The conversation surrounding Pixar is a tumultuous one to say the least. Wildly varying opinions of not just their individual films but their filmography and longevity and quality as a whole are discussed far more often than the current film at hand. This is largely due to the fact that Pixar is such an integral part of our lives – and has been for decades- that every new entry is weighed against not one, but ALL of our favorites and cherished memories. Before we talk about “Inside Out 2” I think it’s important to contextualize Pixar in a way that is both my own personal subjective takes paired with some objectivity about the cultural surroundings and impact.
It’s best discussed in blocks of time, or unintended but largely accepted phases like the MCU. I’m not gonna go into all of that (we can save that for another discussion and you can read my Pixar rewatch here) but it is important to at least address 2 things that help put “Inside Out 2” into perspective. The first is that for all the grandstanding and grifting about massive dips in Pixar’s quality and losing their way (which, there is some truth to that but not nearly as much as angry YouTubers who hate stories about women would have you believe) you never hear anyone talk about how the rest of animation caught up to their innovation. It was an inevitable step in the direction of the future, and for almost a decade Pixar not only revolutionized the animation industry with their visuals and storytelling – they had almost no competition during their first run. Shortly after that and around the time that people started writing their eulogies for the studio, the rise of Dreamworks and Illumination and Liaka and even Disney themselves all began to catch up, flooding animated films with similarly innovative and timeless animated creations.
It’s not so much the fall of Pixar as much as it no longer stood atop the mountain they built. The second thing to remember is despite all of that, Pixar is still here making films nearly 30 years later. Longevity with more original stories than sequels is hard for ANY studio, let alone an animated one owned by one of the most money grubbing, corporate shareholder driven companies to ever exist. If you’re making films for 30 years, the idea that all of them will be “Toy Story” every single time is an unrealistic expectation. There are only so many times you can make the “what if this thing from our childhood could talk?” before you have to start taking some risks. Our expectations need to be scaled down a bit with each new film. That’s not to say you need to love all of them – I’ve got plenty of Pixar films on my unwatchable list – just that we should take into account the totality of Pixar and some things that surround it before we start with the “Pixar sucks now” or worse, “Pixar is woke.” Sidenote: for the love of god stop saying this. It’s not true, it never has been, and it’s nothing but a meaningless word salad dog whistle for the worst of humanity.
I know that was a lot, but “Inside Out 2” needs these cultural context frameworks in order to be reviewed on its own merits. Now we can talk about the film itself as well as how it compares to its predecessor without having to take into account the whole of Pixar at the same time, nor do another deep dive into how much our cultural shift and dividing lines skews every lens with which we’ve watched the last say, I dunno, 8 or 9 Pixar films. “Inside Out 2” is a fascinating blend of simplicity and complexity, a retreading of its original (sometimes to a fault) but imbued with an emotional intelligence that captures more nuanced storytelling. More than just “What if emotions could talk,” “Inside Out 2” digs deeper into what makes us human. Not just in the surface sense, either. In a sense of all the things and experiences and emotions that create beliefs at a pivotal time in our lives. We are more than one idea, more than singular emotions at any given time, and “Inside Out 2” explores them with some strong visual wonder and introspection.
Directed by longtime Pixar Story Supervisor Kelsey Mann (“The Good Dinosaur,” “Monster’s University“) and written by original “Inside Out” writer Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein, “Inside Out 2” reunites Riley’s emotions Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust during a pivotal time of change in Riley’s life: Puberty. She’s now a new teenager, and everything from the inside out (no pun intended) is changing. While Joy is trying to help Riley navigate this new time in her life, a group of new emotions enter into the command center. Anxiety, Embarrassment, Envy, and Ennui (what we would call, the boredom). Anxiety plans for the future, and takes over control from Joy and her friends believing that Riley needs more complicated emotions than the singular ones of the past. Our old friends are suppressed emotions, locked away deep in Riley’s subconscious, and must now journey to the back of her mind of forgotten memories to recover her personality and restore who Riley is. The film stars Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke, Liza Lapira, Tony Hale, Lewis Black, Phyllis Smith, Ayo Edebiri, Ron Funches, and the always incredible Adèle Exarchopoulos.
