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.

The return of Trainspotting to the screen such a weird bit of timing. The cast are almost all moved on to very successful careers in cinema and television, with a range of big and personal projects between them. Likewise the film sits in a period in the mid-90's where cinema seemed so vibrant with ideas and new directors (most of whom are now the new establishment); so returning to a place with that establishment didn't think it would work - particularly seeing so many big name actors trying to convince as broken shells. It felt like it would be an exercise in looking back, rather than being a new film in and of itself.

I thought this would be a negative, but actually this is what the film does, but it is a strength not a weakness. The film reconnects with the characters, who are all in their different places, some having moved more than others. Regardless though, they are all looking back. Some of them look back with fondness when their violence was at its peak, others feel regret for what little they have to show for life - some putting that on themselves, others putting it into blame on others for closing off options. This sense of hitting a certain age and looking back is universal I think, and it works well here. The base plot is not as good, but this element of nostalgia (fond and regretful) mixes across the film well and carries it through.

It also allows the film to do what it does in terms of style. It references the original film a lot, but thanks to this theme, it doesn't feel like it is trying to replicate it or ride on its coattails, but rather it is a touchpoint for the characters, the cast, the crew, and the viewer. Doing this strengthens that theme. Of course, it also repeats the energy of the original film, with the director/cinematographer very much pushing the style and design. This doesn't work quite as well when sometimes there is not quite the substance to carry it off.

How it would work for younger viewers, or those who have never seen the first film, I don't know. But for me it had the style and energy it needed to keep it all moving, but what worked most was that it took that feeling of a backwards looking film, and made that a strength that ran through the 4th wall from the characters out to the production and to the viewer. It is not a match for the original film but it works very well as a companion piece.

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.

It's an OK movie. Don't really need to see the first one to like the second one, as it's about four people reconnecting with each other after twenty years, and most of the story's content is like that. Although, most of the plot does revolve around what happen in the original movie and is implemented with the idea that you did see the first one as Mark stupidly returns to his old stomping grounds knowing he stole money from his "mates"(As they say across the pond) and you can only imagine what happen afterwards.

The Franco character was the most interesting to catch up with. Despite spending most of his time in jail since the last movie, he seemed to have the most interesting situation to come back to, with a wife who did not truly miss him and a son who's becoming a man far different than the one he is as Franco has the same mentality he had when he got locked up, that no longer fits.

When we last left Mark, it seemed like he was going to do something more with his life, but as it turned out that was not the case as he has some what of a mid-life crisis when he realized his life sucks.

While Sick Boy (Now preferring Simon) and Spud seem to be stuck where they were Twenty Years ago (It happens, especially when drugs are in the mix).

T2 does not seem as lively as the originally, but in many ways this makes perfect sense, as the movie is all about getting older, and the type of person you are in your Twenties vs. who your are later in life.

It has it's amusing moments, but it does make me question weather Danny Boyle made this sequel simply for nostalgia reasons. He does not seem like that type of filmmaker, yet this movie falls into the great sequel trap as I felt not enough has changed in the past twenty years and I was expecting more.

Although I did like how the film making was done to reflected how these characters have not changed. Using a lot of camera angles and other tricks Boyle did in the very first movie.

I like the first movie, but not that much to really care about T2, but it did make me wonder what would happen next to these guys. For those of you who did love the original that much, I think you are in for a little bit of a let down.

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Sequels long after its original is always risky business. Especially one that I did not think needed it. But director Danny Boyle is back with a follow-up to one of the most influential British films of all-time.

I had only seen Trainspotting for the first time several years ago. I remember being quite impressed by it, despite me never going nuts for drug-related films. I was more interested by the style of film- making and well developed characters. It also contain one of the most distressing scenes I have seen in any film.

21 years later, and now we see where the lads are now. I saw the trailer to see if it's going to be worth it, and I was surprised how good it looked. Some of the dialogue I was hearing sounded like we were instantly back in this mad environment. With the trailer doing plenty to get me intrigued, I had pretty solid hopes for a worth sequel.

Amazingly, I felt it managed to all come together. For something that I'm sure Boyle holds very dearly to his heart, you would expect him to never go near this work again. Especially when he has never done a sequel before. But we are now here, and I think everyone did a grand job. I did not get the sense that the makers made this for an easy box office return. I felt it was there to be an actual follow-up to the events from 1996, which is fantastic to see. The tone is definitely being aimed at the people who grew up with the original. With that in mind, it will be interesting to see how it works to the generation that are of the age the cast were in the original, and see if it can relate to a broad age range.

The gang are back, and all four of them were great in their performances. Honestly, it was like they had never left. Ewan McGregor holds the film well as Renton, has many strong moments and you can tell he is enjoying getting back in the saddle. Roberty Carlyle continues to be as hilarious as Begbie was back in the day. Ewen Bremner as Spud shines the most for me, was given great development and became such a pivotal part of this sequel. I was really surprised to see Johnny Lee Miller give a great performance, as it is only recently that he has got back into movie acting after being busy with a TV series.

Another thing some sections of the audience like to see with sequels, is the level of nostalgia. The use of that and memory was cleverly done. It felt like it meant something, instead of just making us think "I'd rather be watching the original".

I have only very minor negatives. There were moments that felt a bit scattered at times and did not feel that well connected to the main story.

I was not expecting this to be so enjoyable. Boyle and his done have done a great job by keeping this a down-to-earth story and making feel like it deserves a second installment. I think what the films big strengths are, is what made the original so successful. The characters are still as memorable as ever, the writing is sharp and funny when needed, the visuals are engrossing and impactful, and the soundtrack is strong. They also managed to make the film worth seeing for people who haven't even seen the original, which was impressive to see.

When you think about it, a lot of Danny Boyle's work is about friendship, and this one is no different. I will continue to be excited for his next project, after making what will probably one of the big surprises of 2017. What a start to the year!

Rating: 8/10