Michael's Movie Grade: A-
The first Inside Out (2015) is my personal favorite Pixar movie. To me it is the perfect example of everything that makes Pixar great, being an incredibly intelligent film that is also great fun to watch. While probably nothing will ever top that masterpiece (though I would love to be proven wrong), this is a wonderful sequel that shows that the studio still has plenty of Pixar magic.
This film understands that being a sequel it cannot capture the same awe and wonder that the first film did. Because of this the filmmakers don't even try. Instead, they simply focus on telling a great story. That they do perfectly. Rather than the beautiful introduction to the world of Riley's mind that began the first film, we instead start off with a fun comedic scene. This scene is not only pretty funny, but it perfectly does its job of reintroducing us to these wonderful characters and leaving us exactly where we left off from the last film. It prepares us for the truly emotional journey (pun intended) that we are about to take. The drama truly begins when we are introduced to more emotions (Anxiety, Envy, Ennui (or boredom), Embarrassment). These new emotions completely change how everything will play out in Riley's mind. Though kids will enjoy this movie, it is probably those who have experienced being a teenager, who will apricate this best. This film takes a more complex route than the average coming of age drama does. Instead of focusing on romance or preparing yourself for life beyond school, this movie focuses on how our emotions become more complex. What was simply being happy, sad, angry, scared or disgusted as a kid has grown into emotions that are much more complex and harder to describe. As things become more complex, it becomes so easy to lose sight of who we really are. There is something that is so needed about seeing this played out in such a clever and intelligent but also easy to follow and grasp way. We don't only see Riley but ourselves on the screen, as the film addresses feelings that we may try to hide but in a way that feels like a much-needed hug. Perhaps because of the complex emotions and themes here, there are less all-out tearjerker scenes than in the first movie, but it is hard not to be profoundly touched as the film reaches its final act. The final act of this film is incredibly moving, and I simply got swept away in all the emotion.
Like all the best Pixar movies, this film does a great job of balancing its more serious scenes with a lot of humor. While not all the humor lands perfectly, the jokes that land are truly hilarious. There were definitely moments (seeing this movie in the theater) when the whole packed audience was laughing out loud.
This movie marks the directorial debut of Kelsey Mann, who worked as a story supervisor on Monsters University (2013), The Good Dinosaur (2015) and Onward (2020). Before working at Pixar he had been a storyboard artist on such animated TV shows as Duck Dodgers, Megas XLR, My Gym Partner's a Monkey, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The screenplay was written by Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein. Meg LeFauve was a co-writer on the original Inside Out as well as The Good Dinosaur and Onward. She even received a story credit on Marvel Studio's Captain Marvel (2019). This is Dave Holstein's first feature film, though he has worked on quite a bit of TV.
This movie may not have the same sense of awe and wonder that the first film did but it more than makes up for this by simply telling a truly great and moving story. This is a must see for all Pixar fans.
No comments:
Post a Comment