Inside Out stars Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, and Bill Hader and is the latest entry in Pixar studios’ list of modern animation classics. It gives the viewer an interesting and original look into the mind of a young girl named Riley, and how her emotions interact with each other to characterize her personality. The story follows Joy, Anger, Fear, Sadness and Disgust as they try to weather the storm of a young girl’s growing pains.
Pixar has an immaculate track record, with films like the Toy Story franchise, The Incredibles, Up, Ratatouille, and Wall-e showing that they are the authority in the animation business. However, recently they have experienced a dip in quality, with their latest efforts being to the tune of Cars 2 and Brave. It’s blatantly clear that those flicks aren't on par with their previous efforts, and as a result, I wasn't as excited as one might usually be for a Pixar movie. The studio’s shine was rubbing off just a bit, but then I saw Inside Out, and then my faith was immediately restored. Inside out is technically a “kids movie”, and will definitely entertain kids, but carries so much more maturity and emotional heft. It thrives at getting mature audiences to reflect on their youth and sympathize with Riley as she struggles to adapt to her new life. This movie nearly brought me to tears, because Pixar is simply amazing at pulling the emotional strings, but also has moments of cheesiness and sappiness. There are various instances where the characters come off as annoying, and the jokes occasionally sacrifice their sophistication for “child humor”. But other than the expected gimmicks I actually really enjoyed this movie. I thought it was really clever how the emotions in Riley’s head were developed into actual characters, as well as how her personality is formed by memories and their assessed significance in her life. The movie was a little slow to start off, and was actually pretty tedious for the first 20 minutes or so, but once the actual plot was set into motion, Inside Out shined as a comedy/adventure. There were times where Inside Out was genuinely stressful and I was actually anxious for a long period of time, proving that this movie is more than just a coming of age, sappy kids movie, but also an exciting and original look into the human mind. The end result of the movie was perhaps a little predictable, but the journey there was undeniably funny and thrilling.
I would definitely recommend this movie to both younger and more mature audiences alike due to its dual appeal to both demographics. The animation is gorgeous, as per usual in a Pixar film, and is a visual and emotional treat. Some parts of the movie are fairly familiar territory for Pixar, but others are wildly creative and fresh, making Inside Out definitely worth your time.
B+