Nine years ago Disney/Pixar took audiences inside the mind of 11-year-old Riley (voiced in the first film by Kaitlyn Dias Welcome to Blood Gulch and in the second film by Kensington Tallman; Home Sweet Rome!) where we met her emotions - Joy (Amy Poehler; Parks and Recreation), Anger (Lewis Black; Man of the Year), Sadness (Phyllis Smith; The Office), Disgust (Mindy Kaling; The Office/Liza Lapira), and Fear (Bill Hader; It Chapter Two). This year Riley's story continues as she hits the teenage years and is joined by a whole new set of emotions including Anxiety (Maya Hawke; Stranger Things), Envy (Ayo Edebiri; The Bear), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser; Cobra Kai) and Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos; Orphan). After an extremely successful theatrical run, Inside Out 2 will be available on 4K, Blu-ray, and Digital this week.
Riley's emotions have successfully navigated her through the first twelve years of her life but suddenly things change. Riley will be attending a different high school than her two best friends, she is no longer the star player on her hockey team as she goes up against older, more experienced players and she has a whole new set of emotions to deal with as she navigates uncharted waters. However, when Anxiety and Envy take over after locking away her old emotions, Joy, Fear, Sadness, Anger, and Disgust must fight back to save Riley's belief system.
Besides smart writing, one of the things that makes this film so successful is the talented cast. Coming back from the first film are Poehler, Smith, and Black who are just as terrific as the first time and capture the essence of the emotions they portray. With a new lot of actors joining them this time around, it could have been less successful but luckily all the voices have great chemistry which helped the movie to be successful. One stand out is Hawke who is perfectly cast as Anxiety. With a voice that has just a hint of scratchiness to it, she emotes the feeling of anxiety very well. Exarchopoulos also gives Ennui (which is defined as a feeling of being bored, tired, and generally dissatisfied because nothing interesting is happening) a sigh that says so much without uttering one word.
The 2160p video resolution enhances an already vibrant presentation. Colors leap off the screen, varying hues and tones are exciting and details are incredibly sharp. Each emotion has brilliant textures that one feels as if they can really "touch" and shadowing and background hues are distinct and change from scene to scene. The "strings" connecting Riley's emotions and memories to her belief system are unique and discernible as opposed to being one big mishmash of lines. The animators did a fabulous job with this movie and the audience benefits from their hard work.
The Dolby Atmos audio is equally as impressive and offers a slight uptick from the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 of the Blu-ray Disc. Echoes are incredibly clear and each voice in the cast can be heard with amazing clarity. Ambient sounds are well balanced among the surround speakers and directional noise is appropriately placed. The Walmart-exclusive Steelbook offers a minimalistic yet colorful and impactful case. From the slipcover to the outer case and inner illustrations, everything is beautifully designed. If anything is lacking with this combo pack, it is the extras which include New Emotions, Unlocking the Vault, and Deleted Scenes (Cold Open, Broken Joy, Pool Party Teen's Party, Puberty Park, Shame Spiral).
While Inside Out was a well-done movie and gave names and visuals to the emotions children felt, Inside Out 2 may have even surpassed the original concept by introducing even more complex feelings everyone goes through at some point in their lives. As one of the two big movie theater hits this summer, Inside Out 2 made audiences feel good and brought families back to the movies so it only makes sense that families now bring this fantastic film into their homes with this Walmart-exclusive Steelbook.
Grade: A
