Pixar was once this celebrated studio that seemed to outshine its parent company. Bringing the world cutting-edge animation with the first ever fully CGI-animated film in Toy Story, and producing hit after hit after hit, it seemed as though Pixar could not be toppled. That was until 2010. For all the greatness of Toy Story 3, it did mark a beginning for the company’s insistence to rely on sequels. In between original ideas, it was mostly an influx of easy-to-market follow-ups to previous successes. These sequels, as could be expected, were less than desirable.
But then there was Inside Out. With the prospect of new and more complicated emotions overtaking Riley, the main character, and the complexities of puberty, this had every chance to provide the same sort of nuanced emotional observation the first film managed to perfect. After all, your teenage years are the most awkward to navigate, and this can provide an equally perfect guide for that demographic. In a way that reminded me of Pixar’s previous attempt to address this specific audience, Turning Red, I came to realise that any gripes may be because I am not the targeted demographic. But with how the first film managed to encapsulate those issues for everyone, maybe it’s worth the criticism. A mixed bag of emotions, this is Kelsey Mann’s Inside Out 2.
A few years have passed since we saw Riley (Kensington Tallman) overcome her worries about moving to a new town. Now graduating middle school with her friends, she goes to a summer camp where she can hone her hockey abilities. But as Riley has turned thirteen, her emotions are about to expand.
Inside Riley’s head, we are reunited with the core five emotions of the first film: Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Liza Lapira), and Fear (Tony Hale). With Sadness now being accepted as one of the gang, the five have continued to manage Riley well, that is until the ‘puberty’ protocol is activated. With Riley’s head left a mess, and the console operating her being ultra-sensitive, four new emotions enter the fray. Largely led by Anxiety (Maya Hawke), a frantic emotion that aims to take Joy’s role, we also get Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adele Exarchopoulos) and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser). Feeling that the familiar quintet have served their purpose, Anxiety sends them to be locked away and bottled up.
The result of these more dominant emotions cause Riley to change her personality, shutting off her old friends for new ones and having her entire moral foundation replaced by a more selfish one. The old gang finds their way out of the vault they were locked in, vowing to return to Riley’s centre, but even they will learn that not every action they have performed has been the best for the hormonal teen.
The first film was praised for how it took such a simple concept and turned it into something with depth. This was always Pixar’s biggest strength, taking such concepts and broadening them. With that first film being so celebrated, it left quite the looming shadow to emerge from. A sequel can either play around with the ideas introduced before and create something new from something familiar, or they can just repeat the process with the illusion of change. Inside Out 2 fits in the middle.
One thing that had me interested, besides the expanse of this world of emotions, was getting to see more of the old gang. Anger, Disgust and Fear were essentially villains in the first movie, unwittingly causing more destruction than they intended. Now with them on the journey, we can get more moments of them fighting against their own labels. There are funny and smart gags about Fear having a crush on Anxiety, and Disgust being bothered by stepping onto a piece of broccoli, but you also get more insight into how they view Joy. Joy is especially fun in this movie, keeping the same energy, but also being as fallible as she once was. The problems arise once you compare these dynamics to the first, and you notice more than an uncanny resemblance.
The biggest fault of this film is that shameless re-treading. The journey is essentially the same, with Joy having thrown away the bad memories in Riley’s head, being sent on a perilous journey through Riley’s subconscious and having to overcome a negative emotion. Just because the cast is more expanded, doesn’t mean the similarities can hide. We even see this in the way the new emotions cause more damage in Joy’s absence. While the first movie made it clear that the others relied on Joy, this one does give us more ignorant characters that believe they’re in the right, to make it more distinct. But one can’t move aside from the clear copy-and-paste nature of the story, right down to visiting the same locations.
For those looking for a wider expanse of emotions, ones that will match the iconography of the core five, the film mostly delivers. Each one is as memorable as the other, with Anxiety being particularly fun. The contrast she has to Joy is entertaining, and perfectly fitting for what happens to our minds as we mature into that ever-so-awkward age of thirteen. Anxiety dominates Riley’s mind in such relatable ways that you get that same sense of connection that first film was able to create. The other emotions are more complex, acting in ways that invoke our need to adapt to new surroundings. Embarrassment was also very relatable. That negative emotion has always been the most apt one to follow a teenager, so it’s no surprise that he takes the position once held by Sadness.
This film does try to offer a more expansive view of the discussion about emotions for both sides. People who watched the first film would want them to explore the complexities of going through puberty, wanting to see Riley at a different point in time. The pre-teens and teenagers, who could’ve grown up watching the first film, will want something to relate to. When you stack this up against other puberty PSAs, I suppose you could find worse.
There is this obsession with fitting in that teens go through, especially when they move to a new school. Riley’s actions, though easy to call callous as an adult, are understandable to teens. Riley is dictated by her emotions, just as we all are. And as teens, we make irrational choices because of them. The movie manages to pinpoint that exact way of thinking in the same impressive precision that made the first work so well. Anxiety and envy can make us choose the wrong path, while boredom and embarrassment can make us hide away. Even when this film missteps, it does still have those moments that speak to our core beliefs.
That’s something else I can appreciate: Riley’s core. It plays such a huge part in the former emotions’ journey to figuring out how to manage Riley. The film initially presents us with a clear idea of good and bad. But this is eventually shifted into something more complex, that being that a person is many things, and that being entirely good is not achievable. There’s a good point made here that makes you think about what advice you would’ve given to your younger self. Maybe you have a teen the same age is Riley. To tell someone that age that you’re allowed to make mistakes, and you’re allowed to make choices that benefit you as much as everyone else, is so important.
With that said, it comes across as if I really do admire the film. And I do, in some regards. Where it can fall apart is just how derivative it can all feel. I’m not simply talking about the repetition of familiar plot points, I’m also talking about how generic Riley’s situation is. Kids turning to the popular kids in an effort to stand out, the whole learning to be less competitive and enjoy what you’re doing; it’s all very tired. I think a large part of this is simply because I don’t fit into the demographic. But I also remember the complexities of being a teenager, and having to navigate the hurdles of anxiety and sadness. This almost feels like a basic outline for what constitutes teenage worries. The nuance of the first film, which manages to speak to everyone, outside of just children, is quite lost here.
But for the hearkening on this film I may do, there are some very funny and creative elements. The fact that Riley’s control room is left a mess after they go full puberty mode, saying that they’ll clean it up later, is very funny. The fact there is a vault of secret thoughts, like a cartoon dog from Riley’s preschool years, and a low-poly video game character who behaves like one, never failed to make me chuckle. The animated character even comes back in a very humorous and thoughtful way. Things like the sar-chasm and Imaginationland being turned into a work office are ingenious. There’s clearly a lot of love that was poured into making this a fitting sequel.
For being one of the few Pixar sequels I actually wanted to see, it certainly felt underwhelming. While there is a heft of creative and fun ideas, with the new emotions being utilised to their fullest, I can’t help but fixate of the laziness of the film. Throwing all of these new characters and gags at us would be fine, if the story hadn’t drawn me away.
With some stunning animation and a good message for teenagers, there is certainly value to this one. I can see this resonating with young teens all over, and that’s better than most of what Pixar has made in the last five years. But much like Turning Red, the subject matter is so specific that it’s hard for me to see past my own matured perspective. Much like Riley herself, my emotions are all over the place. Not bad, but not as outstanding as its predecessor. A third movie that delves into Riley dealing with her twenties wouldn’t be the worst thing.
Written review by Conor Johnson.
Conor's Corner of Criticism 