Making a sequel to Inside Out was always going to be a difficult task. The 2015 film is widely considered one of Pixar's finest achievements and is a late-stage masterpiece from the California animation studio.
This brings us to Inside Out 2, a sequel that somehow manages to build on the complexity of the first (which, truth be told, is one of my favorite movies). It's a brilliant play, taking us even deeper into the mind of protagonist Riley Andersen (Kensington Tallman) and her personified emotions.
Director: Kelsey Mann
Writers: Meg LeFauve, Dave Holstein, Kelsey Mann
Stars: Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke, Kensington Tallman
Riley is now officially a teenager, still guided by her emotions Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale) and Disgust (Liza Lapira), who have found a way to that everything works. together controlling the console at headquarters.
When the movie begins, Riley is in the middle of a hockey game, with her new best friends Grace (Grace Lu) and Bree (Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green). Most of the story revolves around Riley's acceptance into a three-day hockey camp, which gives him the opportunity to impress "cool girl" Valentina Ortiz (Lilimar), the star of the hockey team. secondary school.
But things change completely when the “puberty alarm” sounds on the console, signaling the arrival of four new emotions; Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopolous) and Shame (Paul Walter Hauser). Since Riley is now a teenager, she needs more complex emotions. The petite but fiercely jealous Envy, the endlessly bored couch potato Ennui (who controls Riley's emotions through the console app on her smartphone), and the shy, larger-than-life Shame all represent aspects of teenage angst.
There's a kinetic intensity to the story, both because of the pressure Riley faces at hockey camp and the emotions going through inside her mind. The main conflict is between Joy (whom Ennui calls "old school") and the over-caffeinated Anxiety, who constantly worries about Riley's future and social standing when she is given the opportunity to go out with the girls. great. Anxiety naturally clashes with Joy's penchant for positive thinking and she believes she should be the one in charge.
If Inside Out 2 can't surpass its predecessor, it does a brilliant job building on it. Director Kelsey Mann (replacing Pete Docter, now executive producer) delivers a worthy sequel, once again combining the precise with the abstract to offer a visual representation of how the mind works. The genius of these films is how they take psychological ideas and present them in a visually imaginative and easy-to-understand way (when emotions are repressed, they literally become bottled in a jar).
Through this, Inside Out 2 can unleash your imagination, exploring deep ideas like how belief systems are formed and how our beliefs help shape who we are. Secrets are kept in a bank-like vault (mostly from fairly innocent children, but still), and brainstorms are like storms in the mind. It is based on a story about how anxiety can warp one's sense of self, leading to a tug of war between different emotions. The movie is really about how emotions change and evolve as we grow, while allowing the emotions themselves to be vulnerable.
Joy's journey to accepting Sadness in the first film already made her a multifaceted protagonist, and Inside Out 2 further cements her as one of Pixar's most complex characters since Woody, who also had to deal with watching his son grow up. son along Toy. Story movies. Poehler understands this character on a deep level through her perfect voice work, once again finding that balance between Joy having a level of understanding similar to Riley's age while also being a protective mother figure to she.
Hawke's scene-stealing anxiety is equally complex, a not-quite villain who also believes what she's doing is best for Riley, leading to a frighteningly accurate depiction of how anxiety itself can control your mind. She is like a more extreme manifestation of Fear, which in many ways controlled Riley's anxiety while she was growing up. It's a fascinating and clever dichotomy of how new emotions serve almost as counterparts to existing ones, showing how Riley's emotional understanding matures as she grows.
The film is fast-paced and the script by Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein is often very funny. But Inside Out 2 also delivers those emotional hits, with pro moments.
Composer Andrea Datzman brings a slightly harder sound to the film's score that matches the story's heavier beats, with the signature notes of original composer Michael Giacchino's "Bundle of Joy" being poignantly worked into all the time. The visually stunning animation also pushes the boundaries of the first film in terms of exploring new depths within Riley's mind.
In short, Inside Out 2 does what all great sequels should do; expands on this world and builds on its predecessor without simply trying to copy it, while also offering its own complexities and emotional depth. It's an experience that makes every emotion when you leave the theater feel a little more intense. This one will stay with me.
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