Written by Andreas Babiolakis

I’ll preface this review by admitting that Pixar’s 2015 film, Inside Out, is one of my top five favourite films from the studio. Ever. It’s up there with Wall-E, Ratatouille, one of the Toy Story entries (you’ll have to pry which one out of me), et cetera. I think it is a masterful exploration of how the human mind and heart work in tandem, with all of these abstract, inexplicable sensations we call “emotions”. It had a fantastic explanation for how we change as people, why we lose a sense of our childhoods as we age, mental health concerns and how they feel calamitous, and so much more (lest we forget the reasons why we lose contact with our imaginary friends). It is an exemplary animated film that I have never shaken off since its release nine years ago. Did I think a sequel to the film was necessary? Absolutely not, but the idea that we can further explore the heart and brain of a confused youth growing up seems at least like a justifiable enough reason to have a sequel. Pete Doctor isn’t around to direct this time, but Kelsey Mann — who was once a storyboard artist for Pixar who has now been promoted to the role of director for the first time — is here to pick up the pieces.

The end result is another Pixar sequel that isn’t a Toy Story one: a pleasant-yet-non-essential follow-up to a film that has already left an indelible impression on us. The five core emotions (Joy, Anger, Sadness, Disgust, and Fear) are all back as their host child, Riley, is now thirteen. In order to better balance the core memories, blended emotions (first created in the first Inside Out), and other parts of Riley’s brain, the emotions have created a new management system called the Sense of Self: a collection of the core components that make up Riley’s identity in the moment. Everything is now in working order. Suddenly one day, there is a bright, blinking button on the console which the emotions use to help Riley respond to live situations, and the button clearly states “puberty”. The emotions were warned that “others” were coming. The others are new emotions, who come storming in. They are Anxiety, Embarrassment, Envy, and Ennui. Joining Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, and Lewis Black are Tony Hale and Liza Lapira (as replacements for Fear and Disgust respectively), and Maya Hawke (Anxiety), Paul Walter Hauser (quiet quietly as Embarrassment), Ayo Edeberi (Envy), and Adèle Exarchopoulos (Ennui), who are all lovely additions that make this sequel feel worthwhile when it comes to spending time with additional characters in a world that I adore.

The film itself feels far less ambitious and large scaled, however. Anxiety leads a coup to take over the console from the old emotions. This stems from Riley’s love of hockey, with Joy wanting Riley to have fun while Anxiety thinks her pushing Riley will make her a stronger player via taking the sport seriously. As Joy and the other five emotions try to work their way back, Anxiety leads the three other new emotions (Sadness returns to headquarters, trying to fix Riley’s sense of self, and she gets involved with the newbies); together, they make Riley experience a flurry of awkward sensations during an important time in her life. While this is enough of a story to matter, Riley’s big move in the first film was met with heavy depression and literal parts of her old self deteriorating into oblivion. The repercussions of what happened within Riley were much larger. We truly learned what it meant to be a part of Riley’s existence on Earth. Inside Out 2 feels like the quirky first day of high school in comparison: a bit of a hiccup with a string of unfortunate events, but everything will be okay instantly after this doozy of a day. It doesn’t quite carry the same oomph.

While not nearly as monumental as the first film, *Inside Out 2* is pleasant and fun enough to be nice for a night out at the theatre.

We at least get to learn a bit more about Riley here, including the revelation of an emotion that will not be used yet (June Squibb plays Nostalgia in a cameo that leaves me itching for a third film in this series, despite how much I feel like this second iteration didn’t really prove its necessity) and the involvement of characters that left an impression on Riley (like Bloofy and Pouchy, played by Ron Funches and James Austin Johnson, who are animated characters from a children’s show that Riley grew up on, or Lance Slashblade [Yong Yea] from a videogame Riley played which may or may not be Pixar’s answer to Final Fantasy VII). However, we don’t quite feel like we are one with Riley like we once did. If Inside Out was the driving of a child through their then-largest tribulations, then Inside Out 2 kind of feels like an autopilot rendition that allows us to coast through what we already know.

Despite how much easier it was to continue with my day after Inside Out 2 (whereas the first film still leaves me in a puddle of my own tears of both overwhelmed bliss and complete devastation), I could not shake off the one area that the film excelled in: the smile it gave me. Like a good sugar rush, Inside Out 2 is colourful, amusing, silly, and cute to the point of at least granting me a great time, albeit not the most meaningful one. It also doesn’t lose sight of what it wants to accomplish, so it takes itself seriously enough to matter at least a teensy bit. I like all of the new emotions and what they bring (or, unfortunately, could have brought) to the table. I don’t think the old emotions have missed a beat with their importance here. I think even the inclusion of all of these new characters and elements is well handled. Inside Out 2 just feels like one of those Pixar add-on shorts that last a few minutes (albeit this one is a whopping eighty-odd minutes); while it doesn’t overstay its welcome, the film doesn’t quite feel like much outside of the loot bag after the Inside Out party.

Like I said, I adore the first film, so even this sequel will be enough for me, but I also cannot help but imagine what could have been with the potential present here (especially with that stacked cast of old and new). These rough days feel like lifetimes even for teenagers, and Riley’s quick blip that doesn’t seem to change her all that much (not nearly as much as the transformation she had in Inside Out). We’re supposed to feel the proper gravity of what feeling like a teenager is all about. The first film never delegitimized the mental and emotional woes that even children can experience, and I don’t think that Inside Out 2 aimed to pass off what teenagers go through in any way, but it definitely could have dug itself deeper into Riley’s mind and identity. If anything, teenage years are arguably the most formative. Even a film like Turning Red explores the insanity surrounding a teenager’s first bout with puberty in greater detail. All in all, Inside Out 2 may only go so far, but it at least tries and pulls off enough to help us escape the real world for a little bit; that may not be like Inside Out making me rethink the real world, but it’s marginally impressionable nonetheless.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.