Inside Out 2

4
Pure Joy

The Plot: Things have been going well in Riley’s control room, where Joy (Amy Poehler) and her team of fellow emotions carefully navigate their subject through the ups and downs of daily life. An alarm bell sounds one night, prompting much panic: puberty has hit like a tidal wave. Riley (Kensignton Tallman) is now 13 and has to deal with all that comes with it. The appearance of four new emotions headed by Anxiety (Maya Hawke) creates chaos in the control room. Anxiety decides it’s time for her to take over and promptly boots the original team into Riley’s mental wilderness. Joy will have to find a way back before Riley collapses with an overload of emotions…

The Verdict: Self-worth is a theme that runs throughout ‘Inside Out 2’, becoming the key component in the struggle between two teams of emotions over Riley’s future. Visualised as a glowing white sculpture, it goes through a number of changes as the film progresses before finding its true shape. It’s an apt metaphor for what Pixar has gone through in recent years too. Disney finally patched things up with Pixar with a belated but welcome apology by giving their pandemic-era trio of films a cinema release in recent months. Their cinematic canvas and wild imaginations at their Emeryville, California HQ are too vast to be contained within a TV screen. Case in point: ‘Inside Out 2’, a superior sequel that sees Pixar really hitting their stride, rekindling their self-worth and recapturing the animated magic for all ages that they are so beloved for.

In the past, Pixar could be accused of coasting with some production-line films, which resulted in one sequel too many for Cars. Fine for what they were, but where’s the magic? If they’re going to do a sequel, make it something special and make it count too. That’s very much the case with ‘Inside Out 2’, which delves deeper into Riley’s boiling mass of emotions as she hits puberty and finds a new set of emotions to contend with. There’s enough room for everyone in the control room, but Anxiety doesn’t feel that way – prompting a mad dash to rescue Riley from herself. Dave Holstein and Meg LeFauve’s script is very smartly structured, weaving in the new emotions of Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment and Ennui with just the right amount of humour and concern for how all this is going to play out as Riley adapts.

For a film about the sudden onset of puberty, it neatly sidesteps the obvious pitfalls (boys and dating) and instead focuses on Riley’s relationship with her friends and parents – leading up to a decisive ice hockey game. Holstein and LeFauve’s script further strengthens the role of all these emotions, old and new, by showing that every little archived memory, flight of imagination or quick reaction plays a role in Riley’s development through these choppy waters. Director Kelsey Mann visualises this with startling clarity: a mass archive of stored memories – some wanted and unwanted: an imagineering room where workers think up ideas; a vault for disposed childhood characters with different animation styles – prompting some of the biggest laughs in the film; some terrific sight and sound gags that play on words and – a Pixar favourite – also drop in film references for the observant (look fast for a ‘Blade Runner’ gag).

The animated voicework by Amy Poehler and Maya Hawke works in tandem with the slightly fuzzy character designs, so that they don’t come across as two separate elements – a sign that the animation team have studied the actors and incorporated their mannerisms. The lush animation and character lip-syncing has improved in leaps and bounds in the nine years since the first film. This sequel is a significant step up in more ways than that though. It’s more in tune with Riley as a character in her own right, with the various emotions acknowledging that every little piece of her counts in the long term. It’s sophisticated and mature in its approach towards growing pains, but entirely accessible for children and adults in the way it goes about it – a Pixar trademark. ‘Inside Out 2’ is a pure joy from start to finish (including the post-credits scene, which is worth waiting for) and sees Pixar firing on all cylinders after a challenging few years.

Rating: 4 / 5

Review by Gareth O’Connor

Inside Out 2
Pure Joy
Inside Out 2 (USA / Japan / G / 96 mins)

In short: Pure joy

Directed by Kelsey Mann.

Starring Amy Poehler, Kensington Tallman, Maya Hawke, Phyllis Smith, Ayo Edebiri, Kyle MacLachlan.

4
Pure Joy