Film and television reviews by our resident autistic film critic Maymay.
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.
It was a very cute movie for kids. I kind of liked it. Joy was really joyful and Amy Poehler definitely got a good character for her. I did kind of feel bad for sadness because it was like the other emotions didn’t trust her to do anything. I don’t think that is what happens in our head anyway. Pixar has done better but I do like the short “Lava”. It has a very catchy song. With Riley acting all strange I’m surprised the parent’s didn’t yell at her. It felt like they let her do whatever she wanted. That would not happen in real life. I kind of liked Bing Bong the imaginary friend he was funny looking. I liked Up and Toys Story way better though. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t the best movie they’ve done. I did like the cat’s emotions at the end. Very on point for a cat. They were also good with the dog’s emotions but the cat was funny. It was and adventure for Joy and Sadness but it felt to based on only those two emotions.
3 1/2 stars