REVIEW: INSIDE OUT 2

4/5

Upside Down

96 Mins. Starring: Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke, Kensington Tallman, Liza Lapira, Tony Hale, Lewis Black, Phyllis Smith, Ayo Edebiri, Lilimar, Grace Lu, Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan & Paul Walter Hauser. Screenplay: Meg LeFauve & Dave Holstein. Director: Kelsey Mann. On: Disney +.

Marvel's 'Deadpool and Wolverine', streaming just a few weeks ago on Disney Plus, may be one of the biggest blockbusters of the year, and one of the most successful sequels of all-time, but Pixar's franchise pick, 'Inside Out 2' has the best joke. One that even the merc with the mouth couldn't talk his way out of. That's how much you'll fall for the sar-casm in this super sequel and summer sensation that is now streaming on Disney Plus too, just in time for Christmas. Amy Poehler, Liza Lapira, Tony Hale, Lewis Black and Phyllis Smith are back as Riley's (Kensington Tallman) go-to emotions of joy, disgust, fear, anger and sadness. It's crazy, it has been almost a decade since the outstanding original 'Inside Out' movie and sensational short 'Riley's First Date?' Since then, these epic emotions have turned Disney Pixar upside down, as the lamplight has been shone on life and death (the stirring 'Soul'), not to mention puberty (the terrific 'Turning Red') and all the other 'Elemental' emotions we have inside of us. Ones we don't dare show to the outside world without some conversation over the console as our buttons are pushed.

So, it's been ten years and the ice hockey mad Riley has been going through some changes of her own, even if this franchise ages like 'The Simpsons' (Maggie is STILL in diapers after thirtysomething seasons?). So the first five emotions have some company coming off the bench. 'Stranger Things' are happening when anxiety makes a home like it does in all of this in this day and age. Stealing the show in voicing what looks like a McDonald's mascot left in the fryer (hey, that's what anxiety does to us), Maya Hawke is hallmark as the new front and centre with feeling emotion. After her amazing album ('Chaos Angel') came out just a month before, this was definitely her summer, before the new Hawkins favourite heads back to the Upside Down one more time, next year. But that's not all the Joy luck club have to bear with. Emmy sensation Ayo Edebiri will make you green with Envy at how much talent she has in her recipe book (let her cook). Whilst the great Paul Walter Hauser is just one big Embarrassment. It's Adèle Exarchopoulos ('Blue Is The Warmest Colour'), however, as the French accented Ennui who gets all the best lines...if only she could be nail-file bothered to deliver them.

Elsewhere, we have even more emotion for the life of Riley. She looks up to popular hockey player Lilimar, but that alienates her besties (Grace Lu, Sumayyah and Nuriddin-Green). Never mind her parents as the legendary Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan make for more iconic (like the San Fran postcards) post-credit dinner table conversations with all that's not being said, going on inside their heads. Scripted by the first film and 'The Good Dinosaur's' Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein, 'Inside Out 2' marks the feature-length directorial debut of Kelsey Mann after he spiked the punch of the 'Monster's University' short 'Party Central'. Earning his keep as a Cartoon Network storyboard artist before moving 'Onward' with Pixar as a story supervisor. So, this sequel truly is a coming of age tale. One that validates all our emotions and devotions (wait until you see Mount Crushmore), not to mention our safe locked away deepest, darkest secrets and the cute cartoons of our childhood nostalgia, who may be the real new additions that shine like a Disney Cinderella castle firework coming up the falls. And with over a billion served, take that 'Deadpool 3', clawing at Wolverine's biggest fan, 'Inside Out 2' is in fact the highest-grossing film of 2024. Not to mention the all-time highest in animation (and eight wonder in all movies). You just can't get it out of your head. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Filming: 'Inside Out', 'Turning Red', 'Elemental'.