Inside Out 2

⭐ 9/10

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this movie. I know I liked the first one pretty well when it came out, but we started rewatching it last week and I felt very little (I guess the hard hitting stuff happens at the end, but yeah). I thought maybe I overrated it back then and this would be more of the same. 

Well that's the beauty of low expectations, because this one really surprised me. After what I've felt were a series of duds from Pixar, this one reminded me of how wonderful and creative all the movies from that studio used to be. This is just a cool idea, almost similar to Ozzy and Drix in that personifying the inner workings of your body is always fun and interesting. You can't think about this one too hard or it falls apart, but in general I think it's a cool idea that works on a lot of levels to create jokes and drama. 

So for the most part, it's a fun story about a girl growing up. There's been a lot of discourse recently about Pixar's ability to create relatable stories, and although I've never been a teenage girl, this one certainly felt relatable in a way that Turning Red didn't for me, despite having a similar premise. Fitting in, trying to be cool, embarassing moments - I definitely understood that pain, and there is plenty of painful moments here that were hard to watch but very funny. 

All of this is well and good, but the end of this movie is super impactful and I'm not afraid to admit that I surprised myself by shedding several tears. It caught me off guard but I thought it was beautiful. The revelation of who you are as a person, what your values are, and also the power of friendship. 

The star of this one is Maya Hawke as Anxiety. She was great in this role, and I think this movie depectied anxiety better than anything on screen that I can remember. It was all very clever and poignant, and then of course powerful by the end. 

I don't have too many complaints, but I think one would be that they probably introduce too many emotions. They could have added only anxiety and left off the rest because really no other ones play into this at all. But Amy Poehler was born to play Joy and crushes it again, and had some great moments here. 

So that's basically it. They killed the Pixar formula of introducing a cool idea, throwing out some good jokes, and then crushing you emotionally by the end. I'm not sure it will work for everyone, but it worked for me and I thought this movie was phenomenal. These kinds of movies are funny because if you're not in the right mood, you won't be moved and the emotional stuff won't work. But I was in shambles and wanted to rethink my life. Honestly, it probably won't happen, but this movie could introduce a sequel every few years as the main character grows up and I'd watch them all.