Inside Out 2 2024
I really liked the first Inside Out, ranking it third best of all the Pixar movies. Pixar hasn't delivered as much lately, but they are able to regenerate a lot of magic in this movie. While nine years have passed since the last movie, it has been only a couple of years in movie time, and Riley is now maybe 13 and about to enter high school. We get to see a lot more of her and her interactions with her friends and peers (not much of the parents) while she is at a weekend hockey camp. Puberty has hit and there are a lot of changes going on inside, with some new emotions on the scene. While the first movie was incredibly imaginative coming up with all of this, this one just builds on that and it feels very similar to the first (sometimes too similar). Also this is kind of crazy sci-fi psychology stuff, so almost anything can happen for any reason at any time, which makes it harder to really be invested in the ups and downs. It does help that we can pull for Riley to navigate some difficult situations and grow and develop. They throw some clever new things in which you may have seen in the previews and it can get a little dense at times, but generally the movie strikes a good balance of trying to minimize exposition, but still stay smart and funny, and there is a good payoff in the end.
Written: 14 Jun 2024