on through. Thus, all the film’s animators should be thanked and commended for their efforts, while also thanking Jason Deamer (production design) and the entire art direction team. In addition, the cinematography work by Adam Habib and Jonathan Pytko is quite good throughout the entire film, with the film featuring some dynamic and dramatic shots and imagery to help build upon the movie’s more cinematic moments in such a detailed / creative way. Lastly, the film’s score, which was composed by Andrea Datzman, does quite a good job in expressing (and evoking) the same type of feeling that composer Michael Giacchino and definitely compliments and highlights all the various emotional feelings that accompany the film’s scenes that are displayed on-screen.

Unfortunately, there are a few criticisms that I had with Inside Out 2 that, while not derailing the emotional tale of teenage Riley and Joy’s and her gang’s quest to compete with new emotion entities, still draws criticism when comparing this project to the 2015 original. Perhaps my major criticism towards this movie is that it feels very much so like a retread of the first Inside Out and similar everything was. A similar situation occurs to Riley’s emotion that throws a curveball on their initial plans, sending the narrative on a journey through the teenage girl’s subconscious mind, having some big moment revelations, and understanding emotional feelings…for the better. It’s all the familiar tones and overlays of what made the first Inside Out movie so great and fantastic, which does make such situations and circumstances feel a bit too redundant at times in this follow-up sequel. Yes, I indeed knew that was going to be the case when going into this movie, but I would’ve liked to see something play a bit differently at times. It is hard to separate the formula of what made Inside Out great and trying to replicate it in Inside Out 2 is quite the tall order to fill. As such, Inside Out 2, despite its attempts to stand taller than its predecessor, can’t overtake the narrative story of what made the first one so compelling. That’s not to say what’s presented in this animated picture works, which it does, but it lacks the originality and almost follows the same type of narrative / story formula of its predecessor and creates that sense of predictability.

Coinciding with this notion, the emotional impact moments that the feature presents in the movie can’t quite hit as hard as it did with the first Inside Out. That’s not to say the emotional punch for what the movie wants to convey within Riley’s various emotions and the revelations that are made throughout the entire film, but, much like what I said in the above paragraph, it’s a lot of the familiar scenarios and ideas that are playing out and somewhat lessen the emotional impact than what was original intended, especially because this movie is a sequel and has already been done before. It’s sort of like a “catch 22” scenario that film can’t really escape and is considered to be part of the narrative formula and as such is integrated into the animated feature with very little movement or change that could occur in such a plotting of a story. Again, it’s a huge deal for me as I sort of knew that this was going to be the case, but it can be seeing as a little bit redundant in recycling such emotional impacts that aren’t as totally impactful as it was in the 2015 picture.

The cast in Inside Out 2 is spot on with the entire acting talent selected to voice these particular animated characters bring a certain type of quality to the proceedings, matching the energy, colorful, and widely animated personas that they are portraying. Some characters could’ve benefited from more screen time and / or more to do, but, for the most part, the characters are still vibrant and a joy to watch whenever the appear on-screen, especially with the voice talents to bring their voices to life. Leading that charge is actress Amy Poehler, who returns once again to play Riley’s leading core emotion Joy, a yellow colored expresses Riley’s happiness and overall joy, who acts the main leader of Riley’s main control room. Known for her roles in Sisters, Saturday Night Live, and Parks and Recreations, Poehler has been a gifted with perky and upbeat sounding voice, which is a perfect fit for the physical embodiment of a the core emotion of Joy. Considered to be the main character in the first film, the character of Joy continues to be just that in this sequel, with Poehler ready and willing to easily slide back in the role and just as compelling as it was back in 2015. The character arc for Joy in Inside Out 2 does have a few bumps in its undertaking, especially hitting some well-too-familiar beats, yet is still compelling and emotional driven.

Behind Joy, the movie does feature the return of the character of Sadness, a blue colored emotion who displays Riley’s upsetting and depressive experiences, and who is played by actress Phyllis Smith (Bad Teacher and The Office). While not as totally impactful as she was in the first movie, Sadness still plays her role in the grand scheme of Inside Out 2’s story, with Smith still showcasing the melancholy (yet sometimes comedic lines) nature of her emotion state of being. Likewise, the same can be said with the core emotion of Anger, a red colored emotion who represents the aggressive nature of Riley’s characterizations, and who is once again voiced by comedian / actor Lewis Black (Accepted and Man of the Year). Like sadness, Anger doesn’t play much of a larger part in the main narrative as he did in the first film, but the character still has plenty of sight gags throughout the movie, especially with his hot tempered nature, and Black’s voice work still continues to be hilarious.

