Review of T2 Trainspotting (2017) by Wayne K — 22 Aug 2017

Terminator 2: Trainspotting comes a solid 2 decades after the original, which was dark, gritty, uncompromising and easily one of the most revered and influential Scottish films of all time. Its sequel gets off to a rocky start, with its earlier scenes containing one too many references to its predecessor, whether they be blatant or attemptedly subtle, but soon things pick up, and the film establishes itself as its own entity, not just an imitation of what came before.

The characters are changed, their interactions pay homage to the first movie while also being true to the current situation, and all are played well by the returning actors. The story might be a little jumbled, but it's nice to see the crew back in action, and the fact that 20 real years have passed since their last outing means they certainly look the part.

It has real kinetic energy, a spirit of anarchy and frequent diversions into utter chaos. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, having expected little more than a stale retread, but Danny Boyle has made Trainspotting 2 truly its own thing.

It by no means exceeds the first one, but considering how important that film was, it's not a shame to say that it tried. If you were never enamoured with the original this probably won't do anything for you, but if you were then it will, if nothing else, remind you what it was that made it so damn good.