Pixar has not been sending us their best the past few years. And by us I specifically mean theaters. Onward was the last thoroughly successful well reviewed Pixar movie to hit theaters, and even that had it’s box office run cut short by the novel Coronavirus. During the pandemic Luca was the first film to be relegated to Disney+ and then shortly after Soul. Over a year later after the world had largely gone back to normal Disney made the bizarre choice to shove their best Pixar film since Incredibles 2, Turning Red, onto Disney+ as opposed to giving it a proper theatrical release. Since then they’ve completely bombed with Lightyear, the movie that inspired the toy that Andy plays with, and a mild hit but critical flop Elemental.

With Inside Out 2 they’re back on top with a reliable sequel to a film people absolutely adored. We are once again reunited with our emotional pals Joy, Anger, Sadness, Fear, and Disgust, along with a cadre of new emotions Embarrassment, Envy, Ennui, and Anxiety. Riley is growing up after all and the emotions that run the show inside of her are getting more complicated. Pixar has always been able to get reliable base hits with their formula of “What if X had feelings” and what better way to double down on that than with a sequel? It seems to have worked after setting the opening weekend for the year as of now, and while the movie certainly works I do wish it took a few more risks, although after a bomb like Lightyear Pixar is being incredibly risk averse.

That’s not to say the movie doesn’t work, Pixar’s ability to wage war via emotional carpet bombing is as tuned in as it ever was. And the personification of the chaos of puberty gets the film humming right from the get go. Our teenage years are our most formative ones, and seeing the internal battle between the other emotions and Anxiety is one that will be sure to resonate with everyone who buys a ticket. It’s not until the back half of the movie where it distills itself down to largely pun based psyche humor that the movie loses a little luster. The cringiest of these is when Anxiety is trying to come up with a full proof plan to make Riley’s life absolutely perfect and conjures up a “brain storm” that Joy has to traverse. If that made you roll your eyes don’t worry, there’s more of similar caliber to be found.

The voice cast is certainly start studded and everyone is putting in good work, the one moment that worked the best for me though is actually a moment of some softness from Lewis Black’s Anger. It’s not often that you get to see someone that’s been known for so long as being a rage filled rabble rouser give an incredibly tender monologue in a movie about a young girl growing up, and in the highlight of the movie for me he absolutely nails the speech.

Amy Poehler is obviously wonderful as Joy, Phyllis Smith is still a pillar of what makes an Inside Out movie, but there are a couple folks that Disney would not pay enough to get back in the booth. Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling are both noticeably absent, and while Tony Hale and Liza Lapira are both serviceable replacements, it’s enough of a shift in VO performance to at least be noticeable. One other nit I have to pick is the lack of dialogue of Paul Walter Hauser’s Embarrassment, a performer I’ve grown to love from AppleTV+’s Blackbird as well as Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell, my favorite performance from him is actually in Netflix’s Cobra Kai in which he is an absolute delight. But Embarrassment doesn’t have a lot of lines, a distinct lack of them to be clear, and while that makes sense thematically it is disappointing to have that steady of hand in the booth and not have it be utilized.

Inside Out 2 is a crowd pleasing summer blockbuster for the whole family, and while the sequelitis that’s prevalent was predicted, it’s good to see a movie over perform in a big way. Take yourself out of the summer heat for about 90 minutes, get a little teary eyed as Pixar forces you to consider how growing up heightens all of our Anxiety’s a little bit, and watch the first solidly successful blockbuster hit of the summer. Hopefully there will be plenty more to come, both this summer and the next ones.

3.5/5