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Inside Out 2 was a long-awaited sequel that’s quickly become popular among kids and adults alike. 

From the first teaser of the movie, people were excited and interested to see just what the movie had to offer. After its predecessor, Inside Out and the short film “Riley’s First Date?”, people were interested to see where Inside Out 2 was headed. The first teaser image gave the impression that there would be a new set of emotions so people began to speculate what they would be.

Four new emotions were revealed throughout the film: Anxiety, Embarrassment, Envy, and Ennui. The four new emotions are all solid choices, however, audiences may have been a bit confused as to what ‘ennui’ is, due to the emotion having a French accent and a more confusing name than the rest of the standard emotions, like Joy or Anger. 

The movie does an excellent job with how the emotions themselves are portrayed. Anxiety always plans every possible scenario for Riley, opting to try and plan the most ideal situation for the long-term. Embarrassment is portrayed as shy and awkward and clams up during the most basic interactions, like going for a fist bump when Joy tries for a high-five. Envy is perpetually jealous and wants things others have– a pretty one-note, albeit accurate translation of the emotion. Finally, Ennui is a bored and sarcastic emotion, responsible for adding a bit of sass and apathy to Riley’s character.

In comparison to the first Inside Out film, I thought the visuals were much nicer, the returning voice cast did phenomenal jobs and the new cast members for the new emotions and side characters do a great job at bringing them to life. 

One of my biggest compliments: the movie never feels too stale or lifeless. The film is constantly moving in a good and progressive way without rushing things. Many of the scenes were visually impressive as well; like when Joy leads Sadness to the Sense of Self or one-off characters like Pouchy and Lance were animated in a completely different style, but still fit in with the other characters. 

The film isn’t perfect, however, as it does suffer from a predictable outcome. The main conflict is that Riley wants to join a high school hockey team, the Fire Hawks, with her two friends, Grace and Bree. However, Grace and Bree reveal that they’re going to be attending a different high school. This drives the conflict for Riley to have to choose who to spend time with at the Fire Hawks training camp: her old friends, or her potential new friends and teammates.

The film progresses with Riley trying to get closer to the potential friends while ignoring her old friends, which would culminate in the climax of her having a panic attack, which was an admittedly good representation of one. The result was a predictable outcome, however, where Riley makes up with her old friends, then still gets to hang out with her new friends she met at the camp.

The film was a good watch, with it always staying active and quirky, but also having a decently predictable outcome. The good visuals and voice cast made the movie pop to life, and the sequel has been very well received by many age demographics alike.

Spinnaker rates Inside Out 2 4 out of 5 Spinnaker Sails.

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