Movie Review: ‘Inside Out 2’ is Overhyped and Underwhelming

Director: Kelsey Mann
Writer: Meg LeFauve, Dave Holstein, Kelsey Mann
Stars: Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke, Kensington Tallman

Synopsis: Follows Riley, in her teenage years, encountering new emotions.

As a Pixar fanatic with an obsession with behaviorism, and considering Inside Out is firmly placed in my top three of the legendary studio’s filmography, Inside Out 2 sounded like a surefire hit. On the surface, anyway. Yet, if the original Pixar modern classic taught us anything, it’s all about what’s happening underneath. 

However, Inside Out 2 may be the most “meh” Pixar film the studio has ever made. The film isn’t particularly funny and suffers from unusual tonal dissonance. The story packs very little emotional punch, which was sorely needed and missing from the original’s high standard. Finally, the script is cluttered with new animated characters representing emotions, removing the original voice cast’s chemistry that was top tier.

Inside Out 2 is clumsy, messy, and frenetic—yes, it represents puberty and teenage life. That doesn’t mean the film works as entertainment but more as something I admire.

The story picks up with Riley (Kensington Tallman, replacing Kaitlyn Dias) as she becomes a teenager and prepares to transition to high school. The sweet, adorable blond child has developed anxiety and a pimple on her chin, seemingly overnight. The timing couldn’t be worse since she is going to an ice hockey camp with her best friends, who then drop a life-altering bombshell – they have been redistricted to a different school next year.

That means significant changes for Joy (Amy Poehler), the super happy emotion who borders on toxic positivity. Joy has been running a clean ship for years, making her team pull out negative life experiences and toss them to the great beyond so Riley can stay sickly sweet and happy. Joy brightens the day of Sadness (Phyllis Smith), turns Anger (Lewis Black) down to a simmer, calms Fear (Tony Hale), and helps Disgust (Liza Lapira, replacing Mindy Kaling) see past her vain ways.

However, being a teenager means Riley’s body changes and brings new emotions to the forefront, which means a demotion for Joy and her team. Led by Anxiety (Maya Hawke), the new team includes Envy (The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (an amusing Adèle Exarchopoulos), and the adorable Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), who bring out a new side of Riley. Anxiety thinks Riley should try to make new friends and act in ways that go against her character. Joy is desperate to keep Riley the way she is.

As often happens with complex emotions, they take over and send Joy and her team packing. Now, they have to navigate Riley’s holistic changes to get back to their stations (also known as the limbic system) and keep their sweet Riley from damaging her closest relationships and her reputation.

Inside Out 2 was directed by Kelsey Mann, who has been a Senior Pixar creative team member behind films such as Luca, Turning Red, Lightyear, and Elemental. Yes, those are some of the more underwhelming animated efforts in recent years, though all of them have their loyal supporters. Cutting his teeth as a storyboard artist, Mann’s film is gorgeous to look at. The animation utilizes different forms in an out-of-place segment, and the film is ambitious with its visual world-building, making it a must-see in an elevated format. 

This is Mann’s first time helming an animated feature. He works with a script from Meg LeFauve (My Father’s Dragon) and Dave Holstein (Weeds), from a story by Mann that’s ambitious, to say the least. LeFauve wrote the original film, which attempts to tell the story of adolescent behaviorism. What comes with that is an internal struggle when it comes to psychological, social, and environmental stimuli that influence behaviors such as peer pressure, social dynamics, cognitive development, and the big one, emotional regulation.

The big moment Inside Out 2 works towards is conveying the message of how negative and positive emotions shape us and are necessary for growth. While the themes and subtext are suitable for children, especially girls growing into young women, I wonder if the message translates to younger ones and may be over the heads of most tweeners watching. That’s where Mann, LeFauve, and Holstein’s ambitions may have gotten the better of them. However, I’m always in favor of teaching up, not down.

Inside Out 2 is made for older teenagers and adults, not necessarily children. The storytelling has depth, with the subtext of healthy development addressing issues such as risk-taking, social interactions, and identity formation (though that is nothing to write Erikson about). Though the sacrifice has the unintended consequence of having fewer laughs and even less heart, that may be unfair since the story of a child in danger of her family breaking apart is notably hard to top. Still, there were opportunities here that were missed.

The big mistake Inside Out 2 makes is not centering the story on Riley’s two friends, Grace and Bree, so we never feel their connection and, thus, not truly feeling the anxiety of the potential loss. There is more screen time in the last two acts to do with older children Riley is trying to befriend, which doesn’t allow the story of growing up and moving on to resonate. The story goes down familiar tropes by offending friends that is standard in far worse family films and has become a storytelling crutch. 

The animated film would have worked better by introducing just Anxiety, and having the team work from there. Instead, we have a weird side adventure that is excessive filler, even for a 96 minute movie. I certainly wouldn’t fault anyone for enjoying the new Pixar with their families, but at theater prices, Inside Out 2 is overhyped and underwhelming family entertainment that strangely left me feeling apathetic about the experience.

Grade: C