Who doesn‘t like a good family comedy that‘s also super relatable? I know I do, but I‘ll admit it — I‘m fairly late to watching “Inside Out 2” (please don‘t judge!). The arrival of new emotions in “Inside Out 2” and the shape of the plot make it a great movie, touching upon ideas of competitiveness and friendship. Still, there are some plot crossovers from the original movie which were kind of disappointing.
Just to do a quick recap, “Inside Out” — which was co-written by Pete Docter, Meg LaFauve and Josh Cooley in 2015 — stars Riley Anderson (Kaitlyn Dias) and her five emotions: Joy (Amy Poehler), Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), Anger (Lewis Black) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith). They embark on a journey to help Riley navigate her adolescence. The original movie won over fans and also gained an Oscar.
“Inside Out 2” hit theaters nine years after the original release. According to Forbes, it “has grossed nearly $653 million domestically and $1.020 billion internationally for a worldwide box office tally of $1.673 billion to date — making it the highest-grossing film both domestically and worldwide in 2024 to date.” In addition to this, the BBC reported that “Inside Out 2” managed to out-earn last year’s “Barbie” and now ranks as the 13th highest-grossing animated movie of all time. It‘s obvious “Inside Out 2” was a booming success at the box office.
One thing I enjoyed was the movie‘s depiction of competition. As a college athlete — I play softball — the inclusion of sports and competition appealed to me. I think that the emphasis on Riley (Kensington Tallman) as a teenager playing hockey was important to include. It does more with the original emotions — Joy, Fear (Tony Hale), Disgust (Liza Lapira), Anger and Sadness — alongside the new ones: Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), Envy (Ayo Edebiri) and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser). The central theme isn‘t just competitiveness. It‘s also friendship — which is the underlying reason why we play sports, right? The movie portrays this fact as Riley and her two close friends go to camp together both to compete and to collaborate.
We‘ve all felt that anxious moment some way or another, whether it be waiting for a test result, waiting to see if you made a team or whatever else. This is another aspect that made the movie so relatable. Throughout the movie, I saw a lot of myself when it came to these anxious moments. Take the scene where Riley is waiting to see if she made the hockey team, for instance. It captures the feeling of anxiety, the waiting for hours, days and sometimes weeks to see if you made the team. It makes “Inside Out 2” very appealing.
I am a sophomore in college, but as a freshman, one thing that I felt was a “need to fit in.” This is another idea explored throughout the story line of “Inside Out 2,” with Riley feeling like she needs to fit in among the hockey players in order to be a part of the team. As I learned, changing the way that you act to try and fit in isn’t the way to go — it only ever makes things worse. That’s portrayed in the movie: Riley drifts away, losing her two best friends and letting Anxiety take over. To fit in, she starts acting like she doesn’t know her friends or their interests and not even her own.
One thing that disappointed me was the contour of the plot. As I watched, I realized that there was repeat conflict — the original emotions being kicked out of headquarters. This was a main plot point in the first “Inside Out,” so seeing this scenario repeated was not ideal. Still, Pixar did a good job covering the overlapping plot up with all of the new elements.
I believe that Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” was an amazing movie. They did an amazing job in appealing to a new audience, and I definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a new movie to watch.
