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115 members have voted

  1. 1. Grade it:

    • A
      90
    • B
      10
    • C
      1
    • D
      3
    • F
      2


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So I first watched this in the spring. I wasn't feeling very engaged during the first and second acts, but the third act more than made it up. I felt like a fool for not realizing sooner why Riley needed Sadness, and the climax was very emotional for me. (Overall, I'd probably have rated it A- if asked at this point.)

 

I rewatched this recently with a couple of close friends who hadn't seen it. We were deciding between Inside Out and Frozen (I've seen both), I think I said something along the lines of "I enjoyed Frozen more but Inside Out is more clever". On a second viewing I couldn't help but feel like I'd rather just skip through and rewatch the last 20 minutes or so, which is pretty unusual for me. (Usually I enjoy watching an entire film a second time, unless I outright disliked it the first time.)

 

Anyway, neither of them liked Inside Out (exact words include "very disappointing" and "underwhelmed, to speak of it nicely"). It was a bit of a surprise to me, because Inside Out isn't just a critically acclaimed film, a lot of indicators suggest it was received very well by the general audience. And with both of them not liking Inside Out, it means that my entire circle of closest friends didn't like it. (The two I rewatched it with were not aware of the other's reactions.)

 

The main overall criticisms:

  • the resolution was very predictable
    • an exact quote from one friend: Pretty much "called it" the moment that I saw Sadness being isolated in Headquarters
    • I was apparently the only one who didn't realize in the first half or so that Joy needed to realize Sadness was needed for Riley to get help
  • it was hard to connect with the characters
    • the emotions themselves were very one-dimensional, particularly Fear, Anger, and Disgust (I agree, although it makes sense that they would be)
    • Riley herself ends up not being the main focus - two friends didn't even feel that the climax was emotional (those that did thought it was mostly because of Bing Bong)
      • two friends mentioned that her emotions were too simplistic for that age and she should have already had more complex emotions (which are hinted at only at the ending)
      • one friend was particularly skeptical of Riley's plight in general and felt that she was overreacting ("spoiled brat")

One of them briefly commented on facebook regarding being "underwhelmed" and followed up with a pretty detailed critique. The critique focused on the depiction of emotion as being "unrealistic/unwieldy" and a lack of empathy for the emotions and Riley, partially for that reason. The commentary on facebook was generally along the lines of "loved it, thought it nailed it", or "yes, it's not perfect, but I still loved it", or "underwhelmed at first, but turned around at the end" (closest to my initial reaction).

 

What I'm most interested in (for purely academic reasons) is whether there's some underlying reason my circle of friends liked Inside Out a lot less than most other people. Of the things we share in common, most of them would apply to at least some people I'm aware of that really liked Inside Out. A couple of remaining possibilities thus far lacking counterexamples is that we are all either immigrants or first-generation Asian-Canadians, and (except for me) have watched a substantial amount of East Asian television/films. There are some reasons why I think this could make sense, but I'll hold back for now (to see if anyone else independently arrives at the same ideas). Of course it's also possible that it's just coincidental, or some combination of non-obvious personality traits or experiences.

 

Is there anyone who really liked Inside Out that has watched a lot of East Asian television/films, or is otherwise strongly influenced by that cultural background? Does anyone else think it makes sense that this could have something to do with it? Any other insights or feedback are very welcome!

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