Movie Review: Inside Out

"Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it's no exception for Riley, who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Like all of us, Riley is guided by her emotions - Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust, and Sadness. The emotions live in Headquarters, the control center inside Riley's mind, where they help advise her through everyday life. As Riley and her emotions struggle to adjust to a new life in San Francisco, turmoil ensues in Headquarters. Although Joy, Riley's main and most important emotion, tries to keep things positive, the emotions conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house and school." Summary by IMDb.

In the first 15 minutes of this movie, I was glued to the screen. No lie.

I didn't pay much attention to the movie when I saw previews, so when the movie started, I didn't think I would be all that interested. Don't get me wrong, I love animation movies, especially ones like Big Hero 6 (2014) or Brave (2012), but I didn't get hyped over this one, probably because I didn't really know what the storyline would be. Immediately after watching the introduction of the movie, I knew it would be a great use of my time.

The parts that really intrigued me and made me want to watch more were the movie's concept of how the mind functions, how, from birth, we begin to react to certain situations, and how specific memories become a core part of our personality throughout our upbringing. The processing of memories and emotions towards different dilemmas were right on the dot, and was portrayed in an uncomplicated, yet altogether complex manner. I also liked that the different characters had their own agendas within Riley's mind, but with the ultimate goal of making Riley happy and content in her life.

Concepts like Honesty, Family, Friendship, Hockey, and Goofball Island make up different aspects of Riley's personality, and the more memories she makes involving these traits, the more these islands flourish with excitement. What's so sophisticated about it is when the islands start breaking off from Headquarters and falling into the pit of forgotten memories because of Riley's thoughts and actions. Like when Riley and her father butted heads at the dinner table and he tried to cheer her up with their signature monkey face and noises, but since Joy wasn't in Headquarters to connect with him, Riley simply turned away, causing Goofball Island to crumble. It striked as a really powerful symbol of growing up and eventually becoming a revised version of yourself as a kid. As the movie continues and Riley gets more and more upset with her living situation, still without the presence of Joy or Sadness, more of the islands start breaking away with each decision she makes.

Now, don't worry, this movie isn't all serious and thought-provoking! It's still a fun time for the kids (I'm just saying it's a really stimulating perception of the mind for all the adults watching). I caught myself laughing at many moments throughout the movie, especially when that annoying commercial memory kept popping up in Riley's mind (something we can all relate to), whenever Anger spat fire from his brain when he dealt with a dilemma, and even when Joy, Sadness, and Bing Bong, Riley's imaginary friend, needed Riley to wake up from a dream and turned it into a nightmare by splitting a dog in half and getting help from a giant smiling clown with a hammer. The laughs in this movie are endless with Sadness's depressing lines and the adventures they all go on.

One scene that ended up into a tearjerker (not that I don't always cry during movies) was when Bing Bong and Joy were in the pit of forgotten memories, and Bing Bong sacrificed himself in order to save Joy and make Riley happy again, even if that meant that he would forever be forgotten and his dreams of flying to the moon with Riley would not come into fruition. Now that's true dedication to someone you care about.

The moral of the story is a great one for kids, and adults as well. Sometimes joy cannot be experienced without a hint of sadness; when you grow up, a lot of things will turn out differently than you imagined, but in order to bring happiness into your life, you have to live with your experiences and feel the emotions as they come to you instead of pushing aside the feelings you don't want to feel. Once Joy and Sadness realized they needed to work together in order for Riley to function with her current situation, other memories have become blended with different kinds of emotions instead of just one—another great symbol of the complexity of coming into adulthood and expanding the reactions of our emotions.

I definitely recommend watching this movie to everyone of age. You'll love the simple and positive reinforcement of the storyline for the kids, and I'll bet you'll enjoy the convoluted details of the inner workings of the human mind through a fresh and innocent perspective for yourself.