Feelings are fickle, especially when one reaches puberty. Hormones and emotions go haywire, elevating everything to exaggerated proportions. It would be easy if humans were only given five emotions to work with, but it’s much more complex than that. That’s what Inside Out 2 tries to convey: as people grow up, their emotions become more complicated, but they don’t define who you are.
Following the 2015 film’s events, Riley (Kensington Tallman) is now 13 years old and about to embark on teendom. The original five emotions – Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale), and Disgust (Liza Lapira) – seem to have everything under control. As Riley grows up, her memories establish her “Sense of Self” and her “Belief System.” The five decide which memories go into the main vault, filtering Riley’s mainframe with only positive and happy memories, setting her up to be “a good person.”
Unfortunately, this lifestyle couldn’t last forever. When Riley reaches puberty, new emotions move in — led by Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), and Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos) — move in to prepare Riley for those cumbersome teen years. There is conflict between the two groups, as Joy is focused on keeping Riley an upstanding human being rather than thinking ahead to the future consequences. Anxiety, who understands social expectations and the status quo, wants to prepare Riley for the future, which includes fitting in and making new friends. The new emotions begin to mold a new version of Riley, one driven by Anxiety — a feeling that is not too far off for many to relate to.
The film hilariously depicts the original emotions as outdated, old feelings that don’t understand how things are now. The new emotions are comparable to Gen Z trying to explain how the world works now to millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers. Even Ennui is so consumed with her handheld console, freaking out when she misplaces it. Of course, the sequel follows the same formula as the first, reminding everyone that all emotions matter and have a purpose. It differs only by Joy and Anxiety — both group leaders — realizing that a personality shouldn’t be determined by one emotion or select memories (of that emotion). All memories — good or bad — lay the foundation of a belief system and approach to life.
Though it’s a lovely message and a great reminder for the adults watching, it gets a bit lost during the film’s second act. The film’s beginning beautifully sets up the storyline, recalling Riley’s life since the first film and introducing the new characters. But, the second act becomes disjointed and muddled when the film switches between multiple stories and characters. The original emotions are thrown out of the main console room, and they have to search for Riley’s old personality (thrown by Anxiety) in the back of her mind.
This leads to their own separate adventure, but the film’s direction is constantly switched to follow the new team’s approach to Riley’s psyche. The transitions don’t feel smooth going between stories, even becoming distracting at one point. Only when the story reaches the third act does it find its footing again. But the emotional impact/climax doesn’t hit as hard by then. However, the message is still clear and does pack a punch, but not as hard as it could have been.
Though not as traumatic as losing Bing Bong in the first film, the sequel seems darker than the original. It introduces new characters who poke fun at our childhood crushes and guilty pleasures, one of whom may be too creepy-looking for kids under 10 to watch the film. They do serve as comic relief, but the jokes feel more teen-and-adult-based.
The film succeeds in its beautiful animation styles, ranging from 2D renderings to 3D to even paper mache style. Disney Pixar always amazes me with its advancement of art and animation, filled with vibrant colors and detailed components that make up the emotions. Riley’s mind palace has expanded beyond the stream of consciousness to include a hilarious animation studio in Imaginationland, a parade of future careers, and chasms created as Riley begins to use sarcasm (get it, “sar-chasm”). The animation is only elevated by composer Andrea Datzman’s score, as the emotions themselves are dealing with their own existential crisis.
Overall, the film serves its purpose of setting up Riley’s journey into those teen years (and eventual adulthood) and reminding audiences of the importance of our feelings but never letting them define us. Sure, the film is a bit of a mess in the second half, but that’s also how life is.
Rating: 7/10
