Inside Out 2

When "Inside Out" was released back in 2015, it was considered a cutting edge animated film whereas it dealt with the different emotions of a small child, Riley. Well, a mere nine years later, and we have "Inside Out 2", whereas Riley is now a teenager with a whole group of new emotions to contend with.

This story returns to the mind of newly minted teenager Riley (Kensington Tallman) just as Headquarters is undergoing a sudden demolition to make room for something entirely unexpected: new emotions! Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale) and Disgust (Liza Lapira), who've been running a successful operation by all accounts, aren't sure how to feel when Anxiety (Maya Hawke) shows up. And it looks like she's not alone. 

Others to round out the cast are Ayo Edebiri as Envy, Diane Lane as Mom, Kyle MacLachlan as Dad, Paul Walter Hauser as Embarrassment, Yvette Nicole Brown as Coach Roberts, Grace Lu as Grace, Lilimar as Valentina, James Austin Johnson as Pouchy and Ron Funches as Bloofy.

For a filmmaker having only TV and a short as their only directing experience, this was directed with wit and sequenced well by Kelsey Mann (TV and a short). Even though the original was directed by others, this still had a similar feel as with the original. Of course, having Amy Poehling, Lewis Black, Phyllis Smith, Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan reprising their respective roles certainly didn't hurt. This filmmaker, whose done a fair amount of writing has definitely found his niche with directing, and will assuredly receive more work in this capacity. It was cleverly written by Meg LeFauve ("Inside Out" '15, "The Good Dinosaur" '15, "Captain Marvel" (story) '19, "My Father's Dragon" '22) plus TV and Dave Holstein (TV and shorts), based on a story by Kelsey Mann and Meg LeFauve. It was similar to its original film, however since this is basically a continuation of Riley, now being a teenager, it should be similar. I had heard that Pixar, who made the film, reached out to psychologists and others in the mental health field to find out more about the emotions we, as humans, carry. They apparently wanted that element of realism, so, my guess, the same professionals must've been interviewed for similar reasons for this film. The sequencing, staging and pacing was spot on, as was the cohesiveness. It is so relieving to see that Pixar didn't attempt to add any hidden messages of their personal ideology into the script, and decided to let this be a totally fun flick like the good 'ol days. Hopefully they've learned their lesson. Just entertain us! 

Certainly if you liked the original "Inside Out", you'll love this next installment. All the characters were incredible, but Anziety and Pouchy were a hoot. Hopefully we'll see more Pixar films like they used to be: non-woke. If you like that up, close and personal feel, this is presented in an IMAX format as well. Have fun, I know I did!

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                    Rated: PG                                         96mins.