Inside Out 2 sees Pixar’s return to sequels after 5 years. Pixar has been on a long dry run for the last few years, which meant that a lot was riding on Inside Out 2. Inside Out is considered one of Pixar’s finest and also won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. 9 years later, we finally have the sequel that continues Riley’s story. Kelsey Mann takes over the directorial duties on this one from Pete Docter, while Meg Lefauve returns to pen the script this time with Mann and Dave Holstein.
Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, and Lewis Black return as joy, sadness, and anger respectively, while Tony Hale takes over as fear and Liza Lapira takes over as Disgust. Diane Lane & Kyle MacLachlan also return as Riley’s parents. The newcomers include Maya Hawke as anxiety, Ayo Edibiri as envy, Adele Exarchopoulos as Ennui, and Paul Walter Hauser as Embarrassment. The first movie focused on the five core emotions, but now that Riley is growing up and nearing puberty, it only feels natural that she would feel a lot more emotions.
Where the movie excels the most is in its ability to turn its emotional conflict into a relatable and exciting adventure. It makes the viewer feel that they’re living their days of puberty again while exploring multiple layers of emotions. The core emotions now have to deal with the arrival of anxiety, envy, boredom and embarrassment. The emotions struggle to work together which affects Riley’s personality construct. Anxiety eventually takes over in her attempt to “protect” Riley as she believes that joy is stuck in the past and does not care about Riley’s future.
The writing in this one feels more well-rounded. The humor is more consistent and the writers do really well to balance each emotion’s arc while also focusing on the overarching story of Riley’s self-discovery. Pixar is known to bring emotional stories out of anything right from toys to cars to elements, so it was only natural that they were able to bring out so much emotion out of emotions. The pacing is also steady and the movie hardly feels long or stretched at any point. The adventure of the core emotions to get back to a certain place could have been a little more crisp, but it’s still very enjoyable. This entry smartly takes advantage of all the work put in by its predecessor in world-building and uses it to craft creative sequences.
Poehler and Black are brilliant in their roles, but Maya Hawke as anxiety is a clear standout among the newcomers. Anxiety is set up as the “antagonist” in the story, and Hawke brilliantly brings her to life. Paul Walter Hauser feels wasted as embarrassment, although the character is very likable and has a decent arc. The score is also another highlight and perfectly captures the chaos and the delicacy of Riley’s emotional state. The movie also focuses a lot more on hockey, and at times goes fully into the zone of sports drama. But all the arcs eventually come together in what turns out to be a heartwarming and satisfying journey.
Inside Out 2 warms your heart and soul with its vibrant visuals and sincere storytelling. It reignites Pixar’s creative spark and delivers a sequel that feels natural and maintains the innocence and charm of its predecessor. Kelsey Mann crafts a thoroughly engaging coming-of-age adventure in what is Pixar’s best film in years, and a step above the first one. It is easily the best animated movie of the year so far and should not be missed.
Inside Out 2 releases in theaters on June 14.
