Pixar’s “Inside Out 2”: Maggie’s Review
In theaters now is “Inside Out 2,” the long awaited follow up to 2015’s “Inside Out.” Starring Amy Poehler, Ayo Edibiri, Maya Hawke, Phyllis Smith and others, the film tackles the challenges of family, friendship and sports as a teen heading to high school. While “Inside Out,” focused on a young Riley’s emotions moving to a new city, “Inside Out 2” considers how the big feelings of puberty strain her friendships and her sense of self.
“Inside Out 2” opens on Riley’s hockey game where she and her friends impress a local high school coach, earning them a spot in her summer hockey camp. Riley’s brain is still ruled by her childhood emotions: Joy (Poehler), Sadness (Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale) and Disgust (Liza Lapira). However, on the morning she leaves for hockey camp, Joy and the others are awakened by the Puberty Alarm, and the introduction of some disruptive new emotions to Riley’s life: Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), Envy (Edibiri), Embarrassment (Paul Walker Hauser), and, most disruptively, Anxiety (Maya Hawke). These tumultuous new feelings and the high pressure of hockey camp force Joy and the others to go on a journey to recover Riley’s sense of self and discover how to manage the ups and downs of puberty.
There is a lot to like in “Inside Out 2.” Both films are appealing to an adult audience as much (or more) than children, however I found “Inside Out 2” to be a more nuanced and entertaining film. The first film was a bit heavy handed in its play for nostalgia and longing for childhood (see the character Bing Bong). However, “Inside the Out 2” focuses on a more fraught age and invites audiences to consider the good and the bad. This movie balanced Riley’s storyline in the “outside” world with Joy’s “inside” journey to keep the story moving.
“Inside Out 2” struggles primarily with who it considers to be its audience. It is fundamentally an animated film, but Pixar is known for the emotional connections it draws out of older audiences. The bright colors and cheery aesthetics of the brain, and the film’s sense of humor (almost every joke is a pun) appeal to younger children. However, the specific emotional journey in this film feels out of reach for the younger elementary audience, and if anything begs the question of whether an animated film could be responsible for introducing new anxieties to kids. Compared to Pixar’s 2022 film about puberty “Turning Red,” “Inside Out 2” feels unsatisfying. “Turning Red” could play on millennial nostalgia while riding the current resurgence of boy bands and 90s aesthetics, and just made a film for a slightly older demographic of middle to high school aged children. Since “Inside Out” was a such a success with a much younger audience, its sequel tried to maintain that appeal and sacrificed its ability to be a better film.
The main issue with “Inside Out 2” and its reliance on the character of Anxiety is that that plot line has been done very well quite recently by the show “Big Mouth.” And because “Big Mouth” does not pretend to be for children, it is free to make a more accurate, and therefore funnier, depiction of dealing with anxiety as a teenager that does not have to reach such a simplistic conclusion.
Overall, “Inside Out 2” was a fun watch with a lot of missed opportunities. It is still cute and colorful, and not nearly as emotionally destructive as “Inside Out,” but just does not quite hit the same as other projects on the trials of puberty. “Inside Out 2” is in theaters now.
