‘Inside Out’: MovieMantz Review

Pixar’s new venture “Inside Out” is a far “Out” mind trip, so says Access Hollywood’s Scott Mantz in his latest review…

• “Inside Out”
• Starring: Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Mindy Kaling, Richard Kind
• Directed by: Pete Docter; Co-Directed by Ronnie Del Carmen
• Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Ah yes, now that’s more like it…

After falling short of the bar with two commercially successful, but otherwise creatively uninspired sequels – 2011’s “Cars 2” and 2013’s “Monsters University” – Pixar finally returns to top form, and just in time to mark the 20th anniversary of the groundbreaking first-ever computer-animated feature that started it all, 1995’s “Toy Story.”

‘Inside Out’ (Disney/Pixar)
 

Not only does its 15th movie, “Inside Out,” qualify as the most ambitious, original, inventive and wildly imaginative film to come across the big screen in quite some time, but it’s also a glorious, sweet, funny, charming and incredibly moving masterpiece that easily fits the bill as Pixar’s best outing since 2010’s “Toy Story 3.”

That should come as no surprise, since it’s directed by Pete Docter, the creative mind behind 2001’s “Monsters, Inc.” and 2009’s “Up” – the latter of which won Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score (for Michael Giacchino). It seems like a foregone conclusion that “Inside Out” will follow suit for Animated Feature and quite possibly for Giacchino’s score, though it also fully deserves to be nominated for Best Picture as well, since it takes Pixar to brilliant new creative heights while also doing what the studio has always done best: making layered films that are entertaining and fun for kids while also being smart, deep and clever for grown-ups.

Written by Docter with Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley (from a story by Docter and co-director Ronnie Del Carmen), “Inside Out” tells the story of 11-year-old Riley Anderson (Kaitlyn Dias), who’s having a hard time adjusting to her new life in a run-down section of San Francisco after her family is uprooted from picturesque Minnesota. With her moods thrown into a tailspin, it’s up to the colorful cast of characters that live inside her head (a.k.a. Headquarters) to keep her emotions from spiraling out of control.

Manning the controls are Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), Sadness (Phyllis Smith) and Anger (Lewis Black), but only the idealistic Joy (Amy Poehler, whose perky liveliness dominates the proceedings) can bring happiness back into Riley’s life.

To do that, she has to venture far into Riley’s mind, which is a boundless world of imagination, thanks to vivid locales like Long Term Memory, Abstract Thought and Dream Factory. That’s when “Inside Out” turns into an exciting adventure, and with the help of Riley’s imaginary friend Bing Bong (Richard Kind), Joy must recover Riley’s core memories and return them to Headquarters before time runs out.

As expected, the colorful animation is beautiful and eye-popping, and the mind-blowing story progresses with one ingenious and unexpected turn after another. In fact, there’s so much to take in that just one viewing simply won’t do justice to its magnificent scope.

To top it off, it’s preceded by “Lava,” a lovely and moving animated short about singing volcanoes. One can only anticipate the intellectual wonders and visual delights that are bound to reveal themselves with repeated viewings, which all but solidifies “Inside Out” as an instant classic that will be embraced, dissected and enjoyed for generations to come.

Ah yes, now that’s more like it, indeed!

— Scott Mantz