Inside Out 2 an imaginative, witty and insightful classic
What has made the Pixar films the gold standard of modern animation is their ability to not only dazzle us with their imaginative visuals and tickle our funny bones with their unique characters, but their ability to push us toward introspection. Inside Out 2 achieves this and is one of the studio’s best efforts, a film that doesn’t feel like a sequel, but rather a natural continuation of the examination of one young girl’s life. Charming, smart and inventive, director Kelsey Mann has constructed a movie that is engaging from start to finish, exploring not only the awkward, humorous aspects of adolescence but also the confusion and turmoil that comes with this, at times, traumatic change.
Having adjusted to her family’s move to San Francisco, Riley
(voice by Kensington Tallman) is living a full and active life. She excels in
school, is empathetic towards others, repeatedly makes her parents proud and
excels at hockey with her two besties, Grace and Brie (Grace Lu and Sumayyah
Nuriddin-Green). Big things are happening as the trio are invited to an
exclusive hockey camp where they hope to impress the high school coach. Problem is, Riley is told that her friends
will be attending a different school than she in the fall.
Compounding the turmoil of this life-altering revelation is
the fact that Riley is now beginning puberty. The well-run emotional center in
her brain, manned by Joy (Amy Poehler), Anger (Lewis Black), Sadness (Phyllis
Smith), Fear (Tony Hale) and Disgust (Liza Lapira) has been razed, literally,
by the arrival of Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adele
Exarchopoulos) and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser).
As expected, this transition is not a smooth one. The
emotions immediately clash, resulting in violent mood swings for Riley, just
when she needs to keep her composure among a group of peers she wants to
impress. Her sense of self has been destroyed and sent to the back of
her mind, where the original five emotions travel in an effort to restore the
emotional center they’ve worked so hard to create.
The imagination on display is astounding, as the animators
take abstract concepts and bring them to life. Joy and her cohorts travel on
the stream of consciousness, which contains an ever-changing collection of
objects depending on what Riley is thinking of. Equally fun is a brainstorm
they must endure, as they must dodge lightbulbs of different sorts, as our
heroine is furiously trying to find come up with a solution to a pressing
problem. Touches like these, and many more, are a tribute to screenwriters Meg
LeFauve and Dave Holstein as well as the army of animators at their disposal.
Innovative and clever, the film astounds at every turn with the inventive ways
in which myriad emotions are brought to life.
Yet, the most important aspect of the movie is how relatable
they make Riley’s troubles. There’s a universal quality in the way her trials
are presented, a sense of empathy felt for her every step of the way. The issue
of mental health and the stigma surrounding seeking help to maintain it are
front of mind now, a crisis millions of teens grapple with. If nothing else, Inside Out 2 is an
important tool in helping tweens realize they are not alone in their struggles.
Mann and company have created a vital tool to facilitate discussion regarding
these issues, a contribution that cannot be overstated.
As such, the movie transcends its genre conventions, a film
that is so much more than a simple entertainment. A conversation-starter for
parents and their children, Pixar has created a timeless, instant classic. Inside
Out 2 poignantly reflects on all the things that make us who we are,
brilliantly underscoring that we are the sum of all our emotions, both good and
bad. In the end, reminding us that accepting ourselves for who we are – both
the good and not so good aspects of our personality – is its greatest
gift. In theaters.
Potential evident in muddled Watchers
A feeling of “almost, not quite,” pervades Ishana Shyamalan’s The Watchers, an adaptation of the novel by A. M. Shine. Following in the footsteps of her father, M. Night, the rookie filmmaker attempts to create a sense of dread and provide an out-of-left-field ending in the tradition of Signs, Unbreakable and The Visit. It’s obvious she’s paid attention to her father’s methods over the years as there are moments here when the creep factor is palpable. Yet, there’s just as many that fall flat, a lack of detail or clumsy pacing breaking the spell.
Mina (Dakota Fanning) is an ex-pat in Ireland, toiling away
at a Galway pet store with a sense of disinterest that would make a corpse seem
animated. Out of the blue, she’s asked to transport a parrot to Belfast, a task
she eagerly accepts, if for nothing else to break up her deadening routine. Of
course, the trip is not without its hiccups and after a series of wrong turns,
she ends up in the middle of a forest we’ve been told during a prologue is not
on any maps, draws lost souls to it and from which no one ever returns.
Even odder is the
fact that, after much frantic wandering, Mina finds three others who are
trapped in these unforgiving woods. Madleline (Olwen Fouere) is the oldest of
the group and is saddled with dispensing with a great deal of exposition
regarding how to survive in this fir-covered prison. Ciara (Georgina Campbell)
is Mina’s age and remains surprisingly upbeat, though she’s been trapped for
nearly three months. Danial (Oliver Finnegan) is a bit on the slow side but has
good intentions and longs to receive Ciara’s affections.
And just when you think things can’t get any stranger, they
do. There’s a bunker where the quartet can hide in safety. Three walls are cinderblock chic but the fourth is a two-way mirror where they are required to stand
each night so some mysterious beings can watch them.
The reasoning behind this makes little sense and though we
are given some background on the clickety-clackety, voyeuristic creepy crawlies
after the group decides to make a break for freedom, the revelation lands with
a dud. Instead of giving us a knockout
conclusion, a la The Sixth Sense, we get an “Are you kidding me?” which
I believe was the common response to her father’s The Happening.
Still, there are moments when the right vibe is present and
a genuinely unnerving sense emerges. And while they are too far and in between
to be effective, Shyamalan shows enough potential that I’d be willing to sit
through her next feature. To be sure, she’s working in the shade of a large
shadow, yet I suspect years from now, we’ll be looking back at The Watchers as being just a dry run for an accomplished filmmaker. In theaters.
