Pixar needed a hit like this, but I’m sure even they didn’t expect this to be their highest-grossing film to date, as finally Pixar’s managed to out-gross Toy Story 3. So hey, Inside Out 2 has already done two things it needed to do - bring people back to the cinema, and bring the cash flowing back in for Pixar. How does it serve as both a sequel, and an artistic renaissance after some lack luster projects?
Well, it may have only been a year or two for Riley, but it’s been nearly a decade for me. I’m 19 now, I’ve just passed through the confusing and messy teenage years that Riley is going through here, and I’m much more in tune with Pixar’s style and humour. This may have been the reason why I found their explorations of puberty and mental health to be immensely imaginative and detailed.
Structurally, the film is similar to the first. We have a rundown of Riley’s life, followed by startling changes to the status quo, then the emotions are locked out of headquarters, before a run-around through the various aspects of her mind personified in highly imaginative ways, before a resolution that concludes that Riley needs all aspects of her personality, both positive and negative. Normally I’d complain that this is repeating a lot of the same beats as the first one, but Inside Out 2 adds so much more to the psyche of the mind than the first one, as well as delivering ideas that are even more imaginative, both narratively and visually.
The new emotions are fantastic. The presence of Ennui, Envy, Embarrassment and Nostalgia provide a great supporting cast that delivers on both childish zaniness and more smart adult humour - the classic Pixar balance.
Maya Hawke, however, is just fantastic as Anxiety. This is a great voice performance from her, and the way in which Anxiety was presented as being a multi-faceted character is genius when you think about it.
Anxiety isn’t really a singular emotion - it’s everything.
Pixar understand this perfectly. Joy is an emotion that, like Anxiety, was trying to control Riley’s life in the first film, and as a result her contribution couldn’t be replicated when she got lost out of headquarters. But Joy is one singular emotion, and Anxiety is almost a psychological movement in your head.
Anxiety taking over here feels like more of a threat than the absence of Joy in the first film, since Anxiety is an all-encompassing feeling that is consuming Riley. In Inside Out, she ends up feeling almost nothing. Here, she’s feeling everything. And the ending is really successful in bringing this idea back to the forefront. It’s how you combine all these different feelings in a way that’s manageable that will help you get through life.
It also helps that Pixar wisely make the decision to centralise this anxiety concept around Riley’s love of hockey and desire to become better at it. It’s a good choice to rein in and use the hockey plot as a springboard to explore the more unwieldy and complicated emotional topics.
I initially had some reservations about the concept here. I thought that Anxiety, Ennui and Embarrassment all coming in at the age of 13 was a little convenient, as they all develop throughout life at random points without just springing up at the pubescent age. However (and this is another thing life has taught me), they’re always there. It’s just puberty is the first time you fully notice them. So Inside Out 2’s addition of them felt not only appropriate, but very wise and well-implemented. This isn’t just a cast being assembled to justify the “bigger is better” mantra.
It’s a brave and perfect creative decision.
Pixar may be on a slightly rocky path at the moment, not quite knowing where their strengths are. However, they knew exactly what to do to make an Inside Out sequel work. As far as my overall enjoyment goes, Inside Out 2 is my film of the year so far, and I’m really intrigued to see if anything will top it.
