After Pixar's 2 year hiatus without any new releases, that glorious Pixar moviemaking magic we haven't seen since 2013's Monsters University has finally made its return to the big screen with their 15th animated feature film, Inside Out. And I am extremely excited to tell you all that Inside Out is a true work of art, with an inventive premise with beautiful storytelling and raw emotion. It changes the way we look at animation, and even ourselves as people! It really shows what this beautiful art form that is animation is capable of, and that is giving us a beautiful, powerful and inventive story with fantastic visuals, world building and set and character design.
Inside Out introduces us to the little voices inside our heads. These being Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger and Disgust. The film takes place inside the mind of an 11 year old girl named Riley who goes through a lot of changes in her life when her family moves to San Francisco. When Joy and Sadness accidentally get booted out of headquarters, they must find their way back before Anger, Fear and Disgust cause a major breakdown for Riley.
The story is told with such beauty and a level of sophistication that only Pixar can achieve. This really is a film anyone can relate to. Everyone has been through the changes our every-girl Riley has been through. These changes of growing up and how scary it can be. We have all been through that! And that's the emotional core that makes this film so powerful.
I cannot even begin to describe how creative and inventive this movie is. The concept alone is one of the most inventive and creative ideas that Pixar has ever tackled, but what they do with that concept? That's where the film's creativity gets to truly shine. There have been a fair amount of films and TV shows that take place inside the brain, but the concept has never been truly fleshed out. Until now, that is. With Inside Out taking place inside the mind, a much more abstract place, rather than the brain, we are given a film with a concept that achieves its fullest potential thanks to the many talented folks at Pixar, who were able to run wild with ideas. This is thanks to that giant difference with it being inside the mind. Instead of brain cells and controlling organs, the film ventures through many creative places, from Imagination Land and Dream Productions, to many other places that I will not spoil in this review.
The characters are fantastic and relatable. Riley, our setting and character, is one, like I said before, we can all relate too! And the emotions are just fantastic! The emotions play very well off of each other. I loved the feud that goes on between Joy and Sadness. Joy doesn't know why Sadness is even there, since she thinks Riley should always be happy. This leads to a lot of interesting clashing and chemistry between the two characters. Then there's Anger, Fear and Disgust. While Disgust much prefers to do her own thing and keep her distance, Anger is always clashing with Fear. The whole idea makes perfect sense, especially since Anger seems to like to use Fear, the weakest, most worried one, as pretty much his punching bag! Every time these two are within punching distance of each other, it's sure to lead to a lot of gut-bustingly funny slapstick, all of which is impeccably timed.
Then there's Bing Bong, Riley's imaginary friend. I'd say that he puts sidekicks like Olaf to shame, but really, I don't consider him to be a sidekick. His character is too hilarious and all around fantastic to be given such a belittling title. Besides, he also plays a crucial role in the story, unlike characters who would be referred to as sidekicks. Usually when Pixar has a character that would usually be considered as a sidekick, they actually end up being a huge part of the story and don't become as much of a sidekick as they are a main character. The likes of Dory, Boo and Dug come to mind. Anyways, I absolutely love Bing Bong! He is a beautiful symbol of childhood, and a character that I actually see a lot of myself in!
Pixar likes to make films that appeal to everyone. Time and time again they have stressed the fact that they don't make films for kids, and this couldn't be any more clear than it is in Inside Out. It tells a very complex story and doesn't for a second talk down to its audience. The whole film is really one big metaphor, and younger audiences will leave likely leave very confused. It's actually a very mature film that will be enjoyed much more by older audiences. This isn't to say kids won't like this film, since the colourful visuals and slapstick humour will let them easily sit through the film's 1 hour and 42 minute runtime. But don't be surprised if they start asking questions about what's going on, as the film could get very complex. Just like any other Pixar film, This is certainly a film meant for older audiences, but kids will still have a fun time watching it, even if they don't quite grasp its concept.
Of course, this being a movie not only being a movie about emotions, but also a Pixar movie, they make sure to hit all the emotional beats. This film could get very deep and sad and even devastating! I have no shame in admitting that I even started tearing up in the very first shot of the film, not because it's sad like many other scenes in this film, but because it's executed with such beauty and perfection. There are plenty of sad scenes to be had that made me a complete mess, and gives many all the other heartfelt Pixar moments, such as the Married Life sequence in Up and the endings of Toy Story 3 and Monsters, Inc. some harsh competition.
