(The Disneycember logo is shown, before showing clips from Inside Out 2)
Doug (vo): It's Inside Out 2...with spoilers. That's right. If you want to know my thoughts on this movie, you haven't seen it yet, and you want to know what I thought of it without giving anything away, go watched my Untitled Review Show video. But with this one, we're making the assumption you've seen the movie, so some big plot points are gonna be given away. You've been warned. I also got something else. I'm gonna reveal which one of these movies I like better, 'cause if you recall, I said in my Untitled Review Show, I didn't know which Inside Out I liked better. Like, this one was really, really good. It was kind of hard to choose which one was my favorite, because the first one was my favorite Pixar movie. And after literally months of going back and forth which one of these do I like better...I mean, I made a chart and everything, guys. It was crazy. (Beat) I didn't do that. Don't do that...I finally got my answer.
Story[]
Doug (vo): Riley is growing up, becoming a teenager now, and with that comes all new emotions, the biggest one being Anxiety. Anxiety comes at both the perfect and worst moment as Riley is trying to get into this hockey team, while also finding out her best friends are moving away and this is the last weekend she's gonna be able to spend time with them. Obviously, this creates a lot of stress, difficult choices, and inner turmoil, as literally, turmoil is going on inside her head, with the emotions fighting each other about who's in charge.
Review[]
Doug (vo): Okay, so I guess let me talk about the things that I can't say didn't work, but just didn't work as well as the first one. Maybe the biggest issue I had watching it again is that they spend just a little too much time at that control panel. I heard a lot of people complaining that it's kind of repeating the first film again, where a lot of them are separated from the control panel and they have to journey through Riley's mind, and I honestly had no problem with that, because I was starting to get pretty restless in this one room. I think that's the big thing. It is one room. Maybe when those puberty construction workers came in and started remodelling everything, they could've added a few more rooms, they could've added a few different ideas, which...kind of happens. They do have that Sense of Self they have to take the elevator down to go see. That was a nice addition. But I think if you want to get away from the idea of everyone getting separated from the control panel and journeying through the mind, but you don't want it to be boring, you have to add a few more different segments up there.
(Footage focusing on several of the film's final scenes is shown)
Doug (vo): As I mentioned in my previous review, I didn't like literally the last second of this movie, and if you've seen it, you know it hints very strongly that Riley made the hockey team. First off, I think it would've fed into the message better if we just didn't know, like they kept it open, like they're saying, "Whatever happens, we'll be okay with it. We'll deal with it." And, granted, this film did very well, it's probably gonna get another sequel, so we would find out by that time, but even in the third film, you could say, like, "Oh, she didn't get in that one time, but then she tried out again and got in. She worked with it okay." Something about the coach writing down she's not ready and then seeing her literally beat up other kids and have a panic attack in the penalty box...actually, what am I talking about? That is hockey. She's perfect. I don't know, I don't need her to look at her phone and suddenly get a sad face, like, "Ha-ha, you didn't make the team", but I really would've liked it if they kept it a little bit more vague.
(Footage focusing on several moments of the characters speaking with each other is shown)
Doug (vo): The last nitpick I have is both kind of a strength and a weakness, and that's the dialogue isn't as tight as the first movie. The first movie was very good at getting across these ideas in a very quick, efficient way, but you still felt the emotions of everybody. It felt like it wasted no time. But with this, you definitely feel everybody kind of just working off each other and just kind of chit-chatting, getting to know one another, which makes sense. These are new characters. But it did feel like there was a lot of moments that could've been trimmed or weren't necessary. Not a ton, just every moment felt like it had maybe two sentences that weren't needed, which, again, in one scene isn't a big deal, but when it's in multiple scenes, it can kind of add up.
(Footage focusing on all the emotion characters is shown)
Doug (vo): But I didn't pick up on it as much the first time, noticing the emotions are actually forming strong connections with each other. Fear immediately tells Anxiety, "Oh, you and I are gonna be friends", and that makes sense. They're very, very similar. And as they keep going on their journey, he keeps saying, "Well, Anxiety would never let this happen. Anxiety would do this.", almost like he's got a crush on her or something. Sadness also has a really strong connection with Embarrassment. You can see her trying to help him out at first, and again, she kind of gets it. It's a similar emotion. So, later, when she sneaks her way back into the control panel, he does help her. It doesn't feel out of nowhere. Even Disgust having a romantic connection with this video game character makes sense, because it's all the secrets she doesn't want to know about, she would be disgusted by, so maybe she does have this strong connection to him. Joy and Anger, almost complete opposites, both have to give in to their other side. Joy has to really break down and get angry and have a freakout, and then Anger has to really help her out of that and say, "Hey, didn't that feel good? You got it out? Okay. Now let's get back on track." It makes sense. I really like seeing these emotions, some that are the exact opposite and some that are very similar, working off each other. In a very subtle way, it does show how they compliment each other. All these emotions are necessary, and, yes, we did make that point in the first film, but I think by bringing in more characters and showing, again, how similar some can be and how different some can be and how all of that can gel together, adds to the complexity of the idea and how the mind works.
(Footage focusing on moments when Joy and Sadness interact with each other is shown)
Doug (vo): I really like that Joy and Sadness legit get along, too. They don't go backwards on that. Like, she's never seen the Belief System before, she's been too nervous, and Joy convinces her to come along, that it's worth it, and it's really something wonderful, and they hold hands, and...just...a really nice moment. You can feel the growth they went through in the previous movie.
