How T2 Trainspotting juggles change and continuity is quite extraordinary. In a world of disappointing reboots and sequels that don’t quite justify their existence, Danny Boyle’s follow-up to his drug-addled 1996 icon is not only good, it’s damn near perfect, complementing the first without repeating it as we catch up with Renton (Ewan McGregor), Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), Spud (Ewen Bremner) and – yep – Begbie (Robert Carlyle) 20 years after Renton split with the bag full of drug money. For this overdue revisit, Boyle looks to Irvine Welsh’s ill-received Porno but doesn’t quite follow the novel to a tee, instead he and returning screenwriter John Hodge use their very welcome judgement to piece together a story that should go far in satisfying Trainspotting’s enormous cult following.
One thing that’s for sure is despite the age that kept these characters and their actors apart for so long, all four leads slip back into their roles like they were born to do it. The difference now is that instead of the original’s teeth-gnashing and frenetic heroin rush we get a contemplative, highly nostalgic and surprisingly poignant muse on age and bitter regret; on responsibility and temptation; on making the same mistakes and showing little growth but trying desperately to break the cycle. T2 is very much defined by looking back at it all while caught in the trap of middle-aged monotony, throwing these actors into an explosive dynamic, violently torn apart by unfinished business and riddled with tension.
Boyle doesn’t just sit back, throw these characters into a cage and watch the drama unfold either. The lauded director is doing most of the heavy-lifting, recapturing the kinetic energy and knack for sensory overload that made him such a big name to begin with. His style has very much carried over from the first, with T2 shot in much the same way as its predecessor: scintillating and visceral with an abstract take on heightened realism. Though it may not be as biting in its darkly comic pulse, there are moments of pure brilliance which channel the same highs and lows of the first, reshaped and spewed into an aging world of isolation and desperation.
Perhaps the most noticeable trick in Boyle’s technically proficient repertoire are the self-mythologising – though clever – attempts at mirroring, and even using, scenes from the first through broad-strokes in Hodge’s script. It boils down to sardonic sentimentality, whether it’s opening with Renton running on a treadmill or chastising Simon (Sick Boy) for the death of his baby, a gruesome image that has stuck with audiences for decades. If that’s not enough, Boyle even introduces the occasional flashback to these characters at a very young age, drilling home the poignancy of friendship torn apart. The nostalgia can feel overindulgent at times – especially as we revisit a substantially rebooted “choose life” monologue – but in most cases it works incredibly well.
There’s a lot of symbolism here, all of which represent a deep-seated need for reflection that’s sadly lost in the temptation of greed, glory and revenge – all imagined virtues set in varying degrees within each of these characters. Well, maybe except Spud; Bremner is brilliant in the criminally underused but important role as he shatters the frame of dependency with a true need for independence and personal redemption.
Also in-line with the 1996 original are the smart, knowing song choices. Boyle works a soundtrack that nods heavily to the first in a way that truly evokes nostalgia and emotion for the audience. You’ll hear it when British producer High Contrast helps set the tone during the opening scene. You’ll hear it when the sombre stripped keys of “Born Slippy” enhance moments of regret, or when Underworld’s seminal hit morphs into the Houston-inflected “Slow Slippy”. And you’ll hear it when The Prodigy offer their smashing take on “Lust for Life”, popped in at the perfect moment. In fact, the only misstep here is wedging in Wolf Alice’s “Silk”, an otherwise fantastic song which moves away from the film’s gritty surrealism and falls out of step with it’s meticulously built atmosphere.
What all sets off this unrelenting momentum is Renton’s oddly timed homecoming, the reasons for which are kept vague apart from a health mishap in Amsterdam. Soon enough he reconnects with Spud and gets involved with Simon’s sexual extortion scheme, which he has concocted with Anjela Nedyalkova’s charasmatic Veronika, the only real new player in this game and a wild-card catalyst caught in the middle of a slow-burning showdown between old friends. Running alongside this is an unaware Begbie, who has conveniently escaped from prison and is as sociopathic and belligerent as ever before. It’s to be expected that he falls into the role of antagonist once he enters the ring, and though his love of motor-mouthed, uncompromising regional dialect may have toned down, the wild-eyed fugitive is lovingly treated with complexity and nuance, tasks for which Carlyle is more than capable.
Coming just short of a full circle, T2 retraces the sordid history between former allies and inches towards closure for the events of Trainspotting. Not only that but it works hard to effectively instill a sense of personal reflection within an audience who has grown with that generation-defining classic, pushing them towards their own personal contemplation in a way often reserved for independent cinema. It’s an unexpected ride in that sense, and goes to show the raw power nostalgic dips into pop-culture can have if only they are treated with dignity and done right.
Review Score: FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
T2 Trainspotting will screen in Australian cinemas from Thursday 23rd February
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