NOT a return to 'form'

Rating: 6/10 (23 June 2015)

Maybe I just don't get it. Perhaps there's something intrinsic to the the whole experience I require clarifying on. Somewhere, there might be an obscure reason I don't feel as passionately about this film as others have.
Or maybe, JUST maybe...
Inside Out is overrated.
I mean, yea... The animation is excellent. But this is PIXAR we're talking about here... Not Hanna Barbera, circa 1970's. It kinda comes with the territory. And yes, the concept is very clever... But then again, it reminds me of an old comic strip I used to read called 'The Numbskulls' about small men controlling an average human's body. Then of course, there was the film Osmosis Jones, which regarded the adventures of the tiny people who were involved in the day-to-day running of Bill Murray. Not one of his funniest roles, BTW.
But something is definitely missing here. I found sections of the film a bit dull, none of the attempts at humour really made me laugh, and that pink elephant 'imaginary friend' was almost as obnoxious as Olaf the snowman. The part where I suppose we were meant to feel sad, as he was abandoned to fade away with the rest of the Riley's memories, just made me think 'about ruddy time'. What else was he supposed to do... Live, and cause a pre-teen to go through years of enforced therapy?
There wasn't enough going on in the human world, either...There was no real bond, with Riley, our lead character and the viewer... She felt more like a robot programmed by her five emotions than a living, breathing person. Her parents were as stereotypical and plastic as they come, and no other person has enough interaction with Riley for us to empathise with them... Or her, for that matter.
So, what it all boils down to is the quintet of emotions who live in her head and apparently call the shots there. Of them, Anger, Disgust and Fear and the most interesting, but guess what? They're the ones who get the shortest thrift in the script, and end up (for the most part) stuck in the 'control room' while Joy and Sadness go on the main quest. Joy's eternal perkiness is irritating, and Sadness is just a walking doormat. Not the pair I would have chosen for the lion's share of the movie to follow... And the film suffers because of this.
A lot of critics praise the authenticity of the memories Riley has and how it reminds them of their own children and lost youth... REALLY?! In that case, there must be a lot of reviewers out there who live in unbearably corny Life Insurance commercials, full of stock images and manufactured familiar situations. Watching the sun go down? First day at school? Eating broccoli?! Do me a favour.
Plus, some of them seem a bit unlikely... In one flashback, Riley misses the big shot in a hockey game, and hands the championship to the rival side. What do the rest of her team do? Why, put her on their shoulders and throw her up in the air repeatedly!! In the cutthroat world of American competitive sport, I HIGHLY doubt it. Or perhaps they just like being Losers. Hmm...
I did actually enjoy the film, so you might think I'm being a tad harsh. But bear in mind this is PIXAR we're talking about here... Who's every feature was virtually a masterpiece. After a string of underwhelming flicks, though (Brave, Cars 2, Monsters University, and now this) perhaps it's about time I stopped treating them as the purveyors of miracles, and think of the company as a normal studio who pumps out spectacularly animated but somewhat shallow productions. Just like Dreamworks.
What a shame. 6/10