T2: Trainspotting - Review

Rating: 4 out of 5

THE big question surrounding Danny Boyle’s decision to revisit Trainspotting 20 years on was whether he could ever come close to recapturing the iconic nature of the original? Or would it prove to be an even bigger folly than recent decisions to revive the less revered likes of Zoolander or Independence Day?

Well, the answer is a resounding yes to the former. T2: Trainspotting is a triumphant return. And here’s why…

Choose T2 because it’s been done for the right reasons, as a labour of love, rather than a get rich quick opportunity to try to kick-start a franchise.

Choose T2 because Boyle has recaptured the relentless energy of the original while investing it with a greater maturity.

Choose T2 for the way in which it combines a keen sense of nostalgia with something equally fresh but still relevant.

Choose T2 to see the clever way in which Boyle revisits past iconic moments without making them feel like re-treads, something even Star Wars: The Force Awakens couldn’t quite manage.

Choose T2 for a welcome reminder of just how great an actor Ewan McGregor can be, investing his Renton with a cautious desire to return home to Edinburgh to atone for past sins, while trying to put his own life back together.

Choose T2 for another chilling reminder of just how ferociously psychopathic Robert Carlyle’s Begbie can be.

Choose T2 for Ewan Bremner’s desperately sad (and still addicted) Spud and Jonny Lee Miller’s scheming Sick Boy, both on excellent form.

Choose T2 for Anthony Dodd Mantle’s beautiful cinematography, which illuminates Edinburgh and serves as a nice juxtaposition to some of the more ugly elements of this drug-addled tale.

Choose T2 for another exhilarating soundtrack, which nods to everyone from Underworld to Young Fathers via Queen and, yes, Iggy Pop.

Choose T2 to once again be dazzled by Boyle’s ingenuity behind the camera, shifting from the hilarious to the grotesque to the horrific to the poignant while never upsetting the film’s rhythm.

Choose T2 for the way in which Renton tears down society’s insatiable lust for social media, misogyny, pornography and technology while delivering another brilliantly realised Choose Life speech.

Choose T2 to be moved and entertained in spite of the inherent flaws in every character.

Choose T2 because it’s that rare sequel that works just as well – and maybe sometimes better – than the first.

Choose T2 because… well because your cinema-going life will feel richer for having done so.

Certificate: 18
Running time: 117mins
UK Release Date: January 27, 2017

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