(Footage focusing on two particular moments, the one where Joy sends some bad memories toward the back of the mind, and the film's climax, is shown)
Doug (vo): I enjoy that all the new problems don't just come from the new emotions coming in. You see them constantly throw these old emotions to the back of the mind, and they start to stack up. I think the idea of a person's original Sense of Self being pushed to the back of the mind is very, very clever. But then, when that mountain builds up too much and all of the emotions go flooding into that Sense of Self, suddenly, it's not the same and it's not really good or bad. At this age, that belief system can keep changing, and I think that's a very healthy thing to acknowledge. I think a lot of the young people, hell, even a lot of the older people, think they have everything kind of figured out in terms of what they're feeling and what their thoughts are, and it's very simplified and there's no wiggle room, and this is showing very much you never 100% truly do. We have no idea if this changing belief system that's constantly saying other things, sometimes opposite things, is gonna stay that way for Riley. It could change into something that's a little bit more solid, but maybe just changes once in a while. And I like it came from all these unchecked emotions that were just pushed to the back of the mind suddenly flooding in to the center of what you are, suddenly making who you are a little random. Again, as she gets older and she makes more memories, maybe that'll fill up the space and change into whatever, but right now, particularly at this age, this makes sense.
(Footage focusing on Joy is shown)
Doug (vo): Joy has to acknowledge that maybe she's not gonna be as big a part in Riley's life, and if you look at the emotions in some of the other people, that's true. Joy isn't always at the center. Sometimes, it's Sadness, sometimes, it's Anger, but they're literally in control of themselves, they don't seem like they're going off the handle all the time. And this is a conclusion Joy has to come to. Now, at the end, we do see Joy is called back and she is still the one in charge, because it kind of makes sense. Riley's gone through the wringer, and her friends still accept and forgive her, and that is a very joyous moment, and it's a very defining moment. And it makes sense that she would still be running things. Maybe in a sequel, that could change. Maybe it would be interesting if one of the other emotions starts to take over as the leader. Maybe not Anxiety, but maybe Anger, maybe Sadness. Who knows? And Joy has to step aside. Like, yeah, they kind of dealt with that here, but to really go all the way with it in a sequel could be really interesting. And keep in mind, these are my interpretations. I like this is a little bit more abstract, and, okay, it's not like there's a ton of different layers you can read into it. It's not like a David Lynch film or anything. But it does allow you to draw a few of your own conclusions, and I really like that.
(Footage focusing on some of the film's comedic moments is shown)
Doug (vo): And as I've mentioned before, the comedy is a lot funnier. I like seeing her deep dark secrets, I like seeing her little crushes, I like the way they take these ideas that you wouldn't think would exist in Riley's head, I mean, like, this little bouncy cartoon character and this video game character, and they very cleverly work them into the story, like, it didn't feel forced. I love the idea of her imagination now working against her. That is so smart, but at the same time, I like kind of the little subtle commentary they're doing, like, making it look like animators are just being stripped of their creativity or doing something they don't want to do, which, let's be honest, at Disney, might have been a very common thing. Hell, at any animation studio, it might've been a very common thing.
(Various clips continue to show, but when Doug reveals the answer to the question he mentioned at the beginning of the review, clips from the first film are shown)
Doug (vo): So, yeah, in some respects, the film is a little messier, but I think you can make the very strong argument, that's by design. Even moments that can seem a little dull sometimes are working up to something, and they're doing it in a much more subtle way than you might think. But, okay, I know you're all sitting on the edge of your seats, just banging your keyboards, "Goddamn, which one did he like better? 'Cause I can't sleep unless I know. Is it the first one or the second one that's your favorite Pixar movie?" And after thinking it over...just by a hair, it is the first one. And ultimately, it comes down to the resolution. Both are good, but I started thinking back to the first film, where, yeah, you know the idea is that somehow Sadness is going to show her importance, she shouldn't just be pushed to the side. I mean, anyone can figure that out. But the way they're gonna display it is what makes it so unique. I love that Joy looks at her happiest memory, or one of her happiest memories, and shows that it couldn't have happened without Sadness. She just rewound it a little bit and saw how important she was. She wouldn't have gotten there if Sadness wasn't involved. That is just so direct and so simple, it's perfection.
Final thought[]
Doug (vo): But again, that's pretty impressive, going from my favorite Pixar movie to a sequel that's now...my second-favorite Pixar movie. It just feels so right. "What are your favorite Pixar movies?" And my first two are Inside Out and Inside Out 2. Riley, I feel like is becoming a perfect blank slate character, and a lot of people look at blank slates as a negative thing, but I disagree. I think they can be done very well. They can be done very poorly, but you look at characters like Superman or Kim Possible. They're characters where you're supposed to see yourself in those roles, but at the same time, they're supposed to have very unique identities, there's supposed to be things that stand out about them that make them unique. And I think Riley's similar. She can kind of be any kid, but she does have stuff that is uniquely her. She likes to play hockey, she really values her friends, has trouble with change. These are qualities that make her stand out as an individual, but we can also see many elements of inside ourselves, whether it be the worst of us, the best of us, or something in-between. And I want to see even more. I want to see Disney evolve this character, I want to see them grow her up. I wouldn't even mind if they just kept making these movies until she's an old lady, honestly. Grow up with the audience. Isn't that something that, like, everybody's doing, when Harry Potter grows up with the audience, like the kids are growing up with him, and they're kind of seeing and going through different emotions? I think you can do that here. They'll probably be a movie or two that won't be as good like any long-running franchise will have, but as long as that sense of self is kept at the center, I think we can have a long emotional journey.
(One of the film's final shots, showing all the emotions proudly looking at Riley's new Sense of Self, is shown)