Inside Out has a lot going for it. The concept is clever and interesting. The cast is stellar and it's Pixar so you figure it has to be good. But with the fame and reputation of Pixar comes high standards, and Inside Out unfortunately doesn't meet those standards. What I think really hurt Inside Out was their over reliance on flashbacks to provide a lot of story telling background that's supposed to incur an emotional reaction later in the movie.
SPOILER ALERT DON'T READ ANY FURTHER!!!!!
A perfect example how this telling not showing aspect is the character Bing Bong. Her entire relationship with Bing Bong is discussed via reminiscing with Joy and a brief flashback. This makes his eventual demise sad, but not heart wrenching. One might argue that the vagueness is intentional in order to allow us to project our own memories of an imaginary friend, but the odd specificity of bing bong and his magic wagon makes it difficult to do that.
I feel the entire time the movie wants us to project ourselves into the characters, but everything seems too particular. Hockey is too particular a sport. Minnesota is too particular of a state. Riley and being goofball is too particular of a character trait. We can't pretend we're Riley or that Riley is us. Instead we just sympathize rather than empathize. And that's the main issue, sympathy is cheap. Empathy is where true emotional gravitas exists.
My friend described Inside Out as meh and I unfortunately have to agree. Not horrible movie by any means, but definitely disappointing given Pixar's previous work.
SPOILER ALERT DON'T READ ANY FURTHER!!!!!
A perfect example how this telling not showing aspect is the character Bing Bong. Her entire relationship with Bing Bong is discussed via reminiscing with Joy and a brief flashback. This makes his eventual demise sad, but not heart wrenching. One might argue that the vagueness is intentional in order to allow us to project our own memories of an imaginary friend, but the odd specificity of bing bong and his magic wagon makes it difficult to do that.
I feel the entire time the movie wants us to project ourselves into the characters, but everything seems too particular. Hockey is too particular a sport. Minnesota is too particular of a state. Riley and being goofball is too particular of a character trait. We can't pretend we're Riley or that Riley is us. Instead we just sympathize rather than empathize. And that's the main issue, sympathy is cheap. Empathy is where true emotional gravitas exists.
My friend described Inside Out as meh and I unfortunately have to agree. Not horrible movie by any means, but definitely disappointing given Pixar's previous work.
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