What’s It About
Inside Out 2 returns to the mind of newly minted teenager Riley just as headquarters is undergoing a sudden demolition to make room for something entirely unexpected: new Emotions! Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust, who’ve long been running a successful operation by all accounts, aren’t sure how to feel when Anxiety shows up. And it looks like she’s not alone.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
“Inside Out 2” is terrific in a sequel way, as a continuation. It is not a cynical money-maker but an extension. This second chapter happens to have good reasons and even transcends your expectations. Designed to mess with our feelings, brings Amy Poehler and Phyllis Smith back again as Joy and Sadness, respectively, with a new set of emotions tied to growing up—by which I mean puberty. At 13, the girl Riley leads a happy life and even goes to the prestigious hockey camp. Her emotions are intact and aligned, and her mind’s layout shifts as she ages. Ex-members and core memories ignite newer beliefs to characterize Riley’s sense of self. Joy’s system of booting out experiences that feel bad is a formula until puberty rocks in. The previous feelings must find their way and align with the new likes of Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), and Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), steering the excess of Anxiety. What ultimately makes her leave friends behind to join the high school hockey team is the influence of the feeling of Anxiety, all because she has to engineer success for Riley. The mature Riley has to go through the storm of teenage times when her puberty alarm goes off. Her emotions try to scramble on how to navigate the changes, with Anxiety, voiced by Maya Hawke, moving in and closing headquarters—no one else can come in—just when she needs Joy. This catches most vividly the overwhelming nature of anxious feelings, which is why “Inside Out 2” finds a perfect place as a companion piece to its forerunner. The movie is set at a hockey camp. Fresh from winning the championship, Riley gets taken to camp by the high school coach, Coach Roberts (Yvette Nicole Brown), and, with determination to impress the coach, goes with her two best friends, Bree and Grace. However, all her plans flip when she learns that her other two friends go to high school elsewhere. Anxiety gets carried away in this, turning Riley into an anxious mess as she tries to fit in with older teenagers. The overprotective instincts of Anxiety predict every possible mishap, pushing Riley into a paralyzing panic attack as it concerns itself solely with worst-case scenarios. With the desperation of not being alone and of being calm, Riley tries to show off all her talents at camp, sometimes to the detriment of other people’s friendships. It’s tough to see her ruin the friendships because she’s trying too hard, not because we’re heartbroken over it, but because we were all there at one point: those teenage days. “Inside Out 2” successfully does this to us with new emotions. That line Joy says about growing up feeling Joy less and less. Wholly crap, that was a straight sock in the gut. It is a life-accurate phrase that hits you at any age, and there was no way to sugar-coat it for a softer blow. Riley’s fear of loneliness symbolizes almost every kid, making her life less cheerful as she worries about anything else. The movie leaves a fantastic moral lesson: we always relegate Joy’s thoughts to what we feel is right, yet again, she is always ready and open for us to turn back to her. This franchise has taken the timeless perspective that Joy is always trying to do what’s right for us, though it might have to fight through other emotions. Those emotions aren’t there to ruin Riley but to protect her. This is the perspective that prompts us to begin feeling our feelings differently. Anxiety isn’t there to cause suffering but to prepare us for the worst. Fear is designed to get out of the way and not get hurt; Joy always looks to make us grin. When reaching kids and leaving parents feeling understood, “Inside Out 2” finds its voice echoing deep within Joy, saying everything will be all right. She has been a steady comfort of presence. Ultimately, the sequel is something else; even if it carries the same essential message, it’s all right to experience your emotions, but always remember to let Joy in. Anxiety can help us to think about the future, have forethought, and avoid obstacles. Still, it dominates almost all her other “new” emotions, not adding much to the storyline. The film clearly understands the roots of Anxiety and the dangers of letting it take over. The new “Inside Out” resonates through characters, personal communication, enchanting animation, and priceless ideas often unexplained, especially for a children’s audience. “Inside Out 2” is a required and logical plot continuation.
OUR RATING – A PUBERTY STRICKEN 8
MEDIA
- Genre – Fantasy
- Street date
- Digital – August 20, 2024
- 4K/Blu-Ray/DVD – September 10, 2024
- Video – 1080p
- Screen size – 2.39:1
- Sound – English Dolby Atmos, Spanish and French 7.1 Dolby Digital, English 5.1 Dolby Digital, English 2.0 Dolby Digital and English AD 2.0 Dolby Digital
- Subtitles – English SDH, Spanish, French
Extras
- New Emotions (HD 11:44)
- Unlocking the Vault (HD 8:59)
- Deleted Scenes (HD 23:53)