In its most basic form, “Inside Out 2” is just “Inside Out” with new emotions. Beat for beat it follows the exact same narrative, even down to the same messaging and hero’s journey through Riley’s mind that Joy (Poehler) has to take again. This is the simplicity part of this sequel, where it stumbles the most in really trying to drive the story forward or do something new and unique with their beloved characters. It’s all pretty familiar, and can be somewhat distracting if you get too caught up in its predictability and limited story. Even Joy herself goes through the exact same character arc, learning the same lessons in the nearly the exact same way. The only change is the emotion she’s forced to work with, trading out Sadness (Smith) for Anxiety (Hawke). But even with an unchanged story at its core, “Inside Out 2” is surprisingly more complex than its predecessor, with the new emotions breathing new life and fresh perspectives into how we shape ourselves into who we become during dramatic shifts and times of change.
The whole of “Inside Out 2” takes place over 3 days, as Riley attends a hockey camp and encounters new friends and new challenges as she prepares for high school. Some would say restricting Riley’s perspective from the world to a very limited one is a detriment, but I would argue that this is a rather smart move. When you’re 13, everything feels like the only thing that matters. The world around you may expand, but your focus is singular. “Inside Out 2” smartly chooses to place Riley in this mindset, with her 3 days at camp being the most important part of her entire life despite it having little effect on anything outside of it. This is where Anxiety takes over, and I have to say I felt so incredibly seen.
Anxiety is a well crafted addition to the changing, and embodies so much of what we have all felt more than we ever have over the last 10 years or so. Hawke is terrific as Anxiety, and watching this complex emotion that keeps us up at night pondering every possible thing that can go wrong in our lives is near perfectly brought to life here. “Inside Out 2” is at its best when it is exploring the effects of Anxiety on Riley, and feels more geared towards adults than children. That’s not to say 13 year olds don’t experience anxiety, and “Inside Out 2” will most certainly bring up some discussions between adults and their kids. It’s a uniting emotion brought to life as the film tries to instill messages of how we can and should deal with anxiety in our lives, both in our youth and adulthood.
“Inside Out 2” may not be as inventive as its predecessor and doesn’t always do enough to warrant its existence. But it is still visually arresting and attempting to explore different parts of us even when it is retreading some of the tried and true manipulative sentimentality baked into its execution. This isn’t even a good or bad thing; the goal of “Inside Out” and “Inside Out 2” has always been to get you to feel, so zeroing in on how to illicit an emotional response from its audience should be a given. So while the sequel doesn’t quite reach the heights of its predecessor, it is still mostly affecting and enjoyable. It is most certainly one of the better sequels in the Pixar Sequel Canon, and while it may not have been necessary it is fairs far better than some other attempts at trying to recapture the magic. “Inside Out 2” even explores different animation styles, injecting a “Bluey” -esque character name Pouchy (Funches) drawn a similar style, and a “Final Fantasy” -esque video game character that is riotously funny if you’re in on the joke.
I don’t believe going back to the wells over and over again until it runs dry is the right approach (which is of course the lesson they took because why would they even learn the right thing) for the studio, but “Inside Out 2” is an example of how to do it well and keep the heart in tact. I really liked “Inside Out 2,” but I didn’t love it. I teared up but didn’t ugly cry, and while I wasn’t fully engaged in everything going on, I was wholly invested in how they brought Anxiety to life and found myself laughing and yes, feeling a little embarassed at how well “Inside Out 2” captured MY anxiety when I try to fall asleep at night. My guess is general audience will feel more like “Pixar is back!” even though they never left, and embrace a lot of the good things that this sequel does. It gets more right than it does wrong, and for a sequel no one really asked for at a time where some (incorrectly I’d argue) believe Pixar is on the ropes, “Inside Out 2” is a success.
No, Horny does not make an appearance as a new emotion. Sorry, weirdos.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
“Inside Out 2” is now playing in theaters. You can watch the trailer below.
