Inside Out (2015) Reviews

• I feel like everybody has missed the point

  james-calver2016-07-09

  I am not normally one to write reviews, but I couldn't help reading several for this film on this site that just did't seem to understand where I think the film was supposed to be coming from. The majority of the complaints I saw were that the film was 'too depressing for a children's film', but whilst I see where they are coming from in some regards, every child who I have seen watch this film (I work in a cinema) has absolutely loved it, and laughed out loud almost constantly. They are not old enough to realise the message the film is trying to convey: that life isn't all about happiness. I applaud the attempt from Pixar to make a film that is not only hilarious in places, but is also a major comment on what life is like to be a younger teenager, transitioning through one of the most important moments of life. From a more personal perspective, why should everything we show our children gloss over the reality of life, and try to make them believe everything is rosy 24/7? Again, what this film does brilliantly through the message I took away at the end was that life will never be 100% full of happiness, but that is fine. Why does it have to be? A little bit of sadness is necessary. If a person was never sad, they would be inhumane. Overall then, I suppose my review is more of a comment on the type of film we exhibit to children, and how the Nanny-state we live in looks to protect them from most of lives inevitabilities. Either way, what can't be ignored is that this film is equal parts sad, and equal parts what I am sure will become a timeless classic in years to come.

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• Mandatory watch for children and parents alike.

  Animany942017-11-23

  I did exactly what I was supposed to when watching this brilliant movie, I felt all the emotions at some point. Pixar did it again with Inside Out. For a long time I had stubbornly repeated that Toy Story would always be my favourite from Pixar, but I changed my mind shortly after watching this one. Like Toy Story you were offered a setup every adult can identify. Growing up learning how to control your feelings and learning the importance of every one of them. It is okay to be angry, sad, happy and afraid as long as we are taught how to manage them. The idea of having this control panel inside a human body has been done before by Osmosis Jones (2001), but let's say with much less success. Inside out takes it to the highest level of perfection. I loved the way Pixar made this world inside the main character of Riley, it is very creatively done and was in some ways just how I had imagined it. I must admit that I cried a couple of times during the movie, because it has some really touching moments. You should be feeling all emotions when watching Inside Out. It is a must watch.

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• Worst one ever

  Tracieew2015-11-19

  The film was awful and extremely boring. It was just so depressing and sadness was possibly the most annoying character ever conceived...why why why did she have to keep touching things after she was told over and over not to, just irritating. It got to the point where I was dreading the character coming on the telly. Animated Disney/pixar films should stick to what they are good at and that's making children (and adults) happy. Yes they can have a moral lesson and sad bits but the general overtone is happiness not depressing characters inside another depressing character that I couldn't care less about. Should never have been made, should have saved their money. Im very sad that I can never get back the time I wasted on it...I could have watched paint dry.

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• Pixar, how far you have fallen...because this movie was terrible. Really.

  sweetsmile-909072015-10-14

  There are a few reasons why I consider this movie terrible and why I find it so horrifying that it's current rating is 8.5 when Spirited Away--one of the best animated movies ever created--is sitting at 8.6. Long story short, the characters were for the most part difficult to like. Joy was thoughtlessly cruel and condescending to Sadness and the other emotions, and Riley--the girl we're all supposed to love and find easy to relate to--was extremely obnoxious/egocentric and rubbed me the wrong way for the entire movie. I resented the stereotypes that were used and found them more than a little insulting. For example, Riley has an "imaginary boyfriend" at the age of 12. I don't know about you people, but I find this extremely concerning. 12 year old girls should NOT be thinking that they should have boyfriends at their age--while it may start out innocent, it can unconsciously encourage premature sexual thoughts and activity, which is EXTREMELY unhealthy and dangerous at their age. Also, I don't personally know any girls (including myself) who ACTUALLY had imaginary boyfriends. Ever. Let alone at 12! And don't even get me started on the imaginary friend Bing-Bong. BING-BONG! That's actually his name! I found him irritating and, frankly, disturbing. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm sure young children will LOVE this movie, and maybe some parents and teenagers as well. However, on the whole, I would NOT consider it up to par with other Disney Pixar movies. It was compared to "UP" for Pete's sake--the movie that had EVERYONE crying within the first 10 minutes! It was an enormous let- down for me, especially since all the raving had really caused me to build it up, which made it all the more disappointing. Therefore, watch at your own peril. Consider yourself warned.

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• Meet the Little Voices Telling You to Leave the Theater

  gayanjani2015-06-28

  I am genuinely confused as to why people are calling this "Pixar's Best" or an original concept. Pixar has done far better than this and even the mediocre 'Brave' and 'Cars' are far better. Not only is the concept of 'people controlling your brain' tired and used multiple times, they managed to make it even more boring. There is absolutely no nuance in this film. The characters, (joy, anger, fear, disgust, sadness), are a visual representation of their emotion. I mean seriously, do they understand subtlety at all? Anger literally catches on fire, sadness is blue, and joy looks like every boring same-faced cartoon princess. Not to mention none of the emotions look like Riley, the little girl. This is even more of a flaw when we later see the emotions in other characters heads, (Riley's parents, her teacher, etc.) who look just like the person whose brain they inhabit. Why would Riley be the only one whose emotions all look nothing like her? They took an old concept, made it incredibly literal, and then botched it up with inconsistencies. Aside from the boring concept, this movie is way too complex and depressing for children. The plot is nearly nonexistent and the most constant thing throughout is joy and sadness attempting to get back to the control center of Riley's brain after being sucked out by accident. Other than that its all very dull and if it doesn't make you cry, you'll probably fall asleep. There are, from what I remember, no laugh out loud jokes. Way too much time went into world-building and showing off the various landscapes and rooms of Riley's mind for there to be any actual storyline. Everything felt extremely dragged out and joy and sadness ran into obstacle after obstacle trying to get back to the control center. Finally, Riley tries to run away and it just so happens that joy returns and fixes everything before she has the chance to get too far. Not only was it absurd for an 11 year old girl to try and take a bus back home, it was far too sad the way the whole thing was shown. There were so many random characters introduced for 5 seconds which served no purpose other than to lighten the mood, and they failed at that too. Bing Bong the imaginary friend who was a furry pink elephant was out of place and his design was really uncreative. When he died, I honestly felt relieved not to hear his irritating voice any more. He had no personality or character development and therefore there wasn't any reason to feel sad when he died. Unles of course you're a little kid in which case the whole thing was way too heavy. Either way its a definite miss. And for those saying only psychology majors can enjoy this movie, that's not true. I can't imagine anyone honestly liking this movie. Aside from the complete inaccuracy of anyone feeling only one emotion at a time, everything about this movie was casually ableist. The portrayal of depression as being something small and easily gotten over was incorrect and terrible. Even the advertisements ("Meet the Little Voices Inside Your Head") felt like an insensitive joke towards people with schizophrenia or other disorders who have auditory hallucinations. Overall, I would not recommend this movie to anyone. Too depressing and confusing for kids, too boring and literal for adults, this movie is enjoyable by no one. Pixar did not please its intended audience, nor did it please the grown ups. The one redeeming factor was the animation, which was good but all the designs were so uncreative that good animation couldn't save it.

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