Cannes 2015: Inside Out Review - Pixar's Back With Another Masterpiece

The screenplay doesn't let such prevalent themes stop this being an ultimately fun experience though. The humour is restrained and relevant, with Docter (writing with Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley) resisting wasting precious time dwelling on the base concept for laughs (that's saved for a wonderful mid-credits sequence) in favour of narratively suitable beats. The emotional bent is still dominant, to the point that the film even eschews the conventional action oriented finale for something fully character driven, but you're never too far from a joke. Inside Out is a film that never fails to surprise, even in the most determinable of areas. We're at a point where praising the presentation of a Pixar film is like remarking that their logo's a lamp. Of course the animation will be flawless and the backgrounds full of a sly mix of Easter eggs and in-jokes (for all its faults, Cars 2 has plenty hidden in there should you ever want to suffer a rewatch), but, even so, there's some genuinely progressive elements here. The visualisation of Riley's brain is the most consistently abstract backdrop Pixar's ever created and has enough subtle ticks to please anyone wanting to read the film on a wholly metaphorical basis - from above the memory banks look like the lobes of a brain and each emotion's skin has an ethereal quality. There's also a wonderful piece of thematic foreshadowing in the design of one of the characters that, once understood, will bring one more tear to your eye. Equally as expected is how the score accentuates the film and adds to the tone without ever stealing your attention; Michael Giacchino won his Oscar for Best Original Score for Up and he's at least guaranteed a nomination with an equally as evocative soundtrack. He even rescores the opening Disney logo in manner that actually improves it (take that Frozen). A not too out there reading of the film would be that it's a comment on Pixar itself. The studio has made an icon of itself by delivering emotionally mature studios to a family audience, but survives thanks to its smart grasp of wonder. Toy Story as a movie deals with resisting change, while as a trilogy with growing up; Wall-E shows how humanity is saved by impossible love; Up is about death and, more potently, moving on; what makes them all work in such complete ways is the balance of joy and sadness. But it's also something much more than that. It's a film about memory, nostalgia and the emotions that make you you. Pixar's not just back. They've returned with such incredible force it seems silly that we ever suggested they'd left. Keep up with all of our Cannes 2015 coverage on the official page here.