The remaining two “core emotions” of Riley, who are Fear, a purple colored emotion responsible for protecting Riley from threats and panic, and Disgust, a green colored emotion who deals with visceral aversions / gut reactions like responding to body language, are played by different voice talents, replacing actor Bill Hader and actress Mindy Kaling from the first movie is actor Tony Hale (Arrested Development and Toy Story 4) and Liza Lapira (21 and Crazy, Stupid, Love). Both Hal and Lapira do great jobs in providing similar voices that of which Hader and Kaling did in the first Inside Out in Fear and Disgust and do certainly compliment the returning voice players cohesively.

Switching over to the “new emotions” for Riley, the one who makes the most lasting impression and has the most pivotal screen time in the movie is Anxiety, an orange colored emotion who gets worried and catastrophizes every situation, with stated intention of averting such bad outcomes for Riley, and who is played by actress Maya Hawke (Stranger Things and Asteroid City). The constant fearfulness of “what if” gives Anxiety a sort of constant chatter throughout the feature and Hawke plays up those moments perfectly. In truth, Anxiety acts almost like an antagonist in the movie, but not in a malicious or vindictiveness way, but rather a new emotion that seems to undercut Joy’s leadership and tries to muscle her way into controlling Riley fully. It is, more or less, a difference of opinions, with Hawke’s Anxiety being a great character foil to Poehler’s Joy, with the pair having some of the best lines (both humorous and tender ones) in the film. After Anxiety, the new emotion of Ennui, an indigo colored emotion who expresses Riley’s boredom, sarcasm, and feigned disinterest, and who is played by actress Adele Exarchopoulos (Blue is the Warmest Color and Orphan). Exarchopoulos’s bored French sounding accent gives Ennui a humorous character build, especially how she is drawn and presented, and does produce a lot of laughs whenever she is on screen. Definitely probably one of the my favorite of Riley’s new emotions.

Behind her, the emotion of Embarrassment, a pink colored emotion who response to Riley’s embarrassment situations, plays a humorous “physical” role in the movie, and who is voiced by actor Paul Walter Hauser (Richard Jewell and Cruella). While not much of a talker, the character of Embarrassment provides plenty of goofy antics in and out of the movie’s runtime and creates some hilarious moments throughout. Perhaps the only “new emotion” I felt could’ve been expanded upon and / or had a bit more dialogue moments was Envy, a cyan colored emotion who motivates Riely to pursue what others have, and who is voiced by Ayo Edebiri (Bottoms and The Bear). While Edebiri brings the amount of “animated” sounding voice to the role, which is great, the character of Envy sort of gets pushed aside and is probably the weakest / least interesting of Riley’s new emotions.

Rounding out the rest of Riley’s “inner subconscious” mind characters are Bloofy, an interactive character from Riley’s favorite children TV show (similar in the manner of Blue’s Clues and Dora and the Explorer) and who is voiced by Ron Funches (Trolls and 6 Underground), Pouchy, Bloofy’s talking pouch who is similar to Backpack from Dora the Explorer and who is voiced by James Austin Johnson (Saturday Night Live and Praise Petey), Lance Slashblade, a heroic video game character who Riley had a crush one when she was younger and who is voiced by Yong Yea (Lords of the Fallen and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth), and Deep Dark Secret, Riley’s deepest secrets manifested into a towering being and who is voiced by Steve Purcell (Brave and Coco). As to be expected, these characters are delegated to minor supporting roles, but their animated vocals and humorous bits do making them stand out and are memorable whenever they appear.

