Reviews & Ratings for
T2 Trainspotting (2017)

Sequels are tough.

They're tougher when the first movie turned into a cult hit that's clearly stood the test of time.

I can't imagine the pressure Danny Boyle may have felt when making T2. Maybe he felt none, maybe it came naturally. I can't speak for him.

I can however speak for myself.

And just like any person who sees that one of their beloved films - something they hold on to so dearly is going to run the risk of tarnishing it's name with a sequel that couldn't possibly top the first one, you can't help but feel a tinge of apprehension.

The fact that T2 is loosely based on Porno - the literary sequel to the original, did alleviate some concerns seeing as there was a legitimate sequel written earlier anyway.

Set 20 years after the original, the movie shows us a sober Renton who seems to have done well for himself returning to Edinburgh. Spud hasn't fared too well, where after losing everything, he's back on the drip. Sick Boy has taken up running a bar and has ambitions of opening a brothel in place of it. He also happens to enagage in a slice of blackmail alongside his Bulgarian girlfriend. Typical.
All this while Begbie is serving 25 years in prison, although he does manage to break out.

Needless to say, the four are all brought back together with Sick Boy and Begbie still not over Rentons betrayal 20 years ago. While Begbie is characteristically violent in his vindictiveness and won't settle for anything less than Renton's head, Sick Boy and Renton enter into an uneasy partnership in their joint desire to open up a brothel. Ewan McGregor (Renton) and Jonny Lee Miller (Sick Boy) play off each other brilliantly and the movie is really built upon the interactions between the two fiends with Spud always acting as the naive soul that's simply along for the ride.

Much like the first movie, T2 is filled with acidic, black humour and a gritty portrayal of reality in the Scottish underbelly. The boys have aged and so have their outlooks on life, Renton's iconic 'Choose Life' speech is given a new spin - to reflect with how times have changed, with not only the four, but with the world itself.

T2, in ways, is a grown up version of Trainspotting. That means that while at it's core it's the same slick, stylish film, it's a little less fun, not as exhilarating and a touch more sentimental. But it's only right that it is.

Choosing life means you choose to grow up.

4/5