Inside Out 2 Movie Review

Inside Out 2 (2024)

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Written by: Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein (screenplay), Kelsey Mann and Meg LeFauve (story)
Directed by: Kelsey Mann
Starring: Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke, Kensington Tallman, Tony Hale, Lewis Black, Phyllis Smith, Ayo Edebiri, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan, Paul Walter Hauser, Yvette Nicole Brown
Rated: PG
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Plot
A sequel that features Riley entering puberty and experiencing brand new, more complex emotions as a result. As Riley tries to adapt to her teenage years, her old emotions try to adapt to the possibility of being replaced.

Verdict
It has the unenviable task of following and living up to Inside Out. There's no way it could ever feel as fresh and inventive as the first movie, sequels rarely do. The first movie created the world and concept; this is treading the same ground and introducing a few new characters. It's fun to revisit these emotions, especially as part of puberty. This does a great job of capturing the tumultuousness of being a teenager and the myriad of new feelings. Unfortunately for this movie, it will forever live in the shadow of the first movie. The first movie is amazing, this does a lot of the same but isn't as unique while doing it.
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Review
The sequel to 2015's Inside Out which offered an ingenious insight into how the human mind works in the form of a children's story. This is more of the same which is both good and bad. While it's still clever, it feels like a redux. The first movie's creativity made it original, this doesn't have the same advantage.

This features all the pain of puberty, but we see it through anthropomorphic emotions. Joy (Amy Poehler) was the leading emotion previously, but in this movie she's competing with a host of new emotions, chiefly Anxiety (Maya Hawke), developed as a result of Riley (Kensington Tallman) hitting puberty.

Riley voiced by Kensington Tallman

It's a great idea for a sequel with Riley turning thirteen. There's all the emotions, burgeoning person hood, and the fear of finding the right friends. This depicts puberty as the control console for Riley's emotions is broken and everything is an overreaction. It succinctly captures being a teen.

The new emotions taking over are Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), and Anxiety. This has all the hurdles of being a teen but we see it from a unique vantage point. Riley struggles between her two middle school friends and her potential high school friends. One of Riley's core principles is that she's a good person, that idea guiding her actions. Anxiety upturns that as Riley is now concerned about fitting in. She wants to seem like a high schooler and is afraid her old friends will remind the high school hockey team how young she is. We see several stereotypical teenage situations, but we're seeing how emotions combine to feed reactions and resulting decisions. Anxiety is the main driver. Riley has a strong desire to fit in. Joy and the rest of the emotions have a difficult time adjusting.

Sadness, Disgust, Envy, Joy, Anxiety voiced by
Phyllis Smith, Liza Lapira, Ayo Edebiri, Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke

Riley's goal is to impress the coach at the hockey camp. It's difficult to play good hockey when she's besought by feelings of insecurity. She's overjoyed that the team captain takes an interest in and encourages her, but on the first day of practice she's reprimanded by the coach for acting immature. Throughout the movie is this push and pull of Riley trying to impress the high school team and coach but not alienate her current friends or play poorly. Every decision she makes in this movie feels like it could affect the rest of her life, Anxiety driving those feelings.

This answers the question of why teenagers are so volatile. New emotions battle with old to control the future and it's chaos. The Joy of childhood battles with the Anxiety of puberty for control of Riley. One of the more inventive aspects, and so much like a teen, is the Sar-chasm and how it twists phrases to be sarcastic. That creates nothing but destruction. I like this movie, but the first one completely blew me away as it invented this entire world that explained how humans work and reasons for their behavior. This movie expands on that, but it isn't the giant leap like the first movie. That's the knock against this movie. It's good, nearly as good as the first, but it's creativity is rooted in the ideas of the first movie. It can't escape its origins.