Inside Out 2 - Lose Yourself

Spoilers in this one, so turn back if you dont want any...

Let's begin with what I thought of Inside Out. I saw Inside Out in theaters and I absolutely loved it. Not only did it look stunning, but the story was heartfelt and hit so many complex and mature issues, but simple enough for a child to understand.

We need all our emotions. Sometimes we need to be sad so that we can be happy again (Riley losing the game, but her friends and family rallying to make her feel better).

In the first one, Joy and Sadness were away from the console when Riley needed them the most. Her most important emotions were gone and she started to become numb. Change is hard, but when you have your family and people who love you, the change isn't so bad.

In the sequel, its been a couple years and Riley is doing great. But her emotions are about to get some new members to the crew when the dreaded PUBERTY alarm goes off.

While the first film dealt with Riley losing her core memories and losing who she was (via the Islands), the sequel is about her losing her sense of self. Where the emotions take a step back and let Riley make her choices to define who she is...A good person. There's this light in the Emotions Center that's Riley's Sense of Self.

It's created from memories that are formed by her beliefs.

Anxiety shows up, as it does in those teen years and stays...pretty much forever. Along with some other new emotions: Envy, Embarassment and Ennui. They're in a lot of ways like the current emotions, but opposite. Digust/Envy, Sadness/Embarassment, Anger/Ennui, and Fear/Anxiety.

She loses her Sense of Self when Anxiety sends it and the other emotions to the back of her mind. Because Anxiety is at the helm she becomes less and less Riley throughout the movie.

The lesson I think it was trying to get across for adults and kids, is all our experiences make us who we are.

When Anxiety sent away Riley's sense of self, she started creating a new anxiety filled one that created her new sense of self...I'm not good enough. At the end, Joy unleashed all the bad memories to try to try to bring back the piece of Riley Anxiety sent away.

It created something new. A mix of complex emotions.

Little Riley is growing up and choosing to be a good person again, but accepting that she's also a bad person sometimes.

One of the sadder realizations of the movie is that the older you get, you need Joy less. While not COMPLETLEY true, we do seem to get jaded the older we get. We have moments of happiness when good things happen in our lives, but the realties of work and responsibility sap some of the joy from us.

The main themes of both movies remain the same...emotions are complex and we need them all.

Sadness can lead to joy and sometimes, sadly, vice versa.

Fear and Anxiety can keep us sharp.

We can bottle those emotions up, or let them out when we need them. It's okay to be anxious, see scenarios to help us make some choices, but we can't be ruled by it or any other emotion. They're all a part of us, but don't define us either.

They build our "sense of self" and we can choose who we want to be. Accepting the good and bad sides of ourselves while knowing who we are deep down.

Story aside, the film was visually beautiful. I saw it in 3D and it only enhanced the experience. I don't usually watch films in 3D anymore, but if I do, it'd be animated instead of live action.

Live action just gives it layers. Animation takes you into its world.

The movie didn't punch me in the feels as hard as the first one, but it was just as enjoyable as the first one. It's an important story that's for all ages. Adults will feel it just as much as kids because they've been there and some still fighting their inner anxiety.

Growing up is not easy. Its tough. Movies like this help kids understand the emotions that they're going to go through and are going through. So they'll know how to handle them.

5/5