Why mess with perfection? How Anxiety helps Pixar's 'Inside Out 2' live up to the original

Admit it: when you heard Pixar was making a sequel to “Inside Out,” one of its greatest films, you were skeptical.

Me, I got a stomach ache. I love “Inside Out,” the wildly creative 2015 film about the emotions that live inside a girl’s head. Why mess with perfection?

Why not, it turns out. “Inside Out 2” is a delightful movie, a worthy successor to the original. It’s not a cynical cash grab. It’s what any great sequel should be: an extension of the first film, a second chapter. Think of the best of them: “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.” “The Dark Knight.” “The Empire Strikes Back.” Speaking of Pixar, any number of “Toy Story” sequels. (The greatest sequel of all, “The Godfather Part II,” is a prequel and a sequel, its own unique slice of untouchable genius, so we’ll set that aside.)

What are the four new emotions in 'Inside Out 2?'

Like those films, “Inside Out 2” seems not superfluous but necessary, a logical extension of the story. When it begins, Riley (voice of Kensington Tallman) is now 13, a teenager, leading a happy life. She gets chosen for a prestigious hockey camp. Her emotions are all in a good place: Joy (Amy Poehler) still more or less runs things, with the help of Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale, replacing Bill Hader) and Disgust (Liza Lapira, replacing Mindy Kaling) pitching in when needed.

As Riley has matured, the structure of her mind has grown. Now, all of her stored memories and core memories lead to something new: beliefs. And those make up Riley’s sense of self. So far, it’s smooth sailing, in part because Joy has devised a way of pushing any negative experiences to the back of Riley’s mind.

And then it happens: puberty. It’s a big red button on the emotion control panel, which seems about right. Soon, the original emotions have to make room for a new bunch. There’s Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos). But the dominant new emotion — again, this seems right — is Anxiety (Maya Hawke), who is pretty much a lunatic. She wants to engineer Riley’s life for success at any cost, even if it means abandoning her friends in hopes of making the high school hockey team.

“That is not Riley,” Joy tells Anxiety.

“I know,” Anxiety replies. “It’s a better Riley.” Later, while directing Riley to sell out her pals in order to fit in with new ones, Anxiety says, “As long as we like what they like, we’ll always have friends.” It is the perfect perspective of a 13-year-old, heartfelt and misguided.

What is the plot of 'Inside Out 2?'

Joy is as irrepressible as ever in the face of all this, so much so that Anxiety basically has her and the original gang kidnapped. As they cry on the way to the vault, “We’re becoming suppressed emotions!” They will spend the rest of the film trying to make their way back to the control center of Riley’s mind. Along the way, they meet characters like Bloofy (Ron Funches), the star of a kiddie show who is relegated to Riley’s memory, who is every bit as annoying as Dora the Explorer, and others of that ilk.

It is a difficult journey, as the crew must navigate hazards like sarcasm — so difficult that even Joy begins to doubt herself.

“Maybe this is what happens when you grow up,” she says, “You feel less joy.”

Of course, growing up means learning to navigate all of your emotions. Trying to suppress any of them leads to trouble. It’s a hard lesson to learn but a necessary one.

A sequel, by definition, can’t be as innovative as the original. And there is no sure-fire crying scene here like — spoiler alert — the fate of Bing Bong in the first film. (I rewatched it again to make sure it still has the desired effect. It, ahem, does.)

That’s OK. Maybe there will be another sequel in which Anxiety meets Xanax or something. No matter. Directed by Kelsey Mann and written by Dave Holstein and Meg LeFauve, “Inside Out 2” more than justifies its existence and then some.

'Inside Out' review: An inventive, brilliant Pixar film

'Inside Out 2' 4 stars

Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★

Fair ★★★ Bad ★★ Bomb ★

Director: Kelsey Mann.

Cast: Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke, Phyllis Smith.

Rating: PG for some thematic elements.

How to watch: In theaters Friday, June 14.

Reach Goodykoontz at [email protected]. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. X: @goodyk. Subscribe to the weekly movies newsletter.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'Inside Out 2' review: Puberty strikes the Pixar sequel