Both Overrated and Underrated by Reviewers

Rating: 7/10 (3 January 2016)

This movie seems to be getting reviews that are very high and others that are very low. I'd rank it on the higher side. It's one of the better Pixar movies that has been released, but I'm not sure I'd call it one of their best movies ever released.
The movie stars Riley, a 12 year old girl from Minnesota who one day out of the blue has to move to San Francisco for her Dad's new job. The five emotions in her brain aren't sure how they should react to this and instead there is a battle for the control panel for how she should respond. Leader Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler), tries to keep her happy, while Sadness (voiced by Phyllis Smith), normally content with staying in the background, wants more control. This leads to both Joy and Sadness being sent via a tube to the depths of Riley's memory, while the other three emotions Fear, Anger and Disgust (voiced by Bill Hader, Lewis Black and Mindy Kaling respectively), must try to get Riley through each day in her new home full of unfamiliarity.
If you watch the special features, Writer/Director Pete Doctor admits that they struggled for a while to come up with a story to fit along this theme. Watching the film closely, you get that vibe throughout. It almost feels like an incomplete film. We don't get to know Riley all that well besides some scenes here and there where we see that she loves her friends, family, hockey, goofing off, and being honest. The movie has the challenge of creating conflict without a true villain. This is a great change from the usual Disney fare, but also ends up putting together a story where the obstacles aren't that overwhelming. The themes of "it's OK to be sad" and "emotions aren't cut and dry, but mixed" are great lessons to learn, but too many times I felt I was watching "Herman's Head" or a story that just needed a couple more things to make it more interesting and not so bland and flat.
The characters are just not that likable. The parents are standard Mom and Dad, who have a very generic relationship with Riley. Joy is annoying, but so is Sadness. However, I found the three other emotions enjoyable because we didn't see them as much, so when we did, they did a good job at comic relief, etc. Bing bong, the imaginary friend, is probably the best character in this whole movie as a reminder of the imagination we have as kids and how the older you get, the more it fades away.
I like the lessons the movie gives, the animation was beautiful, the soundtrack was wonderful, and it has moments of brilliance, but at the same time there were too many moments where more could have been added to flush out the story and give it more of a unique twist and make it not so paint by the numbers. I still think it's one of the better Pixar movies, but not one of their best.