But don't think this film is just one huge downer, because it's also filled to the brim with clever and witty humor! There is a lot of opportunity for jokes that could be done with a film taking place inside the mind, and the folks at Pixar certainly didn't miss a single opportunity. I can assure you that while you will cry, you will also laugh a lot in this film!
Also, the themes in this movie are absolutely beautiful and resonate with you long after you have finished watching, especially with its powerful, life changing message. I also love how the film is pretty much one big metaphor to explain how you feel and why you feel the way you do. There's a lot of symbolism and deeper meaning going on throughout the entirety of this film, so it being one big metaphor is definitely how you should look at this film while watching it.
The directing, unsurprisingly, is fantastic. Pete Docter knocks it out of the park with this film, with each shot feeling so impeccably crafted that I was in awe throughout the entire film. There are many shots that are absolutely jaw dropping and gorgeous to look at. He does a great job captivating the audience and making this world seem believable.
This leads me to the animation in this film which, of course is phenomenal! But this is a very special case because it not only has 2 different settings, the real world and inside Riley's mind, but both of them are beautifully rendered, but look so drastically different. The world inside the mind is extremely colourful and very surreal with fantastic art direction. It's simply a joy to look at and it's absolutely mesmerizing! You can tell how hard the animators and filmmakers worked to make this fantastic world come to life. It's one of the greatest examples of world building I've seen in any Pixar film since Docter's own Monsters, Inc. and its prequel, Monsters University.
Meanwhile, San Fransico looks kind of depressing and unwelcoming. Also, the lighting perfect captures the tone of each scene, especially during the darker moments when everything is darkly lit and gives off a greyscale kind of style. This happens both in the real world and inside Riley's mind as things gradually get worse.
The character design is amazing as well. The designs of the emotions perfectly fit what emotion they are supposed to represent. Joy is as yellow as sunshine and literally gives off light, Anger is very square and short (and short-tempered! Ha!) and was modelled after a fire brick, sadness is blue and droopy and modelled after a tear drop, Disgust is green and modelled after broccoli, and Fear is skinny, lanky and awkward. Also, I am still shocked by the fact that they managed to make the emotions entirely out of particles! That in itself is a huge technical marvel!
The voice acting is perfect. All of the voice actors really give it their all in their performances and, with Amy Poehler as Joy, Phyllis Smith as Sadness, Lewis Black as Anger, Bill Hader as Fear and Mindy Kaling as Disgust, they each perfectly fit the character they're playing.
The score is also phenomenal. It is composed by Michael Giacchino, who also composed the score for Up, Ratatouille and The Incredibles. After listening to the score for Inside Out, it becomes obvious as to why Pixar likes to always bring back Michael Giacchino. His music has such a sense of feeling and heart to it and it perfect matches what goes on in the film and adds to the emotional and exciting moments. The film also perfectly captures the atmosphere of the film. With it taking place inside the mind, the score gives off a really surreal and atmospherical feel to it. This is definitely one of my favourite Pixar scores.
Inside Out is an absolute masterpiece. It completely changes the way we look at animation as an art form and cinema as a whole! This film is life changing and thought provoking, making you think of what goes on inside your head in a completely different light. You might even know yourself better after watching this film. It's unlike anything I have ever seen before and is yet another welcome addition to Pixar's library of masterpieces.
Film Grade: A+
But that's not all! Because, this being a Pixar film, we also get a short film before it! This one is a musical short called Lava.
Lava is a short film about a volcano who spends millions of years trying to find love. It's both heartwarming and heartbreaking. Of course, he does end up finding love, though not in the way you would expect.
This was a wonderful short film. This is Pixar's first step into musical territory and it's just amazing! The music is beautifully written and memorable. The idea is also really interesting and the animation is gorgeous. This is also James Ford Murphy's first time directing anything and he does a fantastic job! I hope to see him one day direct a feature length film. This is yet another fantastic addition to Pixar's expanding library of short films.
Short Film Grade: A+
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