4.5/5
Reviewed June 19, 2024
To me this is on-par with the original, just with a different kind of story (hooray moving forward and not just re-treading!). In this one, Riley has had a very successful childhood but enters puberty on the first day of a hockey camp that could determine her social status through high school. A new group of emotions take over and start running her life, causing the originals to go on a quest to fix Riley’s sense of self. Lots of metaphor, lots of relatable situations, and while this one likely won’t make you cry like the first, it’ll still hit hard in a different way. Discussion below.
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Another incredibly well thought out film, just like the first one. Loved touches like seeing that so many of Riley’s memories are no longer a single color, but mixed colors to show mixed emotions. What’s also fun is seeing that, after the new emotions take over, the kind we see the most of are pure orange – pure Anxiety. It won’t let others help or take the reigns for a bit, like real anxiety does. And Anxiety lashes out at others for not doing exactly what it wants, including self-destructive damage. They really, really nailed it on that one.
The other new emotions are more about backup than being true characters. Ennui and Jealousy are just kind of there, and Embarrassment has a few moments, but this is 100% the Anxiety show. There’s also some hilarious cameos from Nostalgia.
The main gang of 5 get bottled up and have to escape Riley’s secrets, which leads to a few fun new characters including a dumb video game himbo, a giant dark secret (post-credits scene reveals it), and a Bluey type childhood character she won’t tell people she likes. The gang gets involved in the imagination center; Anxiety getting the imagination roaring with only super negative ideas, preventing Riley from sleeping, is TOO FUCKING REAL OK. A few other things are pretty amusing like the brainstorm, but the real crux of the film is Anxiety taking over to the point Riley has a full panic attack in the penalty box because the anxious behavior has now alienated her from EVERYONE – at one point she literally steals the puck from a teammate to score a goal, and Anxiety has to justify doing it.
The human aspects are quite good too. Riley makes new great friends for middle school, is confident in who she is (self-identity is a huge plot point), and then has to face losing her new besties and the stress of finding different friends for high school. It feels very real. At no point are any human characters actually the villains, it’s all just perception, something I also really liked.
The finish with Anxiety needing to let go and Joy taking back over…that one hits. I was definitely picturing a few people I’ve known in life that never could get anxiety off the control board and their actions mirrored things we see in the film. Ending it with reconciliation, with Anxiety getting a special relaxation chair with “Anxi Tea” was great too, and it’s a happy ending about someone being healthy in their own skin.
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So yeah, real good from Pixar, possibly the best they’ve done in awhile, and absolutely worth a watch.
Getting Reel with Mr. Sunshine 