In her mind, the headquarters where her individual emotions live gets rebuilt, and four new feelings join the team! They are Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), and Embarrassment (Adèle Exarchopoulos). It’s not surprising these different groups don’t get along. Anxiety is the worst. This film shows how those what ifs manifest when uncertainty hides in every corner.
Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Tony Hale), Anger (Lewis Black) and Disgust’s (Liza Lapira) little world is not as cosy anymore. And to watch them face new challenges makes for an emotionally deep story. To see her emotional journey take place while she’s at a weekend hockey camp is the perfect juxtaposition. Here, individuals learn how to work together rather than apart if they’re to score a goal.
Part of the story includes how Anxiety believes Riley has to impress Val. And as for whether that’s needed to be done, that’s up to a different part of this pre-teen’s psyche to decide. This film is less about the Id, Ego and Superego, and although I am curious where all the decision-making comes from, I’m sure not every function needs to be explored. Here, it’s about which emotions come into play.
After watching this film, I did some reading online to learn what writers Meg LeFauve, Dave Holstein, and Kelsey Mann (who also directed) have done in order to understand what youths must face as they become a teen. They nail the details just right. And I firmly believe this motion picture isn’t focused on what young ladies go through. Boys have their challenges too; I recall going through a different but similar rollercoaster ride.
To figure out your identity, know where you belong and even who should be your friends are moments nearly every pre-teen goes through. Those high school years are when folks either fit in a clique or simply go punk. It’s tough to face change and as for making the right or wrong decision, it’s something everyone must deal with. I rather enjoyed this reflection back, without getting too maudlin about it.
The digital artistry that we know as PIXAR comes from expanding those worlds we’ve seen before with a new colour tapestry! It’s amazing to see how memories are stored and why some become defining moments to one’s personality and others not. In the story that’s not told, the theory about how Riley builds her “Sense of Self (Worth)” is picture-perfect. The crystal tree is a very apt symbolic image.
Also, to have a huge cast of truly talented comediennes to represent these nine emotions must’ve been quite the task to reign! To get that synergy between being an avatar for that specific emotion must have taken a lot of takes.
Although the action is a minor retread of the first movie, that’s okay. What gets changed is that there’s another cartoon character who serves a different purpose and helps Joy and her squad escape. The 2D digitally drawn Bloofy (Ron Funches) steals the show with some unusual fourth wall breaking moments, and I haven’t laughed that hard in any film for a long time.
This sequel is better than its predecessor. And as for how this PIXAR team can top that, I hope they don’t try. Thankfully the title, Dream Productions, hints at what that’ll be about. To explore this girl’s dreams is okay, but to keep going with exploring her life in high school isn’t the best direction. I imagine it will be similar to Monsters at Work. They’ll be 11-minute length episodes. And that’s perfect when considering they don’t always reach an end when the alarm rings!
4 Stars out of 5
Inside Out 2 Movie Trailer
