Trainspotting 2

I was 17 the first time I saw Trainspotting. Vividly remember snagging a copy from Oobie's video shop and running home to watch it with the boys. It blew us away. It hooked us in with its superb soundtrack and hilarious scenes of drugged fuelled mayhem while unknowingly to us at the time, beating us over the head with the idea that if you take heroin you were a fucking eejit and it will ruin your life by turning you into a selfish shitebag. When it was over we were exhilarated. It had a great solid ending. Satisfying. Nothing left hanging.

This is why i was slightly disheartened to hear a sequel was in the works. What more needed to be said? Would it just be a rehash of former glory? Would it cheapen the original? Happily the answer is no, it doesn't tarnish the original at all. 

Set 20 years after the 1st film, Renton is living in Amsterdam, things aren't the best so he decides to return home to Edinburgh where his old friends Spud and Sickboy are still eeking out pathetic (Spud) and morally bankrupt (Sickboy) existences. At the same time, the criminally insane Francis Begbie is getting itchy fingers while serving a 20 year jail sentence.

Much more of an ensemble piece this time around, every character gets their share of the film. Spud will break your heart while Begbie will have you on edge every time he appears. Renton and Sickboy are still a pair of selfish pricks so no change there. 

The acting is superb. Ewan McGregor and Johnny Lee Miller are solid but Robert Carlyle and Ewen Bremner as Begbie and Spud are amazing. Carlyle has presence to burn and turns in a far better and more nuanced performance this time around making the most of more screentime. Bremner however is amazing and steals the film imo. It's a heartbreaking turn from him but he'll have you in tatters laughing too. Women though are shortchanged once again. Kelly McDonald and Shirley Henderson get maybe 3 minutes of screentime between them which is a big pity. Anjela Medyalkova plays the woman lead and gets to do nothing but cause tension between the blokes which is a shame too.

The film is patchy in places but brilliant in others. It's a film about old friends meeting after 20 years so understandably is nostalgic but it relies a bit too much on nostalgia at points.The ravages of time will upset you but I suppose thats the point. The storylines that reach towards the future are far stronger and more satisfying. Plenty of super stuff though. It's a love letter to Edinburgh in places and 2 scenes, 1 set in a Glasgow pub and another in a nightclub are as good as anything from the original. Plus as said before anything with Spud is just gold. The soundtrack too is amazing, perfectly complimenting the onscreen action just like the first film. 

Yes, it's an unnecessary film as most sequels are. But happily, it doesn't tarnish the original at all. Far from it. It's still great fun.