‘Inside Out 2’- Film Review | A Hilarious & Heartwarming Sequel to Pixar’s Classic

Thinking back to the films Pixar released in the last decade, nothing perfectly describes a masterpiece than 2015’s Inside Out. Everything about it and its profound and creative premise on how we view our emotions resonates with all ages. It is one of the studio’s absolute best and has since become one of my favorite animated movies of all time. I love the original and what it represents to be now called an instant, Oscar-winning classic. So when Disney announced they’re moving forward with Inside Out 2 nearly ten years later, I felt simultaneously excited and massively skeptical. I was of two minds about it: It would allow this to present more emotions with possible complex ideas to justify its existence. And Pixar’s track record for sequels (outside the three Toy Story follow-ups) rarely responds well against their more favorable predecessors (Though I appreciate Incredibles 2 more than others). Everyone knows that. For my money, Inside Out 2 is the ideal summer film for families. It may not be as great as the first, but it is a worthy sequel to keep you interested.

What’s the Story: Picking up one year later, Riley Andersen (voiced by Kensington Tallman) is now 13 years old and living her best life. Her five primary emotions—Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler), Sadness (voiced by Phyllis Smith), Fear (voiced by Tony Hale), Anger (voiced by Lewis Black), and Disgust (voiced by Liza Lapira)—keep her in control with a new section in her mind called the “Sense of Self,” which builds the beliefs of Riely’s personality. She gets the opportunity to go to a hockey camp for three days with her best friends for the potential to join the high school team. However, the emotions are in for a surprise when the console gets upgraded as Riley brings puberty, having them work alongside four new emotions — Anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke), Envy (voiced by Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (voiced by Adèle Exarchopoulos) and Embarrassment (voiced by Paul Walter Hauser) — joining the headquarters.

What I love about the first and is carried over for Inside Out 2 is how they can use the personification of emotions through an equally fun and almost psychological lens. This not only helps kids but even adults with how our minds work. And while this isn’t the first time Pixar played around with the subject of puberty following 2022’s Turning Red, having the sequel focus on that with Riley is the most innovative way to go, leaving all of us to remember what it was like with the stresses and all. With Kelsey Mann taking over for director Pete Docter in his feature directorial debut, the story takes on some familiar beats. It has our core characters trekking their way back to take back Riley’s mind before it’s too late. But it’s still a journey worth investing in throughout a fast-paced time about how the emotions we process when losing sight of what’s important to us. For those who probably wondered why these newer emotions didn’t appear or were mentioned before, I guess a pre-teen probably wouldn’t know how to deal with those complicated feelings yet.

With what they’re trying to do, the story, written by Meg LeFavue and Dave Holstein, says a lot about suppressed emotions/ memories on a deeper level. With Riley, she doesn’t know how to feel when she discovers her friends will attend a different high school and wants to be the best and be accepted to impress the star player and the cool girls to fit in. Throwing anxiety in the mix, the clash between her and Joy early on puts a pin in, never knowing it’s time to find those moments of happiness or face the pressure of what the future holds and shaping who we are based on our memories. Whether we went through it as teenagers or are now dealing with it daily, it is a growing facet that stays with us and all the other emotions. Watching this made me remember times when anxiety flared up, particularly in my early 20s and even a few years ago, causing me to feel depressed about who I wanted to be.

But with Pixar’s name, you expect stunning animation and memorable voice work from its actors, and both were exceptional. Nothing original about the general style, but it remains all-out bright while exploring new frontiers that kids may imagine in their own thoughts. Amy Poehler’s role as Joy remains one of the best casting decisions in bringing this optimistic if overwhelmed, character to life. Returning players Phyllis Smith as Sadness and Lewis Black as Anger provide equal enjoyment by playing off the specific character traits. Tony Hale and Liza Lapira step in for Fear and Disgust, replacing Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling from the first after pay disputes. Admittedly, it took me a while to gel into their voices, but they effortlessly pulled them off. What I liked here more is that all five of them are together, allowing Fear, Anger, and Disgust to have more to do this time. With the new emotions that come with the coming-of-age side and not feeling overcrowded, Hawke truly stood out as anxious not just based on the character design but also gives off an accurate depiction of excitement and worrisome, fearing she’ll change Riley when she’s too much pressure on her. I love Edebiri in nearly everything he’s been doing now, and she is excellent as Envy. The deadpan Ennui and the shy Embarrassment were good additions, too, even though they didn’t provide much depth for them, and I wanted more screen time.

Plus, this doesn’t skimp on the comedy on a creative level. This expands inside her head and offers some unique concepts for how we imagine them. There’s the “Vault of Secrets” that hides our deep, darkest secrets, which provides some of the funniest moments with the inclusion of a children’s television character named Bloofy (voiced by Ron Funches) and a video game character named Lance Slashblade (voiced by Young Yea). It’s a scene similar to the abstract sequences in the first. And there’s literally a scene where they have to embrace for a brainstorm where it rains lightbulbs, a joke I saw coming, yet I respect the cleverness of it all, along with the “Sarchasm.”

What might be the film’s most minor criticism is I wished it hit me with that emotional punch. The first legitimately made me cry three times from the guy who just graduated from high school when it came out, and it happened again when I rewatched it the day before. This may alter on my second viewing, but there were a couple of instances that almost made me teary-eyed, though they didn’t quite touch home for me, although we don’t always expect the studio to have high standards for making audiences cry.

With that said, I was glad I came out of this feeling happy and not a cash grab since this had real thought and care behind it. This will be a recent Pixar film where critics and audiences will be on the same page. I prefer the original between this and the first since there’s something special about it. Still, it’s a sequel to compare favorably with Toy Story 2 and how it can advance the characters through an entertaining adventure that’ll be rewatched in the future. With this summer surprisingly disappointing at the box office, this is one of the few family films that will get them to come out to the theater and likely become one of the more successful Disney movies after a string of them underperformed last year.

Inside Out 2 delivers on the promise of a hilarious and often heartwarming sequel that functions as one of Pixar’s strongest outings in years. While it doesn’t necessarily reach the heights of a masterpiece as the original, it keeps you in awe of what it has to say about the complexities of puberty that’ll easily entertain kids and adults who loved what we got nine years ago. We shall see if we get a third in the hopes that the studio will continue with its original projects.