Director: Danny Boyle
Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Duration: 117 minutes
T2 Trainspotting (Blu-ray) – Movie Review
It’s been over twenty years since the film Trainspotting came out, yet it still holds its reputation of being quite good. It made us curious to see how T2 Trainspotting would turn out, as there was a high standard set already. Also, it being twenty years later made us a bit apprehensive of what the film might look like, but we must say we were quite pleasantly surprised with how it turned out.
You could say that T2 Trainspotting continues right where the first film ended, be it twenty years later. Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) comes back to Edinburgh twenty years after he stole sixteen thousand pounds in drug money from his friends Simon aka ‘Sick Boy’ (Jonny Lee Miller), Daniel aka ‘Spud’ (Ewen Bremner) and Francis Begbie aka ‘Franco’ (Robert Carlyle). He stole it from all but Spud we should say, as he gave him his share later. Renton is married now, and built up a new life with his Dutch wife in Amsterdam. Was married really, as he and his wife are going through a divorce. As his wife wants the apartment, Mark doesn’t have a place to stay anymore, which is the real reason he returned to Edinburgh. When he goes to visit Spud, hoping to catch up, he’s actually only just in time to save him from killing himself. It’s clear Spud isn’t doing too well, certainly when Renton finds out that he’s still an addict, and that his girlfriend Gail keeps him away from his son Fergus.
Renton also visits Simon, who now owns a pub he inherited, and is planning to turn it into a brothel. At first, Simon is pissed about the money Renton stole from him, but in the end, they come to an understanding. Renton agrees to help Simon to get an EU loan for the development of his brothel, and the two seem to be best friends once again. Meanwhile, Begbie escapes from prison and gets right back into burgling. When he visits Spud, he finds out that Renton gave Spud his share of the sixteen thousand pounds. Now that he’s a free man again, he’s out for revenge.
Despite the fact that this film builds further on the events that happened in the first film, you can actually watch this film without having seen the first one. The key events from the first film are mentioned just enough for you to have an idea of everyone’s state of mind, but without being too long and too complicated. Of course certain references might get lost for those who haven’t seen the first film, but further, this film stands well on its own. The story is quite gritty as expected, even though it sometimes seems to be a bit all over the place, which is partly because of the many characters.
When it comes to acting, there is nothing much to complain about. Big names like Ewan McGregor and Jonny Lee Miller again prove their worth, and also Robert Carlyle and Ewen Bremner signed up again. It’s nice to see that the original cast all got back together again to make this film. While they all did fantastic jobs, somehow Ewen Bremner stood out for us, maybe because his character is the most likeable one of the bunch, but certainly because of his fine acting too.
The Blu-ray edition of T2 Trainspotting comes with a fairly standard batch of special features, which are appreciated nonetheless. You’ll get to wade through commentaries, deleted scenes and a feature about the movie being ‘twenty years in the making’. Overall these extras don’t really add to the overall story value, but they might be pleasant to take a look at once, especially if you’re fond of the original movie, and this long awaited sequel.
Conclusion
T2 Trainspotting is a nice sequel to the original Trainspotting film. You can clearly feel that the characters have grown over the years, yet at the same time it’s like they were never gone. This is a bonus as well for those who haven’t seen the first film, as it’s fairly easy to just jump in. Every now and then, the story seems to go a bit all over the place, but all in all, we did like it very well, and would definitely suggest you go check it out.
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