The Reel Review
The primary emotions residing in Riley’s brain go into overdrive when a bunch of new complex emotions show up just as Riley starts experiencing puberty, in this Disney-Pixar animated adventure comedy. Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith and Lewis Black reprise their roles from 2015’s Oscar-winning Inside Out, with Maya Hawke voicing Anxiety, Riley’s big new emotion.
Co-writer Kelsey Mann’s directorial debut is a cute crowd-pleaser, this time about the flood of emotions that occur as Riley navigates sleepaway ice hockey camp after learning that her two best friends/teammates will be going to a different high school in the fall. While Poehler, Hawke and Smith, as Joy, Anxiety and Sadness, get the bulk of screentime, the new emotions envy, ennui, nostalgia and embarrassment – respectively voiced by Ayo Edebiri (The Bear), French actress Adèle Exarchopoulos, June Squibb and Paul Walter Hauser – each contribute some cute laughs and tender moments to the story.
Inside Out 2‘s cute visuals. emotional heft and its creativity – the way it depicts such ethereal concepts as the sense of self and belief systems as well as the more humorous brainstorming and sar-chasm – are where the film shines. A sluggish midsection and the predictable story keeps this sequel from being just a hair shy of the original, but its message – that it takes all of our emotions to make us who we are, still makes it a big, heartfelt winner.
REEL FACTS
• Tony Hale (Veep) and Liza Lapira (Battle Creek, Fast & Furious) replaced Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling as Fear and Disgust when the latter two balked at returning due to what they said was a low salary offer of $100,000, vs the $5 million Disney-Pixar paid Amy Poehler.
• Inside Out 2 grossed $155 million in the U.S. in its opening weekend, the second biggest weekend opening for an animated film, just behind the 2018 weekend premiere of Incredibles 2, with $183 million.
• Maya Hawke says she leaned into her own experiences with how she breathes differently during panic attacks for Anxiety’s big climactic scene.
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