Inside Out 2 Rocks

i'm no disney dickrider. i have a few of their films in my 5-stars, but consider those indicative of the threshold; a disney film has to be MASTERFUL if i'm gonna praise it. the first inside out was anything but. for all the advertising that hyped it up as some powerful depiction of the mind, what we got was a lot of puns, some memorable performances, and a shallow use of disassociation as a plot device. there was more emotional weight behind fucking bing bong the elephant than the """"main character"""", riley. she seemed to be nothing more than a framework through which the Emotions would interact with the world or encounter obstacles. silly at best, problematic at worst.

when my good friend sophia said we'd be seeing the sequel for her birthday, i expected it to suck. the only thing worse than an underwhelming disney movie is a sequel to an underwhelming disney movie, right? i didn't expect to walk out of the theater with tears streaming down my face.

DAMN BITCH EAT YOUR FOOD FUCK YOU LOOKIN CRAZY FOR

the setup is about the same. 20 minutes of visual gags and basic character (re-)establishment. the big twist in 2 is that riley has PUBERTY now, so you have to sit through the same tedious routine in every other kid-friendly movie about puberty. except... that's not really what it's about, and it drops the facade as soon as it has finished introducing the new emotions. we already had turning red, a movie whose very tame handling of the menstrual cycle caused waves of controversy. i doubt a depiction of all the ways hormones affect a teen's brain is a good idea for disney right now. nah man, inside out 2 is about riley andersen's tumultous teenage social scene.

newsflash: whatever glorified memories of teenagedom you have are lies. being a teen SUCKS. nothing makes sense, everything is stressful, hormones screw up your brain and you're expected to take on more responsibility in the midst of this wild change despite still being treated like a child. the Real Shit most teens go through is so often downplayed by adults and other kids. yeah, sometimes something as seemingly silly as what hockey team you play on at camp can be so stressful as to make one call into question their sense of self! inside out 2 is hella compassionate about that. it's nothing groundbreaking, but i think the personified emotions bring something to the table. i found it very validating. the only punch they pulled was in the panic attack scene. then again, maybe it's best that every 5 year old watching wasn't put into a visceral and anxious headspace.

this woman is 50 years old

i will say, this is new ground for disney. feels good to see their big-budg tomfoolery go towards something so cool. like, gay emotional stuff aside, the presentation is ON POINT. when i saw lance slashblade decked out in ps2 aliasing and blur i lost my mind. that scene was made for me. i also love resident adorable scrunkle anxiety, who i appreciate being a morally grey character rather than the villain she appeared to be at first. the biggest improvements, however, are in the real-world portions. the hockey playing is soooo much fun to watch (shoutout kelsey manning or whoever is responsible for the scene composition) and all the girls are memorable - probably because the characters were more than Funny Emotion Banter Compilation 2015! these are real people with senses of self beyond the personified chemicals affecting their brain state. if inside out 2 fumbled the bag in its psychology department, it would still be a loveable teen sports movie. speaking of loveable: riley. she's AWESOME! total geek, rambly, impulsive, and capital c Competitive. the emotions served as an extension of self that taught me more about her instead of the other way around.

gotta voice 3 complaints before i close out:

  1. where is bill hader?! i think i like liza lapiza more than mindy kaling, so that recast is ok, and tony hale is fine, but he's not BILL HADER.
  2. who is this no-name composer? this ost sucks. bring back mike gabagool or whatever.
  3. envy is a nothing character. literally only there to make sure anxiety's scenes had other voiced characters.
  4. more disgust please

inside out 2 is the highest grossing disney film since the lion king and the tenth highest grossing film of all time. and i say it's DESERVED! this is my favorite pixar movie, ever, period. not the best disney movie though. it ain't tangled. or princess in the frog. in the frog? i'm tired. whatever