The game is cooked – no matter how much people say they want more original features, the pull of the IP will always have the upper hand. This is especially relevant for a studio such as Disney, who has put itself in a franchise corner by way of strategic spending, and this sequel churn-out model has trickled down to be a mandate in Pixar as well. However, what’s impressive about Pixar is that their films are still consistently good despite having to juggle a public’s need for fresh stories with a corporation’s need for instant success and maximum profit. It’s exactly why a film such as Inside Out 2 can feel somewhat superfluous but still deliver a great time, with memorable gags and a useful conversation starter about the effects of anxiety. It’s almost muscle memory for these people.
Pete Doctor is gone from the director’s chair, replaced by Kelsey Mann, but the premise remains the same. Riley (Kensington Tallman) is a young teen girl trying to find her footing in the relatively new setting of San Francisco. Unbeknownst to Riley (and the rest of the world population) is the fact that her actions and feelings are controlled by the personification of the emotions in her body, who identify themselves as Joy (Amy Poehler), Disgust (Liza Lapira), Fear (Tony Hale), Anger (Lewis Black), and Sadness (Phyllis Smith). Joy is the leader of the group, but the original film humbled the character and their controlling ways by pointing a focus on the importance of Sadness in one’s development. Now, things are going a lot smoother inside Riley’s nervous system, as she seems poised to make the hockey team in high school with the rest of her friends.
Yet, conflict finds a way, and soon Riley finds herself unsure of which friend group she really belongs to, and if she’s even good enough to make the hockey team. Exacerbating these issues is Riley’s first introduction to puberty, which sends her body into a tailspin when a new group of emotions arrive to take control: Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Boredom (Adèle Exarchopoulos), and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser). The two groups of emotions have competing philosophies on how best to direct Riley’s decisions, leading to a civil war that puts the young girl’s wellbeing and mental health in jeopardy.
This is a sequel that certainly adheres to a traditional franchise tenet: give the audience more, more, more. More emotions and more comedic shenanigans, for better or worse. This is Mann’s directorial debut, so it’s difficult to discern any personal stylistic choices from the filmmaker, but Inside Out 2 is certainly more hectic and zany than its predecessor. There seems to be an uptick in both slapstick and goofy dialogue – such as when Riley’s emotions are fumbling big time in the control center, causing the poor woman to spout out some bizarre lines that would likely get her roasted in 90% of high schools.
Despite the silliness, the movie’s primary focus weighs in on how anxiety influences our thoughts and inspires a plethora of confused choices for a teenager going through changes. Meanwhile, the animation, as expected from the studio, remains crisp and vibrant. It was a nice touch to double down on the hockey focus here, leading the way for the animators to show off some well orchestrated sequences. However, the movie isn’t really about hockey – it’s about friendship, insecurity, and stressful decision-making. Riley feels the weight of urgency that her choices carry, but her rash decisions lead to nothing but chaos and misunderstandings. Still, you root for the character, and after a while, you get tired of the umpteenth time that Riley is unfairly judged by her peers, or at least I did. While she does bring about a lot of the scrutiny onto herself, I was ready to throw hands for this kid!
It’s also worth noting that Mindy Kaling and Bill Hader did not return this time around, replaced by Liza Lapira and Tony Hale, respectively. The latter do a good enough job, but have the difficult task of replacing well-known actors who already established the vibes of these characters.
As delayed sequels go, Inside Out 2 is close enough to the DNA of the original, but I have a few reservations. Starting with the inciting incident itself, I don’t feel there’s quite enough different here to put this on the level of the great Pixar sequels. At the end of the last movie, Joy’s character arc is completed when she realizes the necessary value of Sadness to alert Riley (and those who care about her) that something is wrong. It was a unique angle – highlighting that Sadness is unavoidable, a useful emotion in our memories on the road to maturity and understanding. Yet here, Joy begins the movie discarding any and all bad memories so as not to upset Riley. Is this not antithetical to what we learned in the last film? Bad memories are unpleasant, but they serve a purpose. In theory, this could be chalked up to Joy being a rather simplistic, early-stage emotion. Thus, her maturity and wisdom are possibly more in line with that of a teenager. But I believe that explanation comes off as an excuse if it actively harms story consistency.
I do believe the first Inside Out packed more of an emotional punch. The sequel teaches a similar lesson about one emotion having too much power, but the observations about emotional maturity aren’t as novel as what has come before. Nonetheless, Inside Out 2 sheds a spotlight on anxiety and how we must center ourselves before we even attempt to make the tough decisions in our lives.
If there’s any obstacles that the film is competing with, it’s the standards of its own studio. Pixar has set such a high bar that it puts each new film in the unenviable position of living up to expectations. Still, Mann’s film is fun, humorous, and most importantly, relatable. Not having a traditional villain, instead making personal challenges the antagonist, deepens the connection to the characters and makes Riley one of Pixar’s most empathetic protagonists ever. At barely over 90 minutes, the movie almost feels like a blur, leaving you wanting more. However, while I’d most definitely watch an Inside Out 3, I don’t think we need it. Given the progression of the emotional stakes, I don’t know if I’d want to watch Riley taking Xanax.
