As far as black comedies go you’ll struggle to find any darker than ‘Trainspotting’. It’s been years since I last saw that one and I’m actually surprised with how much I actually remember. Although when your film features swimming in toilets, dead babies, dead baby hauntings, brutal depictions of heroine abuse and British life, with Danny Boyle’s visuals then it’s bound to be at least memorable. ‘Trainspotting’ has been called such things as “one of the most important film in British cinema”, and it’s easy to see why. Outside of its off-putting content to some viewers it’s an amazing film, both heartfelt and hilarious why also being brutally realistic and outright horrifying. What I’m building up to is that it’s not really a film that warrants or even needs a sequel. But I couldn’t deny that from the advertising ‘T2: Trainspotting’ looked pretty good actually. With the original cast and director returning there was hope for this hopeless cause.

Picking up 20 years after where the first film let off, I guess we’re doing an off-screen version of what ‘Boyhood’ did, the story is that Mark Renton has returned to Edenborough after having stolen from his mates. He aims to gain forgiveness from Daniel (Spud) and Simon (Sick-Boy) and hopefully regain the friendship they once had, while also avoiding past mate and psychopath Franco (Begby). There is more to it but that’s the skin and bones of it. And to the films credit it handles it very well. This is exactly what a sequel should do, build on the original and develop from it while also remaining true to the spirit of the first film.

Let’s just dive right into the cast of ‘Terminator 2: Trainspotting’. ‘Trainspotting’ was the catalyst for the careers of those involved and they all return to their roles as if they never left. Ewan McGregor as Renton is our focus once more and if there was ever an actor who could hold up any film it’s Ewan McGregor (you may remember him as one of only two decent actors in the ‘Star Wars Prequels’). Here we get a likable and even relatable character given by an actor who gives everything he can to a down-to-earth and respectable performance. Renton has more faults that qualities going for him at times, but we like him anyway; for his charm and quick wit, and his passion to live his life as he can. As for his friends we have Ewen Bremner as Spud, who get much more development given to him and who becomes the most sympathetic character and performance in the whole film. Jonny Lee Miller returns with a good performance to the big screen as Simon, whose chemistry with Renton makes for most of the film. I’m really glad it is as well because it’s those two who make the film almost singlehandedly. And then there’s Robert Carlyle as Bigby, easily the most enjoyable performance of the whole film; but considering that it’s Carlyle that should come as no surprise to anyone. All great all around. I felt like I could watch these four for hours after the film had ended. It’s only a shame that Kevin Mckidd’s character died in the first one.

But let’s not leave out the final team member, Mr Danny Boyle. Boyle is possibly one of the greatest directors of our time with such films as ‘Trainspotting’, ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, ‘Sunshine’ and ’28 Days Later’ under his belt. He’s a man who has avoided sequels until now, which may be a wise move really but here it’s like he was born to it. But outside of doing what a sequel should (I mentioned it earlier if you were paying attention) he still delivers on what made the first one good in the first place. He knows exactly how to get the most out of the actors he works with. He knows how to work with John Hodge’s excellent script. And most importantly, he knows how to pull off a great film with style. It’s visually nice to look at, even at the film’s most unpleasant moments. He brings in music and songs and implements them perfectly into the scenes he makes. He knows how to use footage from the first film, amazingly, to this one’s advantage.

On top of all of that it’s hilarious, one scene in particular (it involves two toilet cubicles) had me laughing to the point where it must have annoyed people around me. It’s also thoughtful and moving. It has that great “choose life” speech. It’s also not as hard going as the first one is, making it a slightly easier watch. This is also brought in by the films message. Both films focus on friendship at the heart of it all. But the difference is that my feelings on the first one was that it marked a loss of innocence with it; this one on the other hand gives more of a reconnection feeling. Again it makes it feel less aggressive and more pleasant a watch than the first one.

But that is also ‘T2’s Achilles heel. ‘Trainspotting’ was a unique film, and a huge part of that is because it feels like a visceral experience that once it finished left you feeling exhausted. ‘T2’ feels like a film. A well-acted, well-written, well-directed film with a great story, characters and style to it, but it still feels like a film. And it should go without saying that being a second film means that it feels less unique too. I can see this easily annoying some fans of the first film, but for me I think this films pacing, which is tighter than the originals pacing, even things out.

‘T2: Trainspotting’ is a great British film and a more than worthy successor to the original. For fans of the books ‘Trainspotting’ and ‘Porno’, which this film is based off of apparently, I can’t tell you how faithful it is but I think you’ll enjoy it regardless. If you haven’t already go and see it, it’s more than worth your time. It might be cheesy to say so, but this duo is pretty addictive. Welcome back boys, we didn’t realise how much we missed you.

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