"Inside Out 2" Review: Another Great Probe Into Our Minds!
Inside Out will always be a special film for me because it was the first film I took my daughter to see when she was almost three years old. The Oscar winning film was a great movie that dealt with emotions and how we use them. Nearly ten years later, Riley (Kensington Tallman) is thirteen, my daughter is almost twelve and this movie is so in touch with that thing called puberty it’s scary!
We catch back up with Riley as she is still playing hockey and dominating the rink. She is going to high school next year and her bond with her best friends, Grace (Grace Lu) and Bree (Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green), couldn’t be stronger! Or could it? As the trio goes to camp, Riley learns that they will be going to different schools in the fall which will break up the band. This information, coupled with the onset of puberty, creates new emotions that come to the forefront of her mind.
Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Anger (Lewis Black) are still at the helm of the controls of Riley’s mind, but new emotions are introduced that will challenge for the throne: Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adele Exarchopoulos) (think “play it cool” mentality), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), and, the leader of them all, Anxiety (Maya Hawke). Anxiety proves to be akin to fear in some ways but her role is to predict what could happen to Riley and either stop it, avoid it, react to it or move her towards it if the idea seems good to her.
The old and new emotions have a conflict that sends the old crew on an adventure. Along the way we meet some new characters and concepts like sarcasm being a literal chasm that makes anything nice sound bad and a stream of consciousness being a stream with whatever Riley is thinking in it. Perhaps the funniest new characters are Bloofy (Ron Funches) and Pouchy (James Austin Johnson), a duo similar to a Barney-like character that Riley secretly still likes watching.
Writers Meg LeFauve, Dave Holstein, and Kelsey Mann do a wonderful job of setting this new world up for the viewer inside Riley’s head as they interact with what’s going on outside of her body. It’s easy to follow and it’s the journey that makes this movie another winner! There is something so universal about the pressures of trying to fit in, choosing between making new friends or being loyal to old ones, and not really knowing what’s going on inside. Pixar usually has a way of speaking to adults while entertaining kids and that is on full display here.
Inside Out 2 is a winner because it’s thought provoking in addressing how the coming of age passage can be difficult, awkward and beautiful all at once! It doesn’t sugar coat mental health but delivers a spoonful of sugar with the medicine the doctor ordered to address it with laughs and a few tear jerking moments. Hopefully we don’t have to wait another decade for the next stage of Riley’s life, but this is certainly one to take the family to see in theaters!
Rating: A-
"Elemental" Review: This isn't Pixar's Best
Animation can be a great storytelling tool! When done well, filmmakers can use the genre to express emotions and show things that can’t be done in live-action. With “Elemental”, the ambiguity of anthropomorphism makes for a confusing story, weird relationships and complex storytelling that should otherwise be simple.
Set in a place called Elemental City, the inhabitants consist of fire, wind, earth and water people. Fire is the one element that is somewhat ostracized due to their ability to destroy most elements. Ember (Leah Lewis) is a second generation fire element of the city. Her father (Ronnie Del Carmen) has worked hard to keep his store, The Fireplace, up and running. His goal is to pass it on to Ember. Ember is stuck between wanting to honor her father’s wishes and wanting to find out what she loves. The frustration of being stuck in the middle produces an uncontrollable fireball that Ember has to release. On one such occasion, she retreats to the basement to blow off steam only to have Wade (Mamoudou Athie) come through a leaky pipe. Wade is a city inspector who can’t let the violations he sees in the basement go. So the rest of the film is about the shenanigans this odd couple gets into as Ember tries to save her dad’s shop from being shut down.
There are clear rules in this world. Fire can boil water, water can replenish Earth, water can also douse a flame, etc. So a romantic relationship between fire and water shouldn’t work. Pixar is usually known for being able to mix social messages with their films but there are a few too many messages going on here. There is a generational understanding issue, a xenophobia issue, a class issue, and frankly, an ethnicity issue. Ember’s parents seem to have an Asian accent and exhibit the traditional values of an Asian family. (This is based on director, Peter Sohn’s, life.) So rather than focusing on the elements being blank canvases without intricate human qualities, dealing with universal problems, this feels like the elements are geared after a certain group of people. This is fine when you make clear lines, but the anthropomorphism makes it hazy. There are too many things that writers John Hoberg, Kat Likkel and Brenda Hsueh are trying to tackle. Children won’t care but adults will scratch their heads.
This does feel like new territory for Pixar as the relationship between Ember and Wade feels like young adults falling in love. It’s hard to know their age, but context clues put this in unchartered territory. Perhaps the best part of the film is the visuals that are served to the audience. In fact, the song “Steal The Show” by Ari Leff and Thomas Newman does just that in a beautiful montage of Ember and Wade seeing each other’s uniqueness against the backdrop of Elemental City. It’s a great number and captures what Pixar does best.
This isn’t Pixar’s best in their catalogue. Outside of the song, this isn’t very memorable and leaves a few more questions than answers. Yet, there are moments of Pixar brilliance. No need to rush out for this one parents.
Rating: C