T2 Trainspotting (Danny Boyle film)

[AsianTrumpSupporter]

I was an 80s kid and was in high school in the 90s when the original movie came out. For those who didn't grow up with that movie, maybe T2 Trainspotting isn't as nostalgic. But I loved the original and Danny Boyle films in general. T2 isn't as good as the original Trainspotting, but the good news is it's not trying to recreate what made the first one so great.

T2 takes place 20 years after the original ended. Without giving anything away for either movie, T2 Trainspotting is about where these characters are 20 years later, old grudges, dealing with getting old, and family. It's actually a very deep movie. It just doesn't have that adrenaline shot to the veins feel that movies like Trainspotting and Pulp Fiction have.

The greatest thing I can probably say about this movie is it doesn't have the cliche Hollywood ending, and characters who were a bit two dimensional in the first one (Spud, Begbie, and Sick Boy) are more fleshed out and feel like real characters.

I had read in a review that this movie is really about Spud and Spud finding his voice. It definitely is. What surprised me is how much this movie is also about Begbie. Begbie is a clear sociopath and psycho, but he's also very interesting to watch. This movie fleshed him out a lot more.

Spud and Begbie were my two favorite characters in this movie with Sick Boy a close second. I was surprised that Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) wasn't as interesting, but he gets his character growth as well. Ewan McGregor did a fine job, but this movie is definitely much more about Spud and Begbie first and, second, Sick Boy.

But I think Ewan McGregor is a fine actor when given the right role, and he did very well in this movie to service the story and let these lesser developed characters shine. Ewan McGregor is killing it in Fargo Season 3, and I also hope to see him reprise his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in a solo Obi-Wan movie.

But I still highly recommend this film if you liked the first one, because it is the perfect way to continue and, really, conclude this story about these characters. Definitely, do NOT see T2 Trainspotting without seeing Trainspotting first, or you'll be lost as to what's going on for a lot of the movie.

8/10

I'd give the original Trainspotting a 10/10. Yes, no movie is perfect, but 10/10 doesn't mean a perfect movie for me. It just means one of the best films I've personally ever seen. I thought Steve Jobs by Danny Boyle was a better movie, but I love the Trainspotting world and characters.

 

[aaronleland]

I remember when I first watched Trainspotting. We were 13 and had to have my mother drop us off at the theaters and buy us tickets. The woman at the counter asked my mother if she knew the movie was about heroin addicts. She responded, "It's nothing worse than what they see on the streets everyday."

I look forward to seeing this film.

 

[AsianTrumpSupporter]

I remember when I first watched Trainspotting. We were 13 and had to have my mother drop us off at the theaters and buy us tickets. The woman at the counter asked my mother if she knew the movie was about heroin addicts. She responded, "It's nothing worse than what they see on the streets everyday."

I look forward to seeing this film.

Haha, I think I was maybe 14 or 15 when I saw the movie at a friend's house. It blew my mind at the time. I've never tried heroin, but this movie and Pulp Fiction got my adrenaline running in a way that I can only imagine that drugs like heroin would.

My other small gripe about T2 Trainspotting is that the music, for the most part, isn't as good as in the original. But it's hard to top classics like Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Brian Eno, etc. whose songs are featured in the original. The one standout song in the sequel (and it's in the trailer so it's not quite a spoiler) is "Silk" by Wolf Alice.

I like the song quite a bit:

 

[odanny]

I have never seen Trainspotting but have heard it is a great film. I'm gonna put it on my list of films to see. I love Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire is one of my favorite films, and I also greatly enjoyed Life Of Pi

 

[AsianTrumpSupporter]

I have never seen Trainspotting but have heard it is a great film. I'm gonna put it on my list of films to see. I love Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire is one of my favorite films, and I also greatly enjoyed Life Of Pi

Keep in mind that Trainspotting is very different from Slumdog Millionaire. Trainspotting is an extremely dark comedy that is both funny and quite tragic at times. It doesn't really have a single "good guy" in the movie, and it's about a bunch of delinquent heroin addicts in Scotland.

But if that sounds like something you might like, it's a fantastically edited movie with great music. It's definitely got that famous Danny Boyle editing and music.

I love Slumdog Millionaire as well. I think it's one of the best movies ever made.

 

[odanny]

Yea, thanks for the synopsis, I have heard its a dark film, and I love dark films. Slumdog Millionaire was a dark film on many levels, it exposed the caste system and the abject poverty of Indian society, and it did it beautifully, in a rich way of storytelling unlike any other film I've seen before. Like you, I think that movie is one of the best films ever made, and absolutely deserved the Oscar for Best Film.