A very slow start but in the end I really liked it. The statement 'you can't go home again' seems inevitable, logical. Life changes and you either stay moved on else you are consumed in it, destined to repeat it over and over again. You gotta make the decision, I suppose, to stay stuck and comfortable in being the last 'indigenous' person as Spud put it. Or risk going forward and hoping that home remains a safe haven even if you don't recognize it. I stayed but it doesn't mean I don't think about changing that every day. Never too late, right?
choose... designer lingerie, in the vain hope of kicking some life back into a dead relationship. Choose handbags, choose high-heeled shoes, cashmere and silk, to make yourself feel what passes for happy. Choose an iPhone made in China by a woman who jumped out of a window and stick it in the pocket of your jacket fresh from a South-Asian Firetrap. Choose Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and a thousand others ways to spew your bile across people you've never met. Choose updating your profile, tell the world what you had for breakfast and hope that someone, somewhere cares. Choose looking up old flames, desperate to believe that you don't look as bad as they do. Choose live-blogging, from your first wank 'til your last breath; human interaction reduced to nothing more than data. Choose ten things you never knew about celebrities who've had surgery. Choose screaming about abortion. Choose rape jokes, slut-shaming, revenge porn and an endless tide of depressing misogyny. Choose 9/11 never happened, and if it did, it was the Jews. Choose a zero-hour contract and a two-hour journey to work. And choose the same for your kids, only worse, and maybe tell yourself that it's better that they never happened. And then sit back and smother the pain with an unknown dose of an unknown drug made in somebody's fucking kitchen. Choose unfulfilled promise and wishing you'd done it all differently. Choose never learning from your own mistakes. Choose watching history repeat itself. Choose the slow reconciliation towards what you can get, rather than what you always hoped for. Settle for less and keep a brave face on it. Choose disappointment and choose losing the ones you love, then as they fall from view, a piece of you dies with them until you can see that one day in the future, piece by piece, they will all be gone and there'll be nothing left of you to call alive or dead. Choose your future, Veronika. Choose life.
Wished they showed Johnny Lee Miller's dick when he was actually hot 20 years ago.
I wasn't sure on this the first time I watched it. Watched it a second time and enjoyed it much more. Watch the first film before watching this.
Spud, Ewen Bremner is excellent in this.
Such a good follow up to a cult classic, now this is how sequels should be done.
I never thought it’d be Begbie that made my eyes get moist.
The "choose life" monologue never fails to bring me to tears.
Trades on our nostalgia for the first film, but there is nothing wrong with that. While I don't think a sequel was needed, it is still good to be back in the company of Renton and friends. Not as edgy as the original movie, but then life softens us all. Even Begbie... just a little!
There's some decent themes of regret and starting over, but ultimately it's just a rehash of the original. It's an unnecessary sequel, but there are a few funny moments, and a moving ending. If you like the original, you should enjoy it enough.
2 / 2 directing & technical aspect
0 / 1 story
1 / 1 act I
0 / 1 act II
1 / 1 act III
1 / 1 acting
1 / 1 dialogue
0 / 1 originality
0 / 1 lasting ability to make you think
0.......misc enjoyment point
6 out of 10
Solid movie with great directing, but it has nowhere to go.
A rather good sequel!
'T2 Trainspotting' is exactly what I expected it to be. Turns out, it was also exactly what I wanted it to be. I thought it was great! I mentioned in my review of the original that I didn't like the characters, at all. Whilst that is indeed the case for that film, in this follow-up it does a grand job at making you care for the main bunch more; well, aside from Franco but we don't talk about Franco.
It probably is missing out on as much substance (pardon the pun), if only when compared to the 1996 flick, but evidently I'd argue it makes up for that with improved (harsh/wrong choice of word, perhaps) characterization. Even though I only watched the other movie for the first time a mere few hours prior, it was still cracking to see Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle back together in their respective roles - aged 'n all.
I appreciate both films, albeit in different ways. This one I actually 'properly' enjoyed, whereas before it was more an appreciation of how effectively it was told. Terrific productions either way, really.
Works much better viewing this as a double feature that I wished I had done when this was originally released. Pleasantly surprised on a second screening.
Trainspotting, a movie about drug addiction and the hedonistic British scene of the 90s, returns with its sequel T2: Trainspotting. Twenty years have passed since the first film and the band is back together, with Renton (McGregor) returning to Edinburgh to reconnect with old friends and confront his past actions. Spud (Bremner) is still struggling with addiction and Sick Boy (Miller) has switched to cocaine and runs a pub while participating in blackmail sex schemes with his girlfriend Veronika (Nedyalkova). Begbie (Carlyle), who has been in prison for 25 years, escapes and seeks revenge on Renton. The film retains the same style as the original, with freeze frames, words floating on-screen, frenetic camera angles, and classic music cues. The cast has aged and the characters have changed, with themes of growing old and the disappointments of life being at the forefront. The movie is a poignant look at the lives of these four anti-heroes and how they are linked by their past.
