- Actors: Ewen Bremner, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Miller, Ewan McGregor, Kelly Macdonald
- Director: Danny Boyle
- Producers: Danny Boyle, Bernie Bellew, Christian Colson, Andrew MacDonald
- Disc Format: AC-3, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen
- Language: English
- Subtitles: French, Spanish, English
- Dubbed: French
- Audio Description: French
- Region: Region A/1
- Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
- Rated: R
- Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
- Release Date: June 27, 2017
- Digital Copy Expiration Date: December 31, 2019
- Run Time: 117 minutes
Danny Boyle has
never directed a sequel, but it is fitting that he would start with the film
that made him an international success. While Shallow Grave had proven his talents as a director, Trainspotting proved his ability to
create a lasting hit. Part drug film, part heist film, and part coming-of-age
drama fueled by its energetic soundtrack, surreal cinematography, and
postmodern editing, Trainspotting was
an instant cult classic. T2:
Trainspotting is a sequel 20 years in the making, and it brings back these
same elements, with themes that have matured even when its characters have not.
First and
foremost, Boyle has made a movie for fans of the original. While the story in
the sequel certainly stands up as a standalone film, much of the joy comes from
subtle (and not-so-subtle) references to the original, almost like hearing
inside jokes from friends after a lengthy period apart. The first film ended
with Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) leaving Scotland after robbing his friends of
the money they stole together in a heist, so it is only fitting that the sequel
deal with his return. Each of the Renton’s
three friends has different reactions to his reappearance, with various degrees
of pent up anger from the betrayal. The only one that seems to hold no
resentment is Spud (Ewen Bremner), who is also the one still struggling the
most with the drug habits from their past. Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller) gives
him a beating before forgiving him, whereas Begbie seems determined to kill his
former friend.
While there is
still some of the drug addiction that preoccupied much of the original film,
the perspective has changed a great deal. Renton
remains sober, though this does not necessarily make him any more mature or
less selfish, and Sick Boy may not use heroin any longer, but he puts as much
cocaine as he can buy up his nose. Spud is the one who struggles the most with
drug addiction, but he is also the character who develops the most over the
course of the film, learning to channel his addiction to substances into a
healthier creative outlet after losing his family along with their respect.
Begbie’s drug of choice was always violence, and that has changed none, even
after spending the 20 years behind bars.
Even if the drug
aspects take backseat in this sequel, this just allows the other elements to
take center stage, including a series of daft money-making schemes. At the
forefront is Sick Boy’s plan to open a brothel with the help of his Bulgarian
girlfriend, Veronika (Anjela Nedyalkova), who he seems to have met while she
was working as a prostitute. The pair have been blackmailing wealthy
businessmen in order to raise money for the project, though the arrival of Renton increases the
creativity of their money-making scams. It doesn’t take Renton long to slip back into his old immoral
ways, even if he has matured from his drug habits.
There are many
strands in the narrative, but the plot is more episodic rather than containing
any storylines that have true resolution. This is more about the characters and
how they have developed rather than whether or not Begbie will get his revenge
or if the brothel will ever actually open. By making it about the characters,
Boyle slows down the pacing of the narrative, despite a few signature sequences
of chase scenes and unexpected violence. Even if these characters don’t seem to
have matured much in the 20 years since the last film, Boyle has as a
filmmaker. In many ways, this film feels like a stylistic and thematic bridge
between his past and current filmography. Even if it will never reach the level
of success that the first film saw, T2
is a welcome addition into the accomplished filmmaker’s body of work.
The Blu-ray
release of T2 comes with a digital
copy, but no DVD. The special features on the disc a fairly limited, though
each of them is worthwhile for fans of the franchise. While not all of the
deleted scenes are necessary, they do give more material for those who have
been waiting 20 years for a sequel. There is also a featurette with a
conversation between Boyle and the cast about the process of bringing the
characters back after 20 years, not to mention a spectacular commentary track
with Boyle and writer Jon Hodge, who loosely adapted the screenplay from the
Irvine Welsh novels.
Entertainment Value:
7.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 8/10
Historical
Significance: 7/10
Special Features: 6.5/10
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