Inside Out - Maxi-Geek Review

Over the years Pixar have built up a reputation for being able to take almost any subject matter and making a movie from it for all ages. There were times when I thought Inside Out would be their first movie that failed, but I was wrong.

There are actually two different stories that take place here, but each story helps the other, but neither of them over shadow the other, the balance in play is really amazing. We are introduced to Riley, who just after being born experiences Joy, who is the first emotion we meet and as Joy explains all was fantastic, for about 33 seconds and then Sadness arrived. Over the first 10 minutes of the movie, we get to see Riley in her formative years and we are introduced to the remaining emotions, Anger, Fear and Disgust.

The story kicks in when Riley and her parents move from Minnesota to San Francisco, which leaves both Riley and her emotions unsure of just what is going on. It is here that Sadness displays a curiosity that ends up with both her and Joy being sent off to long term memory, something which has never happened before. On their journey back, Joy and Sadness will discover elements of Riley they never knew existed, as well as finding long lost elements, with each part helping to define Riley more.

While Joy and Sadness are not around, Anger, Fear and Disgust must help guide Riley through her first days at a new school and the troubles that come along with it, not to mention outside life that is making things harder, of course letting Anger rule you is never the best decision, something which we see play out with humours results. While the emotions are doing all they can, Riley’s parents have also noticed something is amiss, which leads us to getting glimpses into their own emotions. What is interesting here is that while Riley is led by Joy, her Mum is led by Sadness and her Dad Anger, which also leads to some funny moments.

What helps sell the story is the vivid world they have created inside the mind of Riley, everyone remembers creating things from nothing as a child, well now we get to see what French Fry Forrest might look like, or perhaps where your dreams are made, each of the elements seems absurd upon your first look, but when you look closer you will see things that make them all the more real. Having a train deliver your thoughts from the recesses of your mind, makes perfect sense, in fact all those little idioms make an appearance in one form or another, each slotting in perfectly.

While each of the world’s inside Riley’s mind are wonderful to watch, the real world is just as interesting, I mean sure it's not as bright all the time, but the recreation of San Francisco is wonderfully done, with weathered buildings and rusty scaffolding around the place, it feels lived in. This is of course in contrast to Minnesota, where everything was green and vibrant, helping sell the swap and the reflective mood of Riley. The five emotions themselves are vibrant and easy to spot no matter the scene, with Joy having a few moments to shine, quite literally as she glows, Anger bursting into flames is also a sight to behold. The best way to describe them is Muppets, but with a lot more facial expressions, they all have that look, which you could see on a Muppet in real life. That is not a put down or anything, each of the characters has a look to them that is all their own and when we glimpse into the minds of others, we know who is what emotion, because of this wonderful design.

Each of the characters is wonderfully voiced, with everyone clicking into their roles with ease, Amy Poehler shines as Joy, with a bubbly shine that impresses, Anger is voiced by Lewis Black and if you know his work he fits the role here so well. Sadness though was the standout of the emotions for me, Phyllis Smith is cast perfectly, if you don’t know her by name, you will be face, she provides the right amount of sadness to Sadness but never takes it past the point where it becomes self-loathing, something that is really nice to see. Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling round out the rest of Riley’s emotions, both offering up choice lines from time to time, but never really taking the spotlight as the others do.

Kaitlyn Dias is a newcomer, but she brings something pure to Riley, the final scenes alone will prove this to you, which I will admit, got me choked up. Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan work really well as Mum and Dad, but never get a great chance to show off to much of themselves to impress, their emotions though, impress for the brief moments they are on screen. In fact they seem to have more impact than Fear and Disgust from Riley, which is strange as it is her story.

Anger takes a backseat, but he has his moments to shine when Joy and Sadness are gone, but Fear and Disgust never really stand out, they have moments of course, but they are often played off to the side or as throw away gags, which is a shame, we get five emotions, but we only get to know three really well. Another thing is that for all the people that Riley meets, or we are introduced to through Riley, none of them stick around once the credits start to roll, they each have a roll to fill and they serve the story, but in the end this is about Riley and her emotions.

Inside Out comes to us by Pete Doctor, who was the man responsible for Up, so if you remember that movie, this will tug on the heart strings just as much as it did, if not more. While Inside Out is not made for children, it still works as a kids movie, but adults will also get a lot from it, it is a fun movie with a number of messages that should resonate with a lot of people, Pete Doctor summed it up perfectly “In the beginning, it’s all about laughter and ice cream—and there’s nothing wrong with that. But life shows us that it’s so much deeper.”