Film Review: "T2 Trainspotting" (2017).

"Face your past. Choose your future." This is T2 Trainspotting. This British black comedy drama film directed by Danny Boyle, written by John Hodge, and based on characters created by Irvine Welsh in his novel Trainspotting and its follow-up Porno. First there was an opportunity......then there was a betrayal. Twenty years have gone by. Much has changed but just as much remains the same. Mark Renton returns to the only place he can ever call home. They are waiting for him: Spud, Sick Boy, and Begbie. Other old friends are waiting too: sorrow, loss, joy, vengeance, hatred, friendship, love, longing, fear, regret, diamorphine, self-destruction and mortal danger, they are all lined up to welcome him, ready to join the dance.

In 1995, prior to the release of Trainspotting, a script for a sequel was reportedly written, but was scrapped so that the original cast would all agree to return for a sequel. In January 2009, Boyle declared his wish to make a sequel to his 1996 film, which would take place nine years after the original film. He was reportedly waiting until the original actors themselves aged visibly enough to portray the same characters, ravaged by time. In March 2013, Boyle said he wanted to make a sequel that would be loosely based on Porno, and said that if the sequel were to happen, it would be for a 2016 release. In early May 2014, Welsh said that he had spent a week with Boyle, Andrew Macdonald and the creative team to discuss the sequel. In early September 2015, Boyle stated his next film would be the tentatively titled Trainspotting 2 or T2. Later that month, Boyle revealed that a script for the sequel had been written, and that filming would reportedly take place between May and June 2016, in the hopes of releasing the film within that same year to commemorate Trainspotting's 20th anniversary. In November 2015, while promoting Steve Jobs, Boyle said that pre-production had begun in Edinburgh. Boyle also clarified that John Hodge wrote a script for the sequel. In early December 2015, it was announced that Sony's TriStar Pictures had acquired worldwide rights to the film. In addition, Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle, Kelly Macdonald, Shirley Henderson, and James Cosmo would all return to reprise their roles. In early March 2016, principal photography commenced, and took place Edinburgh, Scotland.

The film stars McGregor, Bremner, Lee Miller, Carlyle, Macdonald, Henderson, and Cosmo, who reprise their roles. Like the first time round, the film has a cast whose magnetism monopolizes our attention no matter what.

T2 Trainspotting features thrilling dramatic sequences and eye-popping cinematography, but despite the depth of the characters, it doesn't quite take this British dark comedy drama landmark to the next level. Nonetheless, it's a brutal, often times funny, other times terrifying portrayal of the aftermath of drug addiction in Edinburgh. Not for the faint of heart, but well worth viewing as a realistic and entertaining reminder of the horrors of drug use and its aftermath.

Simon says T2 Trainspotting receives:

Also, see my review for Steve Jobs.