Pixar takes us on another trip into the mind to deal with our emotions with Inside Out 2 Directed by Kelsey Mann.

We are back with the old gang from the first film - Joy (Amy Poehler), Anger (Lewis Black), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Tony Hale), and Disgust (Liza Lapira). They are trying to help Riley (Kensington Tallman) as she becomes a teenager. The only problem is that the teen years bring on new emotions which mess up everything. The new emotions that come into play are Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adele Exarchopoulos), and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser). Once this happens, Anxiety takes it upon herself to bottle up Riley’s main emotions to help her make new friends when she goes to a hockey camp after teaching her best friends and teammates will be attending a different high school. While dealing with the stress of losing her best friends and trying to get on to the high school hockey team as a freshman, Anxiety will do anything and everything to help, even if it destroys Riley’s standards that she developed over the past 13 years. This will not be an easy task for the original emotions to overcome, but they must do something to get Riley back to her normal self. 

I remember watching the first Inside Out film being a little bit skeptical on how they would pull a concept like this off, but they did. Now, my skepticism returned based on the introduction of these new emotions. How would they go about dealing with anxiety, embarrassment, ennui, and envy. What I can say about their approach is that it was pretty much spot on. The concept that they came up with that forced Riley into having these new emotions was very relatable. I think the driving factor in getting these new emotions across was the acting by the whole ensemble. They did a great job embodying their assigned emotion, and that really makes you feel for Riley when something happens outside of her mind. I do think that this film doesn’t have the same energy as the first film, but it is close to what that first film did.

This film is good for families with young teens that may be going through something similar either to the plot, or just in general. This is one of the best animated films and film of the summer so far. 

Rating: 4 out of 5

The big boned cat that loves lasagna and long naps is back on the big screen in Garfield the Movie.

We find ourselves being introduced to Garfield (Chris Pratt) as a stray cat whose father Vic (Samuel L. Jackson) left him in an alley. As he awaits his father’s return, his hunger and the tempting smell of Italian food leads him to meet Jon (Nicholas Hoult). That’s when a beautiful friendship begins, and we are led to believe Garfield will never see his father again. Fast forward, and we find Garfield grown up and manipulating his best pal Odie (Harvey Guillen) to do his bidding. It seems Garfield is living his best life until he’s kidnapped by cat named Jinx (Hannah Waddingham). Jinx uses Garfield as bait to bring Vic out of hiding to force him and his son to pull off a heist stealing many, many, many ounces of milk from a dairy farm. Vic specializes in pulling off heists but has not done the best job being a father. That makes this heist extremely difficult to pull off given he abandoned Garfield. Forcing the pair to work together is either the worst idea ever, or it could re-kindle their father and son relationship.

The movie gels well from the editing, animation, and acting. It’s a fun film to watch. Both Pratt and Jackson were great in their respective roles and really made you believe that they were father and son. The comedy was either a hit or miss throughout but that’s probably because it leaned heavily towards children. The emotional moments hit hard because of why Vic abandoned Garfield. Kids’ movies don’t always have an emotional aspect that really builds on the story, but Garfield did.

I would give this another watch once it comes out on streaming platforms. If you have a family with small children take them out to the theater or drive-in. This is also a good Father’s Day film too, so maybe go see this with your dad.

Rating: 3.8 out 5