Review: Inside Out 2 (2024)

Joy and Disappointment were definitely fighting for control while I watched this.

I never thought I’d say this, but PIXAR, a studio that once dazzled audiences of all ages with their imaginative and original stories, is really starting to repeat itself these days. Yes, sometimes we get AMAZING new stories from them such as Luca (2021) or Turning Red (2022) – check out my reviews for those movies, here and here – but more often than not we get projects that feel like something we’ve already seen before. Whether it’s vague like, Onward (2020) – check out my review, here – or Soul (2020), or super obvious like, Lightyear (2022) or Inside Out 2 (2024). These recent projects have felt like halfhearted rehashes of their past work and Inside Out 2 is no exception. It’s by no means a bad movie at all, in fact, it’s rather exceptional. It’s just a bit underwhelming once you realize just how similar in plot and theme it is to the original movie. By the way, check out my review for Inside Out (2015), here. 

Inside Out 2 follows Riley, now a 13-year-old, and settled into her life in San Francisco with her family and new best friends. When she goes off to hockey camp and is faced with new life challenges, it opens the door for new emotions – Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment and Ennui – to move into Headquarters and shake things up for her existing emotions.

I have to wonder why it took Pixar almost 10 years to make and then release Inside Out 2. The idea to to do a sequel where an older Riley experiences new, more mature emotions seems like such an obvious idea, I have to wonder why a follow-up to the wildly successful original movie wasn’t released around 2019 or 2020. The premise of Riley having to struggle with more complex emotions seems crystal clear to me and one that I could imagine taking in numerous different directions, that I can’t imagine it took this long to do. Or that Inside Out 2 is more or less a flashier rehash of the first movie: The emotions have to leave Headquarters and find the object that makes Riley who she is thinking that will fix everything but then they learn that they need to let Riley grow and embrace all aspects of herself. Who would have thought that an Inside Out movie would end by realizing you need to be in touch with all your emotions to live a healthy life? The two movies are made all the more frighteningly similar when you watch them back to back like I just have. If Pixar makes a third movie where Riley is an adult (which I necessarily wouldn’t be mad at just to see how they navigate explaining adult emotions in a children’s movie) I can already guarantee how the entire thing is going to turn out. 

In terms of scale and expansion of the world the first movie created, Inside Out 2 reminds me a lot of Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018). By the way, check out my review for that movie, here. In the sense that THAT sequel spent a lot of its runtime exploring the same themes just in an expanded, more elaborate setting. The artistry and animation is still as imaginative and beautiful as ever, proving that wonderful world-building has never been and will never be an issue for the Inside Out franchise. Nor will the design of characters because once again, the filmmakers deliver perfectly designed characters that are exactly what you think of if you had to personify anxiety, envy, embarrassment, and ennui. In a world where so many designs for animated characters look almost identical, these super stylized, cartoon-y characters are so exciting and vibrant to look at. Anxiety gets a special shoutout because yeah, that’s exactly what that bitch looks like, as does Envy because she is undoubtedly the most ADORABLE Pixar character in a while. I’m a touch disappointed that Mindy Kaling and Bill Hader didn’t return to voice Disgust and Fear respectively, but wow oh wow does Maya Hawke absolutely nail her performance as Anxiety. 

I was really on the fence about the writing in Inside Out 2. On the one hand, like the first movie it delivers fantastic metaphors for how your emotions can spiral and the importance of learning to accept multiple sides of yourself. Also, major kudos to whoever came up with the line where Fear says to Anxiety upon first meeting, “you and I are gonna be good friends.” On the other hand, you have a clunky, pandering, “spill the tea” joke.” Sigh…there’s nothing more cringe-inducing than a forced attempt by screenwriters to appeal to audiences with popular phrases and slang. Thankfully the talented voice cast does their best to navigate those clunkers and do successfully land a number of other, more subtle jokes. They play off each other so well. It was such a treat that the main five emotions (Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust) got to interact much more in this outing! It was so fun to see!

Inside Out 2 is still an exceptional movie brimming with stunning art and inventive writing but sadly, it lacks the WOW Factor of the original movie. Quite honestly, it’s the same movie just with more style and less substance. If you at all enjoyed the first one then you’re guaranteed to enjoy this second trip into Riley’s head. Just keep in mind that the emotion you experience afterwards might be disappointment.

Have you seen Inside Out 2?

Let me know in the comments or on social media!