Review of T2 Trainspotting (2017) by Patrick L — 15 Jun 2017

"If your second go-around doesn't stand as tall as the first one, then what was the purpose in making this sequel?".

Movie Review: T2: Trainspotting.

Date Viewed: April 19 2017.

Directed By Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, Trance, Steve Jobs, 127 Hours, The Beach and 28 Days Later).

Screenplay By John Hodge, Based on the novel "Trainspotting" and its follow-up "Porno" by Irvine Walsh.

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle, Kevin McKidd, Anjela Nedyalkova, James Cosmo, Kyle Fitzpatrick, Shirley Henderson and Kelly Macdonald.

If director Danny Boyle was trying to recapture the magic from the first "Trainspotting" film, why didn't he try harder? The British quartet (Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Robert Carlyle and Jonny Lee Miller) are back but they don't sing any new tunes. "T2: Trainspotting" is the 21-years too late follow-up to "Trainspotting", the 1996 drug-fueled haven which became an instant hit with critics and became a cult classic on home video. Over two decades later, Danny Boyle has now reassembled his old quartet for a reunion that feels awkwardly botched.

Since the first "Trainspotting", everyone involved has become more popular now than they were in 1996. Ewan McGregor became an instant movie star thanks to his role as Young Obi-Wan Kenobi in the three "Star Wars" prequels and he has done other marvellous work since then. Jonny Lee Miller has a hit TV show on CBS, Ewen Bremner and Robert Carlyle have had fine supporting roles in other good films and Danny Boyle has had a successful career as a director, he made "Slumdog Millionaire" (which won him an Oscar), "127 Hours", "28 Days Later" and "Steve Jobs". All of whom have done great stuff since then but now with "T2: Trainspotting", it feels more like a high school reunion that never felt memorable.

20 years after fleeing the UK for stealing half of the sixteen-thousand pounds from his friends, Mark Renton (McGregor) returns to Edinburgh, Scotland to try and make amends with the people he left behind. Mark has since made a life for himself in Amsterdam while Daniel "Spud" Murphy (Bremner) has lost his construction job as he continues to struggle with his heroin addiction, Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson (Miller) has made a living for attempting to blackmail men by luring them into doing lurid sex videos and Francis "Franco" Begbie (Carlyle) is currently serving his 25-year prison sentence for Mark Renton's unflinching betrayal 20 years ago.

When Renton also tours his childhood home, he learns from his father (James Cosmo) that his mother passed away while he was gone. When Mark meets up with Sick Boy, he attempts to make peace with him but that only results in the two of them having a fist fight at the bar. Mark and Sick Boy eventually make peace with each other and they become partners in various robbery schemes and they intend to use the money for the renovations for Sick Boy's Port Sunshine pub and turn it into a brothel. Meanwhile, Begbie escapes from prison and he manages to find his way back home reuniting him with his wife and university-bound son. Begbie wants his son to instead burgling houses all over Edinburgh with him but his son just wants to attend the university and have a normal life which doesn't please him. Begbie is also hunting down Mark for stealing half of the pounds they'd made in a drug deal and he wants major revenge.

Not much has changed for our four main characters. Even though Mark is no longer addicted to heroin, he and the other members of the quartet haven't changed at all. The only character who has really made a life for herself is Diane (Kelly Macdonald), she was Mark's 15-year-old girlfriend from the first film. Diane (in a brief appearance) now works as a solicitor and she gives legal advice to Mark when he runs into some trouble.

The main aspect of the film is primarily the relationships between the members of the quartet and how they've changed after 20 years but what's missing in "T2: Trainspotting" is the dynamic chemistry they developed from the first film. There's a new female character here named Veronika (Anjela Nedyalkova) but she's just a blank state as Sick Boy's Bulgarian girlfriend who later begins an affair with Mark.

There are also a few biting nods from the 1996 original including the theme song from the first "Trainspotting" (Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life") and Mark Renton's "Choose Life" monologue but taking bits and pieces of nostalgia doesn't necessarily translate into a good movie. If your second go-around doesn't stand as tall as the first one, then what was the purpose in making this sequel?