Twenty years after leaving them behind after taking the money from a drug deal, Renton returns home, where he finds those he left behind waiting for him...
I'll be honest. When it was announced they were making a sequel/follow-up to the classic Trainspotting, I thought it a bad idea. Although it had the main cast all returning, the same director and writer and is based on the book follow-up to Trainspotting, Porno, by the same author, Irvine Welsh I had my doubts another film would capture the spirit of 'vibe' of the first one.
I should have known better.
Danny Boyle is one of the best and most versatile directors working today. He can adapt his directing to different genres very easily. Here, he easily slips back into the same style from Trainspotting in working on this film but brings all of the experience he has gained to bear here too. T2 (as it is known) is the work of a director at the top of his game.
He's aided immensely by the script from John Hodge. I haven't read the novels of Irvine Welsh, so I don't know if changes were made for the film, but Hodge (who was actually Oscar nominated for his work on Trainspotting) has written a superb script. that is as much about what the passing of time does to people as it is about the story being told. It also, it has to be said is often quite funny in unexpected ways too.
Renton returns home because his life hasn't worked out as he hoped. Begbie is still in prison. Simon is using a prostitute, Veronika, to blackmail men and hopes to create a brothel in his pub. Spud hasn't changed or moved on in twenty years. As the story progresses, they remember the past, both events and their relationships, which in turn reflect the way they are now. The story might have worked well as a completely stand alone film, but thanks to the first film and crucially the twenty years that have past in real and film time, it gives the film a poignancy that might surprise many.
The cast are superb. Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller and Ewen Bremner slip back into their roles as Renton, Begbie, Simon and Spud very easily indeed, the actual standout being Bremner as Spud take more to the centre stage in the later part of the film. Kelly Macdonald, James Cosmo and Shirley Henderson reprise their roles from Trainspotting albeit in little more than cameos. Of the new cast members Anjela Nedyalkova as Veronika is superb. While she connects with them all, apart from Begbie, the scenes of Veronika and Spud are actually quite touching in their own way thanks, to both actors.
The soundtrack is another great mix of tracks, reprising some from the original in surprising ways. It's superbly shot and edited. There really is little here that disappoints. The ending too is very good and if this is the end of these character's story, then it is a worthy one.
If the first Trainspotting film was aimed those growing up in 1996, T2 is definitely aimed at those who have grown up with the first film. The Trainspotting name will certainly appeal to those who are younger certainly and they will enjoy it I think, but those of us, like myself, who saw Trainspotting back in cinemas in 1996 will get more out of the film I think.
It's rare that a sequel gets to be as good or even better than the original. Most sequels tend to simply reprise the story from the first then repeat the same story over again (looking at you Independence Day: Resurgence). But when a sequel takes the events of the first and expands the story and adds to it, then it makes that film all the more better. T2 may not be as good as Trainspotting, but that's not a fault of this film, just how good the original was.
As a stand alone film T2 Trainspotting is good. As a sequel to Trainspotting, it's great.
Like I said, I should have known.
Rating - 4/5
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