Inside Out 2
I approached this with some trepidation because I think the first Inside Out film is one of Pixar's best, an intelligent, funny, and moving look into a child's mind while she navigates the emotional rollercoaster of moving from Minnesota to San Francisco. I've seen it several times and think it was one of the best films of 2015, one fully deserving its Best Picture Oscar nomination.
This sequel builds on the end of the first film, with Riley beginning puberty and her principal childhood emotions ? Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Fear, and Anger ? joined by newcomers Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment, and Ennui as Riley tries to negotiate the emotional stresses of a weekend hockey camp where she is torn between her two close friends and the popular high school hockey girls. (Nostalgia also appears from a side room several times but is told to go back inside because she is years too early.)
Whereas the first film had Bing Bong, Riley's childhood imaginary friend, to provide some levity and emotional depth, this has some wonderful characters from Riley's past: Bloofy, a Blue's Clues-inspired 2D character who frequently breaks the fourth wall, his talking bumbag Pouchy, similar to Dora the Explorer's Backpack, and Lance Slashblade, a video game character on whom Riley had a crush when she was younger. Together, they provide additional comic elements and, particularly Pouchy, a Deus ex machina device when Joy and the other principal emotions are in desperate trouble.
I thought this had the same intelligence and emotional depth of Inside Out, and the fact I cried several times is testament to Pixar's ability to tug at the heartstrings. It doesn't have the same amount of dramatic tension and the ending, though tearjerkingly beautiful, isn't quite as powerful as the 2015 film. It's also a shame that Bill Hader didn't reprise his role as Fear and was replaced by Tony Hale, but Hale is such a gifted (voice) actor that the change isn't noticeable.
There are a few films I want to see in the cinema, principally A Quiet Place: Day One and Despicable Me 4 but, if I can, this is one I want to rewatch on the big screen before buying it to watch a home; if you like the first Inside Out and Pixar films in general, then this is highly recommended.
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