Just under ten years after the release of Inside Out (Docter, 2015), Riley’s emotions are back as Riley (Kensington Tallman) ages and moves into her teenage years. Teens bring new challenges to individuals, and though underprepared, Riley and her emotions are in for a wild ride. The night before hockey camp, puberty decides to hit Riley and headquarters is out for one big renovation. Simply overnight Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Disgust (Liza Lapira), Anger (Lewis Black), and Fear (Tony Hale) are suppressed. Leading Riley’s new team of emotions is Anxiety (Maya Hawke) with newbies Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), Envy (Ayo Edebiri) and Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos).
As always, Poehler and Smith bring their individual qualities and voices to a perfect portrayal of Joy and Sadness. In my opinion, it is most definitely Hawke and Exarchopoulos whose castings could not have been better chosen. While Hawke’s voice is the right pitch, and she is able to convey the sounds of anxiety, Exarchopoulos’ French accent and annunciations bring boredom to life in Ennui. It was definitely sad to see some of the original voice actors not return, perhaps the new castings made up for it slightly.
While the film’s crew included new talent, Meg LeFauve – writer of the original Inside Out – returned to write this new script with the help of new director Kelsey Mann. Though not perfect, the script focused on how it feels for youth to move from childhood years into their teenage years. While the process is definitely exaggerated, there is only so much you can squeeze into a 95-minute film. Young children watching Inside Out 2 will be able to see that what they are going through, if they are going through it, is normal and is nothing to be afraid of. Having Joy lead each of the Inside Out films is a smart decision, because sometimes the happiest part of us can be the one in the most denial. As Joy learns in the sequel, not everything in life can be joyous, but there are other emotions that need to be felt and memories that need to be remembered to come together and build a person into themselves.
As films were made to be seen on the biggest screens possible, even animation is as well. From the trailer, it can be seen that the emotions look slightly different in style and animation technique. However, it is not until you watch Inside Out 2 on the big screen where the animation truly triumphs. Though the younger audience might not appreciate the animation, those of us who are older or who value the medium will notice the change and the time spent creating the characters and the film. There are close-up moments of characters on their own where you can see what feels like pointillism animated around the bodies of the emotions, like a sparkle. In Inside Out 2 the animation is key to portraying not only each emotion, but the people as well. Riley, her friends and family, and the hockey team, all are animated to be their own individual selves, just as we in real life are all different as well. The takeaway from the film, just as in the original, is life lessons for children and adults everywhere. Children growing up with Riley and her emotions could learn quite a bit from them, and adults could too. While there are important aspects of the film, Inside Out 2 also provides laughter, tears and beautiful animation to the audience. The film might not be for everyone, but I would highly recommend seeing Inside Out 2 in cinemas with an audience to experience it in the most immersive way possible.
Photo credits to IMDb.
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