Inside Out 2 review: An anxious and hilarious examination of turning 13

Film incorporates many elements that made the 2015 original a Pixar favourite, but raises the stakes

Puberty is a dicey mess – and Inside Out 2 charges through the madness with all the vibrancy and charm expected from a Pixar film.

The 2015 original is one of Disney and Pixar’s most memorable titles – a noteworthy achievement considering the animation studio’s consistently impressive body of work.

Inside Out follows the inner workings of a young girl named Riley. Personified emotions influence Riley’s actions as she navigated life changes.

These emotions include Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Anger (Lewis Black).

The five emotions take turns controlling Riley’s central console, helping her come to terms with her family’s move from Minnesota to San Francisco. Her memories form coloured orbs that are then sent to her long-term memory, gradually forming her identity and sense of self.

Directed by Kelsey Mann, Inside Out 2 follows a similar formula – but this time during a more seismic period in Riley’s life, making the film’s stakes feel much higher.

The film begins just after Riley celebrates her 13th birthday, and as she enters her teenage years we find that Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust and Anger have been working hard to carefully curate her memories and nurture her sense of self, which is manifested as luminous strands that come together much like a flower arrangement.

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It all seems to be working out for Riley and her emotions, with their system that works to ensure she is consistently a good person and friend.

However, just as Riley is set to go to a hockey camp at her future high school, where she aims to join the school’s sports team, the wrecking ball of puberty swings into the control room of her emotions.

It is an apt and thoroughly entertaining metaphor for what many identify as the most tumultuous phase in one’s life.

As the wrecking ball and demolition crew leave the control room – and the central console – in tatters, the emotions that we’ve come to know and love from the first film suddenly find themselves surrounded by new characters.

There is Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adele Exarchopoulos), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), and, perhaps the most subversive of them all, Anxiety (Maya Hawke).

Anxiety leads a mutiny in Riley's control room in Inside Out 2. Photo: Disney/Pixar

Anxiety soon leads a mutiny in the control room, ejecting Riley’s sense of self to the back of the teenager’s mind, and beginning to frantically form a new identity.

Before the original emotions know it, they are also flung to the recesses of Riley’s mind, and Anxiety takes command of her actions.

Anxiety's aim is to construct a more formidable and forward-thinking Riley, an identity better equipped to handle the throes of her teenage years and to give her a better chance of striking a good impression in front of the Firehawks hockey team coach during a three-day training camp.

Envy (Ayo Edebiri) and Ennui (Adele Exarchopoulos) are two of the new emotions that appear in Riley's mind. Photo: Disney / Pixar

Making the team is of utmost importance, because it will, Riley thinks, determine how her time in high school will pan out.

But as she begins making choices determined by Anxiety, she acts against many of her old tenets, and even turns her back on her old school friends in the hope of striking a more advantageous friendship with Valentina “Val” Ortiz (Lilimar Hernandez), the star player of the Firehawks.

As Riley’s actions drive her towards extreme anxiousness, Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust and Anger try to find their way back to the control room, overcoming all sorts of amusing and imaginative obstacles.

In that way, the journey in Inside Out 2 is much similar to the original film, but there are find more than a few surprises along the way.

The voice acting is superb. While there were some concerns about original cast members such as Hader and Kaling not reprising their roles, Tony Hale and Liza Lapira are every bit as good in the roles of Fear and Disgust.

The film is thoughtfully paced, with never a dull moment as the stakes get exponentially higher throughout the 95-minute journey.

Inside Out 2 is a Pixar triumph that, arguably, even overshadows the first film, precisely because it deals with a period of life that is rife with confusion and uncertainty.

The film, like most Pixar releases, is universally relatable, but will likely provide a comforting note of understanding for those in the thick of their teenage years.

That’s not to say adults will not find it entertaining. During Dubai's premiere screening on Wednesday at Reel Cinemas, the loudest of laughs were coming from those well into their adult years as they, no doubt, recalled the cringe and tectonic drama of puberty.

Inside Out 2 is in UAE cinemas now