Vice-versa 2

When I first heard that Pixar was making a sequel film, I was very excited as I simply adored the last one. I saw the trailer and thought that it looked good for a current movie. I went to see it with high expectations, and I came out sobbing from how personal it felt to me.

For some context about me, I had terrible anxiety for years until I finally healed from it and watching the film from that perspective made it very personal. I found myself teary at a few of the lines that Anxiety said just because I had said them to myself in the past. The film portrayed accurate depictions of teenage life, from struggling to fit in, those feelings associated with friends going away, thinking less of yourself etc... One scene I found especially hard to cope with and that got me SOBBING just because it gave me time to reflect on how I used to be.

Personal feelings aside, this film was really amazing. The animation was incredible, and the plot was surprisingly good. I loved the new emotions and its just as good as the first one (almost better)

I am honestly surprised at seeing the amount of high ratings of 9s and 10s in the reviews making me question if we watched the same film or not.

Maybe I'm getting old and I'm not the target audience of these kinds of movies anymore, or maybe I was just too sleepy when watching this, but unlike the first one, I did not like this one much. It is not insultingly bad or anything, after all, I'm giving it an above average rating.

This movie compared to the first doesn't have the soul and emotional connection you'd expect. This movie in my opinion is just another unnecessary sequel solely made for grabbing cash, and cash grab it did.

The first problem with the movie is the pacing. The story is incredibly rushed even though it has the same runtime as the first, so it's weird how everything feels like needed more time to develop, while everything in the first felt adequate and enough. The addition of the new characters definitely needed a lot more time.

At the same time, nothing that interesting happened here in my opinion, and made the whole thing boring for me. The sense of exploration of different parts of Riley's mind from the first movie is gone and the film is more focused on the real-life story, so the whole Joy and the gang going through the mind is just that, a simple road trip story. Nothing interesting or of note happens there. I don't remember a single scene in this movie that stood out to me as interesting or creative at all, while I still remember Bing Bong, them going through that train station or room that changed their animation style, the scene of them messing with Riley's dreams and many more.

Just so much happened in the first film that it feels like that movie was over 2 hours. But I just did not find a single scene in this movie note-worthy.

The next problem for me is that I just don't care about these characters here, especially the new ones. There is no emotional connection, unlike the first movie. The real-life struggles of Riley in the first film were more relatable and the whole Joy realizing Sandness is necessary and the Bing Bong storyline were the soul of that film and made you actually care and have an emotional connection to them. This is nonexistent in this sequel.

It doesn't feel like they had an idea for a story and decided to make a movie about it, it feels more like a studio-mandated sequel that they tried to come up with a story afterward. The plot of this movie is so boring and so few things happen here that it feels like I'm watching Inside Out: The Series and just watching a random episode where Riley needs to get on the cool hockey team.

I understand that someone would like this, especially the younger generation, but what I don't get are the 9s and 10s, because this is so obviously and clearly inferior to the first film in many aspects that I don't understand how someone can say this is on the same level or even better than the first!

Overall, the movie is not that bad if you don't have anything better to watch, but I am disappointed that this movie did nothing for me after going in having seen the high ratings and the reviews. It is an example of an unnecessary cash-grab sequel. Inside Out is one I consider one of Pixar's greats and will rewatch it if I feel like it because it's a really enjoyable, deep, emotional, innovative, creative, and beautiful film. Very rewatchable. But Inside Out 2? I don't think I'll ever rewatch this one, one time was more than enough.

Let me start off by congratulating Pixar on yet another exhilarating achievement. Many people are wondering why they are having this kind of astronomical success at the box office. Simply put, millions of people out there were able to form a deep bond with the first film throughout the nine years following its 2015 release. Myself included, as the whole reason I created my imdb account that same year, was to drop a rate of 10/10 without ever even trying to justify it. Beautifully done worldbuilding by the legendary Pete Docter. Such a sophisticated film that will be talked about and praised through countless generations.

Having said all that, let's discuss the possible reasons Inside Out 2 might not have stuck its landing the way a lot of fans of the original may have wanted to. Let's just be upfront about it: the rhythm and pacing this time around are not very good. To elaborate on that, the sequencing of events seemed to have been oversimplified to fit into the 90 minute runtime the Pixar team aimed for. Moreover, the overall product feels rushed, without giving the audience enough time to develop feelings and emotional bonds towards what is happening as the scenes unpack in real time. To describe it in the way I came out of the movie theater like: "Man, is it over already?" The movie doesn't take its time to make us care for what the Emotions or Riley are going through. Without getting into spoilers, I feel like the movie fails to convey the complex emotions the movie is based around, and after having watched the trailers, one can already picture the type of climax and the way the film expects us to get attached to the characters at the end. But don't get it wrong, this film still manages to evoke certain emotions (although not as strong as the ones evoked in the first movie), which is a Pixar guarantee at this point. But still, despite all of its efforts to connect with the audience, I felt a little detached when the credits started rolling.

All in all, this really feels like a watered down version of what Pixar probably had in mind and due to the actors strikes and all those issues outside of their control, could have played a role in propelling this seemingly rushed product. Not trying to justify the movie's shortcomings, but you have to be fair when criticizing.

Let's not fool ourselves, there are some brilliant elements that I feel like they barely scratched the surface on and I'm hoping to see them properly developed one day.

It pains me, as I've always considered Inside Out (2015) my absolute favorite animated movie, and I know, you should never seek for perfection specially when it comes to sequels, but it still left me somewhat disappointed that it didn't receive the same level of care that the first one did.

Overall 7/10 Good but not especial.

Inside Out 2 talks about "growing up" in an emotional way and depicts how growing up is challenging inside our thoughts. The film introduces the emotions we had from the previous movie: Joy, Anger, Sadness, Fear and Disgust. We are also introduced to new emotions: embarrassment, Ennui (boredom), Envy and Anxiety.

Riley is about to go to high school but the story focuses on her preparation to officially join the FogHorn Hockey team. As the story progresses, Riley finds herself challenged with her hopes to join the team. Her friendship was wounded, her emotions went all over the place and the pressure got into her head. But eventually, everything goes into their proper places.

This sequel film may be animated and made for kids but as an adult, it just hits differently. I can say that this film was partially made for adults and for anyone who is in a bad mental situation. It reminds its viewers how growing older can be tough, how overthinking affects everything else, how decisions that are made today may affect what's next. But it is also a strong reminder that problems, fear, worries and anxieties will come. They are all inevitable but everything will pass. Take a deep breath, stay calm and do not overstress everything. Having a calm mind also affects the way we think. We may feel pressure at any given time but we have to sit back and relax.

Do not overstress things at the present. Live at the moment. The future is there but we live at the present, right here, right now. Enjoy life. Remember that you are not alone on whatever you are facing. Keep your friends and family close. And finally, God is always with us.

Inside Out 2 is a great film. Every audience will have a different way of enjoying this but just remember, you are who you are. Embrace yourself.

#InsideOut2 #moviereview.

I am quite surprised at the overall positive reactions for this film compared to the first one as I don't think they are comparable at all.

Unlike the first film, Inside Out 2 felt rushed and lacked the time to properly develop each character. The film lacked direction at times and felt quite disconnected. The first film had an amazing sense of journey and adventure and I think that's where this one missed the mark. The journey undertaken by the original characters simply didn't have the same sense of purpose the storyline felt forced to try and rush to the end where where we all learn lesson of the complexity of emotions are what life is about.

All in all not a bad film, the animation was still great, same with the voice acting, it just lacked the extra magic of the first and didn't quite evoke the same feelings.

6/10.