Courtesy of Pixar
Inside Out 2 is the newest Pixar sequel directed by Kelsey Mann and revisits the mind of Riley Anderson, who is now a teenager and preparing to go to high school. She joins a hockey camp with her two best friends and is trying to impress the coach who runs the camp. In Riley’s mind, Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger are dealing with their headquarters being upgraded and new emotions like Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment, and Ennui coming in to change Riley’s personality. The voice cast includes Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Tony Hale, Liza Lapira, and Maya Hawke.
Inside Out from 2015 is the best Pixar movie to come out in the last decade. It was a fun, colorful movie that had a great premise and even had mature themes for a Pixar movie. How do you follow up another great Pixar movie? While most Pixar sequels were good, only a few were great. Also, Pixar hasn’t made a great movie since Soul in 2020. They’ve made good movies, but nothing spectacular. The movies were just good animated movies.
Inside Out 2 is one of the best sequels from Pixar. The movie expands on the concept and lore started in Inside Out. Like the first movie, adults and teenagers will relate to the movie. Like Riley, we start to feel emotions like anxiety in our teen years and it sometimes collides with joyful emotions. The movie has a similar feeling to the first Toy Story where new characters come in and make the old group feel like they are being replaced.
The voice acting is once again great, with Amy Poehler leading the way as Joy. Joy continues to lead the group of emotions and does what she feels is best for Riley. Faer, Disgust, and Anger are more in on the adventure this time helping Joy and Sadness. Tony Hale and Liza Lapria did a great job in taking over the roles of Fear and Disgust from Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling after they left. Maya Hawke plays Anxiety, who wants to change Riley to prepare her for high school. Anxiety isn’t a malicious antagonist. She cares about Riley but goes about it the wrong way.
Inside Out 2 does repeat a few things from Inside Out, but also has its own unique flavor. The first movie focused on Riley moving to a new area and her relationship with her parents. Inside Out 2 focuses on Riley going to a hockey camp to try to impress the coach running it and her relationship with her friends. While Michael Giacchino doesn’t do the score this time, Andrea Datzman does a terrific job replacing him. The opening feels smoother than the opening of the first movie. The third act does feel a bit longer, but never drags on.
The movie also connected and spoke to me, as it did and will with other people who watch it or will watch it. Sometimes we let anxiety take us over, especially as we grow older. We get worried about what others think of us when we try to fit in and make new friends. Sometimes we worry about growing distant from our best friends when changes in schools or classes separate us. At times, I also felt connected to Riley’s friends who saw the changes in her throughout the movie. Inside Out 2 was a movie that I could relate to and understood where the characters are coming from.
Overall, Inside Out 2 is another solid addition to the Pixar library. The movie is well animated and colorful. The themes work well with the story. The voice acting is great as always. My final grade for Inside Out 2 is an A. It’s my third favorite Pixar sequel after Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 2. It’s one of the best movies of 2024 so far and one of my favorites of the year. It also gave me hope that Pixar’s future sequels can be just as good. If you are a fan of Inside Out, I recommend you check out Inside Out 2. What are your thoughts on Inside Out 2? Let us know in the comments below.
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