'Inside Out' Gives Me Positive Feelings
Interestingly, Pixar had to tell a story about the insides of a girl's head to get outside of their own head after the minor hiccup they had with Brave.
Story:
Inside Out follows the story of the emotions that control the inside of a girl's brain: Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), and Fear (Bill Hader). After the girl, Riley, and her family move from Minnesota to San Francisco, the emotions struggle to help her adjust to her new life.
Ups:
I'll start off with the voice performances. First off, Amy Poehler as Joy: Perfect. Casting. She nailed this role and even handles the character's arc very well as Joy always tries to keep Riley happy, but realizes she can't always be that way. Lewis Black was fantastic as Anger and I thought stole the scenery everytime he appeared. Phyllis Smith also excelled as Sadness, a character that appears negative and one-dimensional, but in reality, is someone with good intentions and is more valuable to her fellow emotions than they realize. While Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling weren't given a whole lot to do, they still breathed plenty of life into their characters.
For a kid's film, this one had some pretty sophisticated storytelling about the difficulties of growing up and adjusting to a new place. Not only that, but the filmmakers manage to weave in those humanistic themes with the world building that occurs within Riley's brain. I also loved how they revealed how Sadness is valuable to the emotions. I won't give it away, though.
Even though this kind of thing is expected from Pixar, the animations and visuals were absolutely stunning. I loved the look of the different emotions as well as the colorful universe they live in. We even get a small glimpse inside the heads of some of the other characters like the parents. I thought that was very nice. There were even some scenes that I thought were masterfully shot like one where Joy is watching an old memory of Riley's and she is dancing to it.
Downs:
NIL.
Consensus:
Overall, Inside Out is colorful feast for the eyes of the imagionation mixed with zany humor and poignant storytelling about the struggles of growing up. Its voice casting is also pitch perfect and the film as a whole should hopefully be a contender for not just Best Animated Feature, but Best Picture.
Would I Recommend It?:
Absolutely. Even though this has sophisticated storytelling for adults, it still is something that kids can still enjoy.
Grade: A+
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