In an age of anxiety, Inside Out 2 justifies its return - Action News
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EntertainmentREVIEW

In an age of anxiety, Inside Out 2 justifies its return

The first Inside Out movie is considered a modern-day animated classic. So how does the sequel justify its return? The reason caught our self-described grumbly film critic off-guard.

As Riley heads off to hockey camp, new emotions make the return surprisingly relevant, says Eli Glasner

JOY AND ANXIETY -- Disney and Pixars Inside Out 2 returns to the mind of freshly minted teenager Riley just as a new Emotion shows up unexpectedly. Much to Joys surprise, Anxiety isnt the type who will take a back seat either. Featuring the voices of Amy Poehler as Joy and Maya Hawke as Anxiety, Inside Out 2 releases only in theaters Summer 2024. 2023 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler) meets Anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke) in a scene from Inside Out 2, where new emotions are making a mess. (PIXAR)

To say the least, I did not approach Inside Out 2 in the right frame of mind.

It has been the summer of sequels. Faced with fears of a shrinking appetite for the big-screen experience, studios have been playing it safe with a festival of the familiar.The 10th Planet of the Apes.Bad Boys No. 4. And now just weeks before Despicable Me 4 there'sInside Out 2,Pixar's follow-up to its wildly successful and innovative 2015 film set inside thebrain of a young girl named Riley, controlled by animated characters representing different emotions.

The sequel arrives on the heels of a reportthat Pixar's own brain trustis pulling back on original stories, focusing more on mass appeal and sequels based onwhat's already worked.

So if therewas an emotion at the control centre in my brain when I sat down for the show, I'd name him Grumbly.As the filmbegan, I could hear him grousing in the background:Here we go again. Bah, I've seen Joy and all the others already. This again?

A grumbly cloud shaped being scowls.
A visualization of Grumbly, the emotion that sometimes lives in the author's brain. (Allison Cake/CBC)

But what Grumbly didn't know is how timely Inside Out 2 would turn out to be.

When it arrived in 2015, the original film was an example of what set Pixar apart as an animation studio.By giving voice to the emotions inside Riley's brain, Inside Outgave families a way to talk about the complicated sea of feelings inside all of us.There's a generation of children who discovered the film just asthey were growing up.Many of those who giggled with Amy Poehler's Joy and wept about Bing Bong are now teens, and Inside Out 2 has much to say for them.

The film opens in the brain control centre, with the emotions trying to get a handle on Riley's rapid changes.With a giant flashing alarm, puberty has arrived, and with that, new feelings.The Bear's Ayo Edebiri voices the googly-eyed Envy. There's Embarrassment, who hides his flushed cheeksin a hoodie.Ennui is hilarious, apatheticboredom personified in a limp, noodle-shaped body.

But of all the new emotions, none seem more apt than Anxiety.Voicedby Maya Hawke, Anxiety is an orange, frizzy-haired, predicting protector, constantly on guard for the worst, while somehow trying to makeRiley's life better.

WHAT IS HAPPENING?  In Disney and Pixars Inside Out 2, Joy (voice of Amy Poehler), Sadness (voice of Phyllis Smith), Anger (voice of Lewis Black), Fear (voice of Tony Hale) and Disgust (voice of Liza Lapira) are awakened to an alarming reality: everything is changing now that Riley is 13. Directed by Kelsey Mann and produced by Mark Nielsen, Inside Out 2 releases only in theaters Summer 2024.  2023 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
All hands on deck. The red flashing light means the arrival of puberty, and with it, new emotions for 13-year-old Riley. (PIXAR)

With the 13-year-old Riley heading off to hockey camp and trying to fit in with the cool kids, Anxiety and the new emotions are in the driver's seat, the original crewexiled to the brainscape hinterlands. In grand Pixar tradition, shenanigans ensue. There are new mental regions to discover, an actual river of consciousness to navigate and a great bit involving the land of sarcasm.

But it's when we begin to see the effects of Riley's new emotions thatInside Out 2 finds its true purpose.

I may be a critic with an inner Grumbly who complains about a lack of originality in film, but I am also a parent with a daughter. When Anxiety arrived, Grumbly shut up, and I leaned in.

My daughter has her own Anxiety. I don't know if it's green or orange, but she carries it to school,in the never-ending scroll, in group chatsand back at home. A constant companion.

Under fuzzy emotions,an effective attack

There's a moment in the new film that was so effective, even for a film about a group of fuzzy emotions, it almost required a trigger warning.

Riley battles to secure a spot on the hockey team, but Anxiety tightens her grip as the girl steps onto the ice. With the music swelling and the stakes rising, Riley pushesherself to the limit.In the first film, it was an imaginary friend who opened the audience's floodgates. But this time, it's Riley's own experiences. As she pushes herself harder, her panic intensifies and, watching her, Ifelt my own emotions welling up.

I don't know if it was me,for a moment, somehow empathizing with Riley's predicament, or this animated anxiety attack,giving me a taste of what my daughter deals with on a daily basis.

This isthe magic of Pixar, a studio where every story element hasbeen pitched and re-pitched. Scriptsevolve and change;rough animated version are screened for a group, where they're relentlessly pulled apart and improved upon.

A group of new emotions are at the brain control panel
As Riley's brain is changing, new emotions enter the control centre. From left to right: Embarrassment, Anxiety, Envy and Ennui. (PIXAR)

At one point in the production of Inside Out 2, there were as many as nine new emotions. Atthe end, directorKelsey Mann, himself a parent, centred on Anxiety as focus.

The best animated movies are not just for kids. Our brains fill in the blanksto reflect back somethingabout ourselves.Inside Out 2 is about many things, but much of it is about the age we live in and that is a sequel worth seeing.