The 1996 dark comedy Trainspotting was such an amazing piece of work from the talented director Danny Boyle. It’s not easy to make things like overdosing and heroin work in the world of comedies, even dark ones, but the movie proved to be a very engaging and entertaining story that marked itself in the halls of iconic films. When it was announced that a sequel was being considered, I was intrigued. I don’t suffer from toxic nostalgia so my memories of watching the film weren’t going to be obliterated by the existence of a sequel. I finally got around to checking it out and I was way more impressed with T2 Judgement Day Trainspotting than I thought I was going to be.
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| Just lean back and relax... |
20 years after robbing his friends and fleeing town, Mark Renton returns home after having a heart attack. Even though he’s clean from drugs, his life is falling apart and his reunion with the friends he robs doesn’t begin so well. Simon Williamson (Jonny Lee Miller) is running a failing pub and blackmailing people for money, Spud (Ewen Bremner) is on a spiral of depression that leads him down to a suicide attempt and Franco Begbie (Robert Carlyle) is serving time. Eventually, Simon and Renton start up their old, mischievous ways and decide they’re going to open a brothel while Spud is going to write his memoirs. All they have to do is make sure Begbie doesn’t find out that Renton is back…
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| "I'm okay..." |
The hard part when debuting a sequel to a film—especially when the film is an icon and acclaimed—is creating something that lives up to the original. There’s also the real issue that the sequel could feel like it is attempting to recapture or just recreate the magic the first one had. There’s already a stigma against sequels because a lot of people tend to think of them as cash grabs (and I won’t deny that many are) but sometimes they’re around to continue the story and provide more depth to characters. T2 ended up being exactly that. This one isn’t trying to be the first movie but rather expand on these characters and their lives and I was very impressed with it.
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| Begbie is an insane badass but I couldn't help but laugh my ass off at his face during the dance club scene. |
I’m definitely a fan of director Danny Boyle and love the eye he has for directing. He always seems to have a very defined and methodical approach to how he expresses his stories and that is really evident here in this sequel. Sequences are beautifully shot, the editing flows so well and helps make the plot move like a gentle river and I really loved it when he would get more surreal and use stylized imagery to convey emotion and turmoil within the characters. Boyle’s eye and direction is one of key elements that stopped this film from feeling like a rehash and made it feel like it was its own film. Much like the characters and the story, Boyle’s work on this feature feels like an evolution and a maturing from what he did with the first film and it parallels the events and individuals in the story so well. It really is a beautifully shot and crafted film.
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| "So, after all these years...do you still have a lust for life? Eh? See what I did there?" |
From a storytelling perspective, I really enjoyed this one because it feels less like just a churned out sequel and more like the continuing saga of these characters. Seeing how they evolved and changed was endlessly captivating. These guys are no longer the same men we first saw all those years ago and watching them struggle—whether it’s to be a better person, correct past wrongs, or to enact revenge they’ve been waiting on—was truly engaging. Mixing this story with beautiful visuals and incredible performances made T2 Trainspotting pretty astounding and made for an experience that was on par with the first film but also an experience all its own.
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