Inside Out 2 (2024) - What Makes You Whole...

★★★☆☆

 

‘Inside Out 2’ may not look as much exhilarating and inspiring as its predecessor when it first came out as such a creative ‘mind game’ had obviously never been seen before, but still it’s a decent piece of animation, simple plotted and well delivered as a pep talk to move you to, not tears probably, but to a point where you may want to reconsider what it really means to embrace who you are!

The film follows that little girl’s journey of growing up as now she’s getting ready to move on to secondary studies. So this time, aside from those original emotion characters like Joy, Anger, Sadness and stuff, more emotions are involved as she’s no longer an innocent, simple minded girl, and Anxiety is the main guy in charge here! Anxiety is an emotion genetically designed to protect and get us prepared for what may harm us, but if you take it to extreme and worry too much, it’ll turn into something called depression and destroy you instead. Every emotion of ours works like that. It’ll either make you or destroy you, depending on how you’re going to work it. The story here is pretty much about that, but from a subjective emotion’s point of view.

Like it or not, we’re made of emotions. Like it’s said in the film, it’s not Joy or Anxiety who gets to decide what memory should be kept and what should be tossed away. That growing up girl ought to accept who she is as a whole, not partially. Meaning she must learn to embrace both bright and dark side of herself. That she’s not perfect, and that’s what makes her perfect and unique in a way. Pixar’s films are not only of fun and entertainment for kids. They always teach, if we adults are still willing to learn of course. And the teaching here is, either you think you’re the best or no better at all, it’s what makes you whole as a matter of fact. Like everything that appears to be, we’re perfect just because we’re not!