After a difficult move from Minnesota to San Francisco in the first part, Riley Andersen (voice of Kensington Tallman) is now enjoying perfect happiness. The 13-year-old plays hockey with her best friends, is top of the class and gets along well with her parents.
Then, one day, the Puberty button starts flashing on the console on which Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale) and Disgust (Liza Lapira) are working. Then a construction team arrives to update the device, accompanied by four new emotions: Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Boredom (Adèle Exarchopoulos) and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser).
Inside Out 2 tackles the workings of the brain with the same intelligence as the first film released in 2015. Once again, complex and abstract concepts are brilliantly popularized with humor and creativity. The naivety of the first film – we think of the touching imaginary friend Bing Bong – gives way to more raw emotion.
While 11-year-old Riley gradually abandoned childhood in reaction to external disturbances, 13-year-old Riley tries to define who she is by constructing her system of values that forms her identity. This takes the form of a small tree whose roots are nourished by significant memories. Anxiety, with the firm support of Envie and very nonchalant Ennui, believe that Riley’s developing personality is not the right one for her entry into secondary school. They will try to modify it while the teenager participates in a hockey camp which could have an impact on the rest of his life (Anxiety is dramatic).
Through its long journey through the different areas of the brain, Inside Out managed to make us feel the weight of Sadness and its usefulness. The sequel does the same for Anxiety. It is often unbearable, but essential to face life. In a scene that will appeal to all insomniacs, she calls on the imagination to compile a number of potential disaster scenarios. Dozens of small, round people make sketches at their drawing table. Joy and the others sabotage the process by sending positive probabilities and Riley finally falls asleep.
This battle between emotions is at the heart of Kelsey Mann’s first feature film, co-written by Dave Holstein and Meg LeFauve. Riley is turned upside down by these new conflicts in her head – joyful too. His parents, less present this time, are comforting witnesses, but quite powerless, as in real life.
We visit new brain places, such as “the back of the head” or “the vault”, where what we want to keep for ourselves is stored behind a locked door. This is where we meet a cartoon character similar to Dora and her Pouchy fanny pack, which Riley still secretly loves. They are hilarious! But, as in the original film, this journey into the depths of the mind has a few lengths.
Inside Out 2 has the same genius and the same small flaws as its predecessor. If the novelty aspect could not be reproduced, the magnificent animations are even more impressive. The fans of the first hour, especially the young ones who are now nine years older, should be charmed again.