Of the human characters in the movie, the character of Riley, now a 13 year old teenager girl who suddenly experience a range of new emotions and feelings during a hockey camp retreat, and who is voiced by actress Kensington Tallman (Drama Club and That Girl Lay Lay), replacing Kaitlyn Dias from the first film. In truth, Tallman does quite a good job in providing the voice for Riley, hitting all the right tones and angst that one would expect to find within a young teenager girl and the emotional weight that she carries. The character arc for Riley, while not as dramatic as it was in the original Inside Out, still holds plenty of weight and understanding, as new puberty emotions emerge and begin to disrupt her core beliefs. Riley’s journey in the movie is quite poignant about growing up and about friendship, which I did highlight above and is fundamental to all to learn from…..regardless of age. As an additional sidenote to Riley, the character’s parents (mom and dad to Riley) make a return in this sequel, with actress Diane Lane (The Outsiders and Secretariat) and actor Kyle MacLachlan (Dune and Twin Peaks) reprising their voices once again. However, unlike the first Inside Out, the characters of Riley’s mom and dad sort of only “bookend” the feature and don’t have much participation in the main plot of the story this time around. Still, Lane and MacLachlan are still quite effective in their voice performances in the movie.

In more supportive roles are Riley’s two best friends (Grace and Bree), who are voiced by Grace Lu (Fright Krewe and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth) and Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green (Dream Productions) respectfully. While mostly just side characters, both Grace and Bree do play an instrumental part in Riley’s journey as her close best friends, but are pushed aside when the new emotions take control of the young girl and start to look for newer ones. Could both of these character been expanded upon more? Yes, I most definitely think so, but what’s presented works and serviceable, with both Lu and Nuriddin-Green giving some quality performance in their characters. Rounding out the rest “human characters” cast, includes actress Lilimar (Bella and the Bulldogs and Spyders) as a popular high school hockey skater Valentina “Val” Oritz and actress Yvette Nicole Brown (Community and Pound Puppies) as high school hockey coach and head of the summer hockey camp that Riley and her friends are attending Coach Roberts. While both Lilimar and Brown do great jobs in giving these two characters life and personalities throughout the movie, I do feel that both Val and Coach Roberts could’ve been slightly expanded upon more in a few key areas. Not a whole lot, of course, but a bit more fleshed out to give a better understanding to them (as characters) and in their interactions with Riley.

Inside Out 2 (2024) Review

FINAL THOUGHTS


As Riley settles into her teenager years, Joy and the other emotions are confronted with new emotions, who are thriving for control of the young girl during a hockey weekend training camp in the movie Inside Out 2. Director Kelsey Mann’s latest film takes what was previously established in the 2015 animated film and expands upon it, creating a new adventure for Joy and the rest of her “core emotions” to navigate through Riley’s inner subconscious teenage mind, while dealing with her newer puberty emotions that comes with her coming of age. It’s a classic recipe of lessons to be learned with a comforting tale of growing up and discovering various emotions during your early teen years. While the feature does lean a bit too much in such formulaic nuances in its plotting, the movie itself is still indeed a welcoming one that shines brilliantly more than other sequels do, especially Mann’s direction, a satisfying story, thematic messaging, stunning animation, fun characters, and great voice talents all around. Personally, I loved this movie. Yes, they were some minor complaints that I had with the repetitiveness of the main narrative and some characters could’ve been expanded upon, but (as a whole) the film was still a sincere and fun cartoon motion picture that was gorgeously animated, beautifully voice acted, and completely tender within its discoveries of heart and humor. I still think that the first film is still slightly better, but only by small margin as this follow-up endeavor is hold up and does a great job in trying to recapture what made the first Inside Out truly special and magical. It’s a worthy sequel to its predecessor. Thus, my recommendation for this animated feature would be a solid “highly recommended” as I am sure that fans of the first Inside Out as well as the movie’s targeted demographic (and even their parents) will surely delight in this colorful and well-made animated sequel. Is there room for a possible third Inside Out installment to cap off a potential franchise in trilogy style? Possible, but, like this one, it should be well thought out and have a lot of credence to warrant such an endeavor. In the end, Inside Out 2 is a solid return into the internal mind of Riley and her emotions, entertaining viewers with another engaging and heartwarming chapter into a young girl’s development of choices and growth.

4.3 Out of 5 (Highly Recommended)

 

The Official Website for Inside Out 2 Link: HERE
Released Date: June 14th, 2024
Reviewed On: January 23rd, 2025

Inside Out 2  is 96 minutes long and is rated PG for some thematic elements



Blog