My Review of "Inside Out 2"

Inside Out 2 is a sequel that I didn't really think was necessary. Seeing as Pixar has a patchy track record with their sequels I was really hesitant to watch this one. I was kind of right in my apprehension. That's not to say that it's a horrible movie. This movie is quite serviceable but ultimately quite forgettable.

The movie starts with a quick recap of the events of the last movie and gets on to this next chapter in Riley's life. Riley is the teenage girl that's focused on. She's trying to get better at hockey and the next step is to join this exclusive team. Her friends and her have grown up together and it seems as though this is the final year they'll be able to spend as much time together.

They all get to go to the same hockey camp together but when Riley finds out both her friends are going to go to a different school than her she feels left out. Her primary focus becomes hockey and this makes her become a bit of a sociopathic psycho as a result.

Inside her head are her emotions and these are the real characters of the movie. She's been living her life up to then with four basic emotions. Now that she's reached this next stage in her life she's introduced to new emotions. These new emotions are now taking over and it's up to her original emotions to take back the reigns of her mind.

The majority of the movie is focused on the emotions Joy, Sadness and Anxiety. It kind of makes sense because those are the only emotions that society really talks about nowadays. Being a teenage girl, the movie wisely chose Anxiety to be the main element of the movie.

I did find it weird that they had these new emotions now because in previous movies and even in this movie we explored the emotions in Riley's parents. In their minds they never had these new emotions that they just made up for this movie so the continuity of this movie feels a little off. They kind of play around with this later on in this movie but it is what it is. You're going to have to shut off your brain because it's a family movie what do you really expect.

They had a lot of fun clever things that they added to this world within Riley's mind. I don't feel that they were very big changes though. Usually with Pixar movies I have a feeling that something new and revolutionary is going to happen. Nothing really happens, nothing that really wowed me this time. It kind of felt like a straight to streaming movie that was allowed to be released in theatres. There is no epic scale to this. It feels very self-contained and small. I don't know if that was on purpose.

I think the message that they tell in the overall story of this movie is a good one. It will resonate with a lot of viewers but it's kind of to be expected with Pixar. Often with Pixar there really are no real bad guys and everything is hunky dory in the end. It makes sense because it's a family film. Again great for kids and the whole family but if you're watching it for content it felt kind of absent.

Overall, it was a fun experience and it was nice to see the familiar characters again. I don't think I would be watching this over again or even recommending it to anyone because there are a ton of options out there if you're looking for family fun. I have to score this one a 6.5 out of 10.