Inside Out – Richards Reckons Review

When I left the cinema after watching this film, there was a change to normal. I still had my slightly awkward walk and my jacket was still sodden from the grey downpour that had dribbled all over London, so it wasn’t that – but I was wearing sunglasses. “Why oh why were you wearing sunglasses?” I hear you ask in your millions, “They’re an incredibly impractical thing to wear in a still-quite-dark room as it impairs your visibility directly and you look like a bit of a dick” I also hear you somewhat smarmily add. The answer is this; it was to cover my rather puffy eyes.

I had been crying. HARD.

This film made me cry more than any film in the cinema ever has (even harder than when I saw The Best of Me when I realised how much of my life I had wasted watching it). I’m a very masculine man, consistently mistaken for both Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Ray Winstone (don’t think about the logic of that, just accept it) and while I can be moved by films it takes a lot to make me sob but this did it – a lump materialised in my throat from the first 30 seconds, before it bulldozed the blubgates open with a gut punch to the feels.

In case you’re unsure of what Disney Pixar’s new high-concept movie is, allow me to fill you in; Riley is an 11 year old girl who we follow from her birth, from both outside and inside her head as we witness the inner mechanics of her mind; her “headquarters” are led by her five emotions Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Anger (Lewis Black). As her parents relocate her to San Francisco from Minnesota (oh jeez, no Fargo crossover here I’m afraid), Joy and Sadness get lost away from headquarters and chaos reigns in Riley’s head as they try to get back with the help of her old imaginary friend, a candy floss elephant Bing Bong (Richard Kind).

Directed by Pixar wunderkind Pete Docter, Inside Out is stunning in every capacity. The visuals are as gorgeous as you’d expect from Pixar, and more so – the emotions themselves are beautifully rendered with vibrant, active colouring and skin that looks like it’s made of fuzzy felt that make them come alive even more. San Francisco somewhat deliberately looks grey and drab whereas the rest of the palette is reserved for the vistas and landscapes inside Riley’s mind. The headquarters control room has a kooky Enterprise feel to it whereas the rest of the mindscape has character of its own; from the old school Hollywood feel of Dream Productions to the Lego Movie-esque Imagination Land, every location has been thoroughly thought about and beautifully realised on the screen.

The voice acting too is outstanding, especially from Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith and Richard Kind respectively, quipping their comedic lines with gusto and really powering through with the emotional meat (as much as one can power through meat) when they need to. It’s a very funny film too with concepts and lines reserved especially for adults (the “train of thought” for instance, or the confusion of the “facts” and “opinions” crates being a jab at the Twitter age). But it’s worth noting that the lines, actions and concepts of the film are both so funny and/or heartbreaking not just because of what they are, but what they mean for Riley, and what it’s saying about the very fabric of being human at all. It teaches us that we need to embrace all of our emotions and all of our memories – in fact, the movie makes a whole plot point out of quite why Sadness is needed at all, which is a fair criticism you may have of the film before you wander into the multiplex. The commentary that this film has on human personalities and psychology and even life itself elevates it above any standard animation fare, teaching children and adults alike about depression and about what makes you you. It also provides an explanation as to why songs from adverts get in your head, which is handy because I’ve had the “if you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit join our Club” song in my head for the past 23 years and now I finally know why (bloody Forgetters).

My only worry is that because it’s so high concept and at times challenging that some kids may get confused about what’s going on or may even not like it. But for everybody else Inside Out is utterly wonderful film that delivers in spades for your funny bones and tear ducts. Bring your sunglasses though – you’ll need them…

Marvel Super Heroes 4D Experience (Richards Reckons Review)

Without this sounding too much like a diary entry (trust me, I’ll spare you the emotional and existential laments of my diary entries; that and I want to save SOMETHING for my inevitable autobiography), today I went to Madame Tussaud’s in London. Now, don’t worry, I’m not going to review the whole place itself as I’m sure you all know it’s a cracker of an attraction in which you walk around looking at expertly-rendered waxworks of famous people, from the good (Helen Mirren), the bad (Hitler shows up, that rotter) AND the ugly (I’ll use this as another opportunity to attack Hitler – seriously, screw the guy).

I hadn’t been in years, and so it was to my sheer joy that at the end of the place they have a whole section dedicated to Marvel superheroes. As you’d expect, there were waxworks of Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hulk, Iron Man and even Hawkeye, but I noticed that we were looking at these waxy heroes while in a queue for something else – it is of course the British way to be near perpetually in a queue for something, whether consciously or unconsciously. It was then I noticed (honestly, I should be at Scotland Yard with this skill set) a clock counting down to the “Marvel Super Heroes 4D Experience”.

This intrigued me, as any counting down clock does. I wanted to know what on earth this experience was, and how it penetrated the 4th dimension. So I diligently waited in line, holding in my pent up aggression at people pushing in (I probably have a stomach ulcer) like a good reserved Englishman. At around the 5 minute mark, a man in a white coat appeared, asking with a microphone if we were all having a good time, much like an eMC at a Dee-Jay set (yep, I’m still young, you better believe it), and proceeded to waste the next few minute by going through every single country he could possibly think of and asking if there was anybody from there about. He was probably one away from Trinidad & Tobago before he announced we could go into the next room.

Within the 10-15 minutes I was in that next room, I had an absolute blast.

It was an auditorium with screens the whole way around the circular roof, with a main screen at the front (rather sensibly, for everybody’s neck’s sakes). We took our seats and the lights went down, and there on the screen to greet us were Spider-Man and a very The-Incredibles flavoured Captain America, who had just arrived outside Buckingham Palace. The first thing you notice is your seat rumbling as Cap drives his bike to the gates. It’s much like the sensation you get when you play on a games console with Dualshock enabled – it’s a nice, more immersive touch. What follows is a very cheesy but extremely loveable series of events which involves Dr Doom attacking London with giant robots, and various Marvel heroes (pleasingly including Ms Marvel) defending the capital and the very building you’re in from Doombots. The sequences are pretty cool on their own, but they’re combined with a cocktail of physical effects that are with you inside the theatre that makes it that much more grin inducing. Well, that’s if you’re like me (read: an idiot), and you can get a kick out of feeling a blast of air on your neck every time Iron Man fires his repulsers, or a poke in the back (easy tiger) every time Wolverine gets his claws out for the lads.

The more cynical (or, rather, “un-fun”) of you will not particularly enjoy this attraction as much if at all due to it’s cheesy and cartoony nature (there’s a cringe inducing part at the end where they say that “[the audience] are the real heroes” despite the fact we didn’t do anything. It’s such a Cap thing to say…), but if you go with it then it’s a hell of a fun ride. Come and watch it while you can!