Inside Out is another beautiful Pixar movie with the right mix of comedy, heart and reflection on the values of life.
There is one thing to always be sure of at a Pixar film, you will cry. It may be tears of sadness or joy (pun intended), but there will be tears. There was tears, I cried, but I honestly didn’t sense what the writers were doing to make us cry until it happened – very superb writing.
The animation is brilliantly crafted and visually stunning, every shot in the film had 3D depth and clarity and the level of detail the animators went to was stunning. The premise of the story was remarkably clever – it was about the people in the control room of your brain (Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust and Fear). The script was written very well, I think it could’ve tightened up in the middle, when Joy and Sadness were trying to get back to control, but otherwise I cannot fault this film.
It is still strange to hear Amy Poehler’s voice outside of the SNL weekend update segments, but her performance as Joy was fantastic, the voice is a very powerful tool and she utilised it cleverly in delivering her dialogue. Phyllis Smith who voiced Sadness also gave a wonderful performance and the fact you could hear her character develop just through her voice demonstrates just how outstanding her performance was. Bill Hader as Fear, Lewis Black as Anger and Mindy Kaling as Disgust provided the comic relief and they were all superb. One actor who really stole the film was Richard Kind, I won’t spoil his character’s plot – but Kind’s performance is one of the best in animated film history.
Overall a superb animated film. It can be enjoyed by adults and children alike, it has a superb voice cast, outstanding animation and a strong script and premise. My only note is that you do have to sit through a truly terrible short film “Lava” before getting to see Inside Out, but it is definitely worth the wait!
4.5 Stars
Review by Benjamin Maio Mackay
Screening courtesy of Walt Disney Entertainment
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