A return to form for Pixar

Rating: 8/10 (24 August 2015)

After the overrated and underwhelming Toy Story 3, genuinely bad Cars 2, mediocre Brave and good but forgettable Monsters University, Pixar have bounced back with this emotional tale about the feelings inside a young girl's head trying to navigate the girl moving to a new house and school. Another excellent premise from Pixar, it is used well and the result is moving and heartfelt. While not a flawless film, Inside Out is a very good animated film and one of the more sophisticated ones from recent times. As always the visuals are gorgeous and the film is rendered wonderfully while the direction is also top form. As can be expected from Pixar the script has emotion, big laughs and thrills which it wrings out of its fascinating premise to maximum effect. There are many funny bits, especially involving the Anger character and there's a considerable amount of suspense involved to. The world inside the girl's head is brilliantly thought out and successfully brought to life.
IO is not a complete success and while certainly a return to form, has been overpraised slightly. For such a complex premise, the film is too short and as the little girl, Riley, sinks into a depression the film moves too quickly towards her deciding to run away. This rushed approach reduces the emotional impact of the movie although during the third act the film hits the emotional beats and it hits them well. This is definitely going to make people cry. The climax of the film doesn't involve action which is interesting and the voice acting is excellent, but earlier Pixar films were kids movies for grown ups and grown up movies for kids. This is a kids movie for grown ups. It's too downbeat and serious for young kids to relate to properly so this is a very good film, but it's not a very good family film. Although rushed and overly downbeat much of the time, IO is ultimately an emotional success and proves that Pixar have plenty of life left in them yet.
8/10