TL;DR – It is an oddly fascinating film that might be more important for parents to watch than the kids it is targeted at.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid and post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Warning – Contains scenes of intensity.

Inside Out 2 Review –

Back when we first started TL: DR Movie Reviews, one of the first films we looked at was a seemingly benign kid’s film that emotionally broke me and left me openly weeping in the cinemas. Inside Out was Peak-Pixar and part of that wave of cinematic greatness that included greats like Coco, Bao, and even the more recent Luca. It had a wonderfully original story with a genuine heart behind it. Well, it has been an age, but a sequel is now here, and it is time to see if it hits as hard as the first outing.

So to set the scene, since we last met Riley (Kensington Tallman), she has grown up, met new friends (Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green & Grace Lu), and started forming core beliefs to help guide her life, all while her emotions Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale), and Disgust (Liza Lapira) all help her through the day. Well, when Coach Roberts (Yvette Nicole Brown) asks Riley and her friends to come to the high school summer hockey camp, it is everything Riley has ever dreamed about. The only problem is the night before they leave, that big red puberty alarm goes off, her mind is in chaos, and oh, who is that new emotion?

Right off the bat, given the animation in the first film was already at such a high standard, we have still taken it to a new level here. The emotions are still the same design, but you can see all these subtle improvements to help bring them more to life. One area where you see this is in the movement, with the hockey scenes being a particular highlight. I also liked the design of all the new emotions like Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser). Each perfectly captured the vibe of what they were trying to represent, down to the hoody of shame.

While I wish we had gotten more of these scenes, I particularly liked the start, where we got to see all the different emotions working in tandem with each other. There is a scene in a car that is particularly well constructed on that front, and we get a sense of how they have all grown since the first film, even if there are also some big red flags on the horizon. Also, as Riley grows up, her mind changes along with it, and there are significant shifts like Mount Crushmore, which might be one of the best visual gags in the film. More subtle shifts come out in the story that I think work better in the scope of the film.          

While not wanting to get too into the weeds, the narrative is playing along a very similar framework as the first film, where emotions are ejected out of the control room, and new thoughts have to try and run the show. The particulars are different, and there is an excellent use of wordplay, but the framework is the same. This does mean we get some of the frustrating aspects of the film, and that is the re-tread of pretty much the same story for Joy a second time around. It is more fleshed out this time, given who is around her, but this was a bit of a disappointment.   

While the internal narrative suffers in places, the external one jumps in leaps and bounds. You really feel that this situation would have produced that kind of emotional response in a person who has just had their world shift under their feet. You understand why these new emotions come to the fore, and particularly the film’s depiction of Anxiety is quite profound. It very much captures a feeling that we can all relate to, sitting there at night looking at the ceiling and replaying every possible mistake in our heads. In many ways, I think this film will be just as if not maybe more important, for parents with kids going through this period in their lives because it might help you connect with their lives a bit better.

In the end, do we recommend Inside Out 2? Yes, we do. It did not hit as hard as the first film; there was a solitary tear rather than embarrassing myself in the cinema. However, they have created a world entire of avenues to explore, emotions to meet, and compassion to uphold. If you liked Inside Out 2, we would recommend to you Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched Inside Out 2?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 


Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Inside Out 2
Directed by –     Kelsey Mann
Screenplay by – Meg LeFauve & Dave Holstein
Story by – Kelsey Mann & Meg LeFauve
Based on – characters created by Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen, Meg LeFauve & Josh Cooley
Music by – Andrea Datzman
Cinematography by – Adam Habib & Jonathan Pytko
Edited by – Maurissa Horwitz
Production/Distribution Companies – Pixar Animation Studios & Walt Disney Studios
Starring – Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Tony Hale, Liza Lapira, Maya Hawke, Ayo Edebiri, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Paul Walter Hauser, Kensington Tallman, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan, Lilimar, Yvette Nicole Brown, John Ratzenberger, June Squibb, Ron Funches, James Austin Johnson, Yong Yea, Paula Pell, Pete Docter, Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green, Grace Lu, Steve Purcell, Dave Goelz, Frank Oz, Paula Poundstone, Bobby Moynihan & Flea
Rating – Australia: PG; Canada: G; Germany: na; New Zealand: na; United Kingdom: U; United States: PG