Inside Out 2

Recently I saw Inside Out 2.

Original image located here. Accessed 4th November 2024

In a way I'm not surprised that Inside Out would get the sequel treatment: the original idea is strong enough that there is plenty of room to expand. Are the five emotions the only ones? Are there more? And if so, are they there for all time? And what happens to Headquarters when one reaches the end of their life?

It would be easy to dismiss this movie as being nothing more than a cash grab and has no hope of replicating, let alone surpassing, the magic of the original. 
And yet, that may be case but I'm not willing to write this movie completely. There is certainly a lot of expansion on the original idea as we see Riley movie into her teens and gain a whole bunch of new emotions. True a lot of them don't do much - and I can't help but notice that Joy is still the only positive emotion present - but Anxiety makes for a compelling addition. Indeed, it may hit a little too close to home for some people to see Anxiety at work - in particular the representation of a panic attack is genuinely frightening. 

All in all, a solid sequel and I'm keen to see where this series goes to next.