Inside Out 2 isn't a bad film, it just wasn't entirely for me. Now in terms of expanded lore and mind mechanics the additions we got were good! The whole thread idea is rather ingenious, and the new emotions we get are logical additions when Riley hits puberty. I will admit the story is a bit ehhh, and the message is very after school special but hey other people can probably get more out of it than me. So the story goes that Riley is doing well in life and continues to be a happy girl until the night when the teenage hormones activate, then everything is thrown into chaos for our normal emotions when and I kid you not a hostile takeover occurs when the new emotions appear. They are being Embarassment, Envy, Ennui, and of course Anxiety. Leading Joy and the others to trek back to headquarters once more to keep Riley on track. Now the animation has improved a good bit and has some intriguing new setpieces to utilize, so no points deducted there. Voice cast is still very on point with Lewis Black being the standout for me comedically, and I'll give a shoutout to both the filmmakers and Kensington Tallman for giving Riley a rather unflattering teen voice showcasing that hard hit your vocals take when puberty is running rampant. I really don't want to bash the movie, cause it just doesn't deserve it but man I know they needed something to create conflict for there to even be a movie but this ain't it chief. Having Anxiety almost immediately literally eject our original emotions just feels off, now I understand for the purpose of the message and the insight of the movie it had to be done but neither are the new emotions treated like villains so it seemed too much. And like I said the overall message is almost the epitome of after school special, I'm almost surprised they didn't do an anti-drug angle. Typical stuff like be a good person, don't abandon your values for popularity, keep your friends close, etc. etc. and I know that is something some teens go through. It's not a horrible message that will do harm to anyone but it ain't really anything new. Plus the movie wiggles it's toes in the drama pool and I hate drama, and what I mean by that is emotional drama the one reason I never watch any live action television series involving teenagers or young adults. Don't have the patience for it. I get it, it has it's place in this movie, but to me it's weak. Best part of the whole damn movie which shows considerable depth is a really poignant and heartbreakingly true line, about how the older you get the less reason you have to be joyful. That nearly speared me straight through the heart, cause so much happens in a life and eventually you reach a point where you lose people, you keep having to change your lifestyle, you lose something important to you and it gets harder. But it never gets impossible. And if that's the only thing I'm taking away from this, that ain't no bad thing. It's really just those two (albeit central) aspects that are detrimental but it isn't losing a great deal of points, and I feel people can still see it and enjoy it just fine. Can it wait till video? In my opinion yes. But all in all I give it 3 stars, 7/10!
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