T2 Trainspotting

It was pleasurably nostalgic to see these characters again. They are so well written and so convincingly brought to life by the amazing cast that they almost feel a part of you.

I awaited the release of T2 with immense anticipation and desperately wanted to see this film. But, despite a significant amount of bias on my part, my honest take was that the premise felt a little forced and contrived.

It was always going to lack the grit, energy, authenticity, depth of meaning and crackerjack dialogue of the original. Part of me feels they should have left the 1996 masterpiece to sit singularly, where it belongs, as the greatest British film of all time.

But then again I can't fault them for attempting to resurrect the story, as Irvine Welsh did. The acting performances aren't as raw, heartfelt or believable as the first and that youthful energy is certainly missing. But it's the screenplay that disappoints in my opinion - it's a little loose, vague and disconnected. I'd even go as far as to describe it as ordinary and unremarkable.

In all fairness, I think these issues were pretty much unavoidable. Following Trainspotting was an impossible task. The film suffers from the universal truth that life becomes more humdrum the older you get, meaning that creating a dynamic storyline was inevitably more challenging.

Even if the original film isn't as dear to you as it is to me, if you watched them back to back it would be pretty obvious that T2 is a failure, sadly.

It's not often I go to the cinema to watch a day-one screening, but my love of Irvine Welsh and the previous Trainspotting film meant I just could not resist.

This film is a wonderful show of friendship and Begbie's psycho temper which encapsulates left over stories from the first book and large portions of 'Porno' the following book.

I'm pleased to announce that all characters still have that beautiful chemistry featured in the original and work to provide scenes of pure comedy genius and others of emotion and absolute anger. The film really lives and breathes nostalgia of its predecessor, as well as showing how, even if we all change on the outside, we are still the same on the insides. We all make the same choices in life over and over.

My only complaint with this film is that it didn't feel as slick as the first film. This is probably because of the vast improvements in cinematography which you'd expect considering there's an over 20 year age gap. Transitional shots mean you're waiting that little bit longer, but you are probably looking at some of the best views Scotland has to offer in that time.

To sum up, I'd have to say this film is essential viewing for anybody who's seen the first film or read the books. There are so many references which you'll pick up on, leaving you with a wry and joyous smile throughout. For anyone else, you need to watch the original film first (and understand Scottish for anyone reading not in the UK), but I assure you that this film will not disappoint. It's textbook Danny Boyle packed full of nostalgia

T2 is all you could hope a sequel can be. Independent and respectful to its predecessor while standing on its own merits as a great movie, art even, powerful maybe. 20 years on things have changed,mostly. It's funny,sad and mature above all else. Boyles directing is complemented with a great script and beautiful cinematography. On to the important aspects, the film plays cleverly With nostalgia without depending on it,giving the audience of the 1996 cult classic something to savor, while also standing independently as an entertaining and even inventive film. Performances are a solid as you'd expect, Robert Carlyle returns in a fantastic albeit expected performance as begbie. The film introduces the advancement in technology over the intervening years with inventive and clever special effects, however the original also boasted some amazing trick of the lens. Finally upon leaving the cinema one gets a feeling of bittersweet and sorrowful fulfillment, the characters we've come to know over the last 20 years hive us nearly two hours of nostalgia packed entertainment, yet one can't help but long for its energetic,frenetic and classic predecessor, no matter how good its sequel is, and it is.

An immensely challenging sequel to produce; Danny Boyle's reprisal was never going to satisfy old fans and newcomers alike.

After twenty years, there would be obvious ambiguity in how to go about writing and directing this cult-classics' sequel. 2017 is brimming with sequels of both original movies and installments to well-established series; thus this may be a recurring issue in the near future. T2 Trainspotting is very clearly a movie made for the fans of the original, for people who loved the first film but haven't watched it in years, and have fond memories of it. This film preys upon the fact that some people will be so wound up in their own nostalgia that they won't give this film the independence from the original it needed.

T2 struggles to declare itself a story of its own; literal scenes from the original Trainspotting are shown to portray a reflection on the past repeating itself; but all that this shows is an unwillingness to write a completely original plot. It is likely Danny Boyle did this to appease fans, as going in a completely different direction would then annoy those who are devoted to the first film.

The story has a great premise; the Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) returns to Scotland and meets with the lovable Spud (Ewen Bremner) and best-pal Simon (Jonny Lee Miller) once again - much to their initial disgust. Not long after, the return of Begbie (Robert Carlyle) fills the plot with more drama than a soap opera. The events that take place are mostly for comedic purpose, under the premise that the audience already know the characters (fair to assume, but not taking into account standalone viewers). A specific scene in which Simon and Mark are forced to perform a song in a loyalist pub had me laughing out loud in the cinema; so often the attempts at making the film light- hearted were received with a good response.

That being said, one of the things about the original is that it wasn't light hearted in the slightest. The characters were the only thing lovable about the film, not what happened to them necessarily, whereas T2 swaps this around - the environments were far more ostentatious in this film, bright neon lighting and fewer disgusting and dull backdrops make for a more optimistic view in this film - quite the opposite of what the original was about. It seems in trying to appease the fans of the original and placing the same characters in a repetitive-yet more flamboyant setting has managed to stray from the roots of what made Trainspotting great.

T2 could have been set anywhere provided the main characters still acted in the way that they do, and that's a shame - every piece of Trainspotting was necessary to put together the plot that was made.

Despite all of this - T2 is a good film. It's not a great film, but it certainly isn't awful either. Its' greatest failing is that it can't decide whether to create an entirely new story - which would abandon the roots of the original - or to re-hash Trainspotting - which would be total cowardice. The film does the worst of both worlds, in that it doesn't have a great deal of original thought but it also doesn't capture what the first film did.

On its own merits, T2 is a funny film; and it is enjoyable to watch. I didn't leave the theatre as disappointed as I would have anticipated, and the film didn't fail to put a smile on my face during. Despite the 20 year gap, the actors clearly haven't lost track of their alter-ego's nature - the performances were great and the chemistry that the actors had was immense, with a gleaming nod to Robert Carlyle.

I can still say I recommend T2, its not like the original in terms of quality or theme, but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy myself. I can make an odd comparison to another sequel, Aliens, in that both T2 and Aliens are very enjoyable, but both films also spoil the point of their predecessor in a sense.

"Porno" wasn't a great Irvine Welsh book, but at least it introduced new characters and updated us on the whereabouts of the original Trainspotting crew. The "prequel" Skag Boys was to my mind much much better.

The problem is, Porno couldn't really be filmed, as it concentrates on the filming of pornography. So instead, some elements (but not many) of it have been lifted to make T2, but most of T2 is "original". It's around 5% Porno if that.

However, I'd estimate that maybe 10 minutes in total of T2 is direct samples of the first film. Sure, have a bit of it in there, but we all know that T2 is a sequel of a film famous enough to have stuck in our memories. And I felt that constant referring back was after a while unnecessary, and intrusive.

There wasn't a single scene in "T2" that could hold up to anything in the original. Not one.

Look, I'm glad I saw it, but it's not something I'd really watch again more than once. Some films are classics because they are of their time: Trainspotting; Pulp Fiction; the Big Lebowski; Withnail and I. Trying to do a sequel for any of them is going to be a pointless exercise, you could never do one that holds a candle to the original.

What Boyle and co have tried to do in "T2" could have been much worse; but it couldn't have been much better either. The past is the past, and we should leave it there.