T2 Trainspotting (2017)

T2 Trainspotting: Directed by Danny Boyle. With Ewan McGregor, Logan Gillies, Ben Skelton, Aiden Haggarty. After 20 years abroad, Mark Renton returns to Scotland and reunites with his old friends Sick Boy, Spud, and Begbie.

“Whatu0026#39;s with the title? Everybody knows that T2 means only Terminator 2 and this kind of abbreviation should not be used in other cases! But the movie itself is not bad, not bad at all. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMost of all a sequel and fan service to modern classic „Trainspottingu0026quot; (1996), still a damn fine junkie movie in its own right, which flung Ewan McGregor and director Danny Boyle to international movie career-dom. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt also certainly helped the other stars such as Kelly Macdonald, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller and Ewen Bremner – but they have stayed relatively less known to wider public, especially just by the name.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI donu0026#39;t want to reveal too much about the events but the Renton is back home and tries to make up with the old buddies that he robbed blind before leaving for good 20 years ago.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo, the gang is back, ready to give choosing life another go. If you care about the first movie, you will probably like the new one too. If you donu0026#39;t know the characters and faces, then itu0026#39;s probably harder to hop on the „Scottish city youth working class junkieu0026quot; train and instantly care about the main characters and their quarrels.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut everybody behind and in front of the camera gives their darndest best to make you like the material, and they succeed. The result has enough action, humor, suspense, and depth to be recommended for newcomers also.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBoth „Trainspottingsu0026quot; are partially based on the novel of the same name by Irvine Welsh. The 1996u0026#39;s movie was a straight-er adaptation, the second one uses a bit of both the original novel and the sequel „Pornou0026quot; to create something new-ish. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt would be fair to call the result an action comedy that stands on its own, but keeping the originalu0026#39;s sense of black comedy intact, and the characters of course. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e„T2u0026quot; may not look much like the „Trainspottingu0026quot; but it feels so fresh and captivating that thatu0026#39;s not gonna be a problem. We will get all kinds of tongue-in-cheek nods to the original experience but the visual style is exciting and modern, as it should many years later. Boyle truly is one of the more interesting directors working today, as his countless fans would gladly agree. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e.Iu0026#39;ve read many of Welshu0026#39;s books, including „Trainspottingu0026quot; and „Pornou0026quot;. Iu0026#39;ve also seen all of the movie versions (excluding „Ecstasyu0026quot;), with the favorite being „The Acid Houseu0026quot;. I feel that „T2u0026quot; is the most un-Welsh-like adaptation so far, and it strays from the novel, but itu0026#39;s not a bad thing because the movie makers have managed to carve out something new, fresh and interesting. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThereu0026#39;s less of doing drugs in „T2u0026quot; but somehow thereu0026#39;s an even sharper sense of what drugs can do to a person and relationships in the long run. The deeper message is sharp: if you donu0026#39;t find a meaning to your life, thereu0026#39;s not gonna be much of a life for you in store.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eActing is fine all around but I especially like how much Carlyle as the notorious Begbie has changed. He seems even more reckless, horrifying and dangerous than before – up there with cinema historyu0026#39;s greatest bad guys surely –, but thereu0026#39;s also a new unspoken dimension of sadness and unlived potential which the actor translates and brings to the screen. Itu0026#39;s a masterful performance and actually the emotional anchor to movie as a whole.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo all in all, this is a good example of a sequel done right. I did not exactly need this but am surely glad that they made it anyway, and with some conviction and purpose. It will not stay in memory as long as the predecessor but itu0026#39;s well made in every aspect!”