I've said it before, but the seismic cultural shift from "Oh, please Pixar, oh, please make Finding Nemo 2 and the Incredibles 2" to "Oh, please, Pixar, please let those stupid-ass toys die. We do not need Story 5" is kind of insane, honestly.

Inside Out 2 is in a bit of a weird position, though, because I don't think anyone really saw it as a nostalgia cash-grab sequel.

I mean, the original only came out nine years ago!

Which, yeah, sounds like a lot, but compared to the double-digit waits we had for other Pixar sequels, nine years is nothing.

Plus, Inside Out as an idea feels like you could expand it with new installments pretty naturally.

Did any of us really have faith that this would be a natural continuation of the first?

Hell no, have you SEEN Pixar sequels?

I've enjoyed some of the Pixar sequels here and there, but not really enough to say that any of the non-Toy Story ones feel like a worthy and natural continuation of the story.

So the pressure's on for Inside Out 2 to really justify itself.

Is this a worthy sequel that stands toe-to-toe with the first film?

Uhhhh, yeah, I guess so.

I really liked it.

I had a very good time.

Going in, I was worried that it was just gonna be the first film AGAIN.

Like, oh no, we got taken out of headquarters.

AGAIN.

We gotta get back there.

AGAIN.

Except this time, fear, anger, and disgust are here.

And yeah, the story is similar with a couple familiar locations, but they absolutely throw in enough new and creative concepts to make this one stand out and feel justified.

Honestly, Inside Out 2 is less of a standalone sequel, and more so, what if the original film just kept going?

Which in this instance is a good thing.

That's exactly what this story needed to be.

New emotions make their way into headquarters, and they're pretty fun additions for the most part.

Uh, except for Envy, I'm gonna be honest, I don't really see her purpose.

She didn't really exhibit the trait of her emotion all that much, and it kinda just felt like Anxiety needed someone to play off of who would actually respond.

So, that's why she's here.

Oh well, as long as Io Edebri gets a paycheck, I'm happy.

Embarrassment and Envy were pretty fun, but Anxiety is definitely the star of the show here.

A really good and surprisingly likable antagonist, who means well, despite ultimately harming Riley in the long run.

You can see where she's coming from with everything she does, and you want her to realize the error of her ways like Joy did in the first film.

I also really like how this movie doesn't regress Joy as a character.

She feels like she respects and values sadness now, thanks to the end of the first film.

It's not like other Pixar sequels where, Oh, Marlon is too overprotective.

Again.

Bob is dismissive of his family.

Again.

Joy grew in the first film, and stays grown, which is a nice surprise.

I like seeing once again how everything happening in Riley's head translated to her real-life actions.

And vice versa, like when there's a stream of consciousness, and whatever she thinks of shows up in the stream.

That's fun.

In general, I found myself much more invested in the Riley side of things in this movie, which was nice.

Like, I don't go to the first Inside Out for Riley.

I go for Joy and Sadness.

I don't go to Toy Story for Andy.

I go for Woody and Buzz and Chunky Kong and all my other friends.

The kids don't matter in Pixar movies to me that much.

But here, I was actually like, No, Riley, don't abandon your friends.

Don't break an enter and shit.

I wanted to see her be okay in social situations and in hockey.

And this helped the main conflict of anxiety taking over feel more true to life.

I also appreciate that we gave the other OG emotions from the first film more time to shine in this.

Like, Fear and Disgust had a lot more memorable bits here.

Even if I'm still salty that they didn't want to pay Bill Hader enough to come back as Fear.

Like, Tony Hill did a great job and everything, but come on. He already played Forky.

He doesn't get to be two Pixar characters.

That's against the law and has never happened before.

Ah, well. No Bill Hader meant at least we also didn't get What's-Her-Name back.

You know, the Velma lady.

I know her name.

I just don't feel like saying it because that's how bad Velma is.

Shout out to Liza Lapira for doing a much better job with Disgust as a character.

There's also a gaggle of fun new characters they meet in Riley's memory vault.

And as enjoyable as they are, I kept waiting for two of them to come back and yet they never did.

I didn't need them on the journey the entire time, but I kept assuming they would return to help during the climax.

And yet, only one of the four characters did.

I don't know, man. That's just weird.

It feels like they forgot.

Another one of those four characters only appeared in the post-credits scene, which I stayed for because I'm a gentleman, but that scene felt especially tacked on and wasn't really all that funny given its buildup.

Ah, well. Not a huge deal, I guess.

In terms of larger issues, it does drag a little bit towards the middle where they're going through the same memory maze they went through in the original.

Generally, the film wasn't quite as funny as the first one.

The hot dad wasn't in it as much.

And while the new characters were mostly pretty delightful, none of them hold a candle to Bing Bong, let's be real.

The emotional moments also didn't quite pack the same punch for me as they did in the first, but I was surprised at how much a lot of them did work for me.

And just like the first one, they can convey the meaning of the emotional scenes without words.

Just one little shot of a character frozen at the control console was incredibly effective and got me a little misty-eyed.

Obviously, it still gave the first film the edge overall, but a lot of that comes from its freshness factor and how new and magical this concept felt at the time.

Inside Out 2 does a couple things better, like utilizing fear, disgust, and even Riley herself better,

while falling barely short of the original in some aspects, resulting in an overall experience that feels more or less the same.

But, and this is the key point here, the reason the film works so well as a continuation is that it overall doesn't feel like a rehash.

At its core, it's saying new things about the struggles and emotions you experience as you start becoming a teenager.

The conflict does feel a little more complex.

The world inside Riley's head does feel like it's expanding in a natural way.

Aside from the fact that we never see these sequel emotions in any other character's head in the original, which, you know, who cares, I can live with that,

everything about this feels like it was always meant to be the next part of the story.

As a result, this has got to be the most natural feeling and best Pixar sequel since, damn, Toy Story 3, I think.

Not that it's that good, but we just haven't had a good one in a really long while.

Yeah, if they can make more of these kind of sequels, then I'd be all for it.

As I expressed in my last video, Pixar might be in some dire straits moving forward, with up-and-coming directors now being encouraged to tell less personal stories in order to make for more relatable films.

Hopefully they don't take the wrong lesson from what looks to be this film's box office success.

I think it's gonna resonate with a lot of people because it feels so personal with their struggles with anxiety.

I mean, yeah, it is gonna make a lot of money because sequel, but I really appreciate that it's such a thoughtful and emotionally driven follow-up to the original.

It feels like a strong second act to the overall story, and I'm gonna say something that I never would have even dreamed about saying two days ago.

I wouldn't mind if they made an Inside Out 3.

It's nice to get proof that every once in a while, Pixar's still got it.

Just please take back what you said in that interview, Pete Docter, and the future might be golden. 8 out of 10.

I don't have a sponsor for this video, so instead I'm just gonna tell you how much I hate cicadas.

I'm visiting my girlfriend right now, and her town is just swarming with them.

They fly everywhere and make this ever-present buzzing noise that sounds like a million sprinklers going off at once.

That's why I'd like to thank this video's sponsor, my shoe, when it steps on those damn cicadas.

Get them out of here.

I hate them.

Okay, see you guys for Moana 2, which I'm hoping will at least be better than a swarm of a million cicadas.

Not a very high bar to clear.

I think they have at least a 70% shot of doing it.

Bye!