Preface

• Pixar is back, ladies and gentlemen!
• And yeah this is gonna be a short review because there isn’t a ton I want to spoil. The even shorter version: see this movie.

Premise

• As I said, I don’t want to spoil too much of this movie for you guys so I’ll keep the description vague but ultimately Inside Out is a little hard to describe as is…
• Inside Out is basically about a girl named Riley and how her five primary emotions (Joy, Anger, Sadness, Fear, and Disgust) work inside her mind.
• And it’s so SMART.

Cast and Characters

• Though the movie is centered on Riley, the emotions are the main focus of this movie and they’re each really cool.
• Joy is the lead in the movie, and Amy Poehler was perfectly cast as the voice of Joy.
  • Joy is also the deepest of the characters as the movie goes on, and seeing her grow is one of the best parts of the movie.
• Sadness is the other lead, and you start off kinda not liking her, like she’s kind of a downer… But like Joy, as she develops, you start to see different sides to her.
• Ultimately what I need to thoroughly compliment this movie on is the three-dimensional characters.
• When you hear each of the main characters is one facet or one emotion of a girl’s brain, you immediately think that these are gonna turn into dumb caricatures but they don’t, especially Joy and Sadness.
• Anger voiced by Lewis Black was probably my favorite. He was just so absurd yet so likable. Scene-stealer for me.
• Disgust voiced by Mindy Kaling and Fear voiced by Bill Hader were great voice work also and each of them worked really well for what role they had.
  • And just know going in, those two guys do have lesser parts than say Joy or Sadness. But that being said, they both were still so awesome.
• There’s another character in this movie too who I thought was really cool, but wasn’t marketed in the trailers and came as a complete surprise to me. You’ll know who I’m talking about if you see the movie and come back, but he was great too.
• I mentioned Anger was probably my favorite, but it’s so hard picking because not only is each of these characters so likable, but each one fits their role so well.
• Not even just voice-wise, but just in terms of working for the movie fluidly.
• And that is just great filmmaking right there.

Writing

• As mentioned in Premise, this movie is SO. SMART.
• I said Me and Earl and the Dying Girl worked so well because of the realism and sharply-witted, smart dialogue.
• This movie has very smart dialogue (maybe not as great as Me and Earl) but the actual flow of the movie and the explanations of how somebody’s brain works is what makes this movie smart and memorable.
• You watch the movie at surface level and it’s really good, it’s a solid adventure.
• As you walk out the theater, you’ll say to whoever you’re with, “oh my God, that was so clever how they did that.”
• I’ll talk direction in a minute, but this movie is so crystal clear and tight in terms of plot-holes, every single aspect makes sense when you walk out of the movie, and it feels like it’s just something so unique in premise.
• The premise and that smart execution of making everything so tidy, it’s showing “how the brain works” and you buy it THE WHOLE TIME.
• It really is just impressive as you start to sit back on it more.
  • Like I’m saying that now, but when I wake up tomorrow I’ll be even more amazed.
• And yes… In typical Pixar fashion there are two particular scenes where you’ll probably get a bit weepy.
  • The only movie I’ve ever actually cried multiple tears during is Toy Story 3, and though it isn’t on that level of sadness, I would not judge anyone for crying at either of those two parts of Inside Out.

Direction

• And the direction… Wow.
• The writing was so smart, but Pete Doctor makes everything feel so grand in scale.
• You understand that this is all happening in someone’s brain, and yet it’s presented as so huge, both of which work in its favor.
  • You grasp just how important the brain is to someone’s makeup.
• The execution is ultimately what made this movie work.
• Everything is executed so well and for such a far-fetched and impossible premise, everything just makes sense.
• Now I’m no animator so I can’t critique the cartoons in this movie for two reasons: (1) I could never do anything like that and (2) there’s nothing to complain about.
• In 20 years, you see that Pixar has improved the animated techniques and you see how the emotions look different that the people to convey that they’re different beings.
• The animation is so clean, crisp, and bright it’s phenomenal.
• The movie is only about an hour and a half, it feels SHORTLY longer than that. Maybe an hour forty-five, but in terms of complaints that’s really it…

Theme

• I LOVE the theme of this movie.
• I won’t say what it is because you guys gotta go see and realize it for yourself, but going along with the wit that this movie already presented: the theme is something so important and so crafty that it applies not just to kids, but actually mostly for adults.
• Most reviews I’ve seen for this movie have said, “oh the adults will like this movie more than the kids!”
• I think both will love it, but the adults will love the theme even more.
• It’s a theme that so few IF ANY movies have tackled that seeing it actually presented on this grand scale in such an important way is simply breathtaking.

In Conclusion

• In Conclusion, I loved the characters, I loved the writing, I loved the execution, I loved the theme, and I loved Inside Out.
• This is a movie that felt like it was pretty average as it was going along, but it’s something that really hits you like a shot in the heart (not just in an emotional way) in the third act, and long after it ends.
• Inside Out kind of reminds me of Monsters Inc. or the first Toy Story.
• Not this master class tour de force compared to other Pixar movies, but ultimately still a PHENOMENAL movie.
• After the movie ended I was struggling with whether this was a “See Multiple Times” or “Five Stars.”
• But like I said, I loved watching this movie.
• And I will say that Inside Out is….. a 5/5.
• Before I would’ve said that “Kingsman” and “Me and Earl” were like the top 2 movies I’d seen this year in no particular order, but now it’s like a solid trio.

***

So guys, those are my thoughts of Inside Out! Have you seen this movie and if so, what were your thoughts on it and who was your favorite character? Let me know in the comments down below, and as always, thanks for reading guys.