Trainspotting, una película sobre la adicción a las drogas y la hedonista escena británica de los 90, regresa con su secuela T2: Trainspotting. Han pasado veinte años desde la primera película y la banda vuelve a estar junta, con Renton (McGregor) regresando a Edimburgo para reconectarse con viejos amigos y confrontar sus acciones pasadas. Spud (Bremner) todavía está luchando contra la adicción y Sick Boy (Miller) ha cambiado a la cocaína y dirige un pub mientras participa en esquemas sexuales de chantaje con su novia Veronika (Nedyalkova). Begbie (Carlyle), que lleva 25 años en prisión, escapa y busca vengarse de Renton. La película conserva el mismo estilo que la original, con fotogramas congelados, palabras flotando en la pantalla, ángulos de cámara frenéticos y pistas de música clásica. El elenco ha envejecido y los personajes han cambiado, con temas de envejecimiento y las decepciones de la vida al frente. La película es una mirada conmovedora a la vida de estos cuatro antihéroes y cómo están vinculados por su pasado.
Watching this movie only served as a reminder of how great the original was. Did anyone ask for this sequel? Okay, obviously, from a technical aspect, this movie was great. The real problem here is the story can't live up to the first movie, and it is inseparable from it. There are entertaining moments, and I was never bored, but T2 lacks the dark humor, and gut-wrenching drama of its predecessor.
I could only recommend this film to someone who needed to see what our surviving characters were up to at middle age. Have at it.
If you haven't seen the first movie, this will will not make sense. Also, if you haven't seen the first movie, go watch that instead - it's a masterpiece, and I needed the shot in the arm (pun intended) to remember just how much I loved it.
Disappointing. Boringness. Lot of film grain looks raw but it was much more disturbing than I expected. HDR was unnaturally strong so colors were sometimes weird. Sound in one word. Average. I don’t like neither movie neither disc. I’m moving it on the last position on my shelf.
“T2 Trainspotting” is a rather forgettable film, but Renton and his “friends” are still a lot of fun to watch. I liked how the film keeps looking back at the original “Trainspotting” while at the same time making fun of the characters’ chronic nostalgia (and ours). Sure the energy and freshness of 20 years ago are dead and gone, but I was positively surprised by Boyle’s refined, yet sharp and imaginative visual direction in a few shots.
"Trainspotting 2" is creative and absolutely bonkers coming from Danny Boyle. The whole thing is on speed, never losing heat. While not having a straight forward narrative that many will lose interest in. A sequel to the brilliant 1996 film seems unneeded, but I was along with the ride and enjoyed every minute of it. Good to see the old gang again.
The soundtrack and ending was amazing by the way. It's the highlight of the film for me.
We did not expect anything from it and we were surprised for good, good continuation, although it is less than 1
Great film and the perfect sequel to Trainspotting.
Relies on original movie heavily , but still a decent movie.
"Porno" book is much better, my opinion.
I liked this a lot more than I would. It very cleverly plays it's (and our) own nostalgia with that of the characters.
"Trainspotting 2" is creative and absolutely bonkers coming from Danny Boyle. The whole thing is on speed, never losing heat. While not having a straight forward narrative that many will lose interest in. A sequel to a already brilliant movie seems unneeded, but I was along with the ride and enjoyed every minute of it. Good to see the old gang again.
The soundtrack and ending was amazing by the way. It's the highlight of the film for me.
Slower than it should be. Camerwork was sometimes good, and sometimes too cool for its own good. It didn't feel like an interesting story to follow. Pointless movie.
Very much a nostalgia trip for viewers of the original Trainspotting film, much as it's about the nostalgia of the protagonists.
My honest truth... it could of been better, but he's done a good job on it, and glad to know more of the story... Choose life, choose this film!
Loved it - didn't think T1 could be sequeled but was happily proven wrong
At first I though I should have rewatched the first movie before seeing this. Wrong, as the movie mainly focusses on reviving the first movie, you get reminded of all that was important in the original anyway. Watching the first movie right before would just make the T2 a lot less interesting.
That said, the movie is not fit as a standalone. It's not a bad movie, but it doesn't go anywhere without it's precessor. What is really good is the imaging/scenery/setting coupled with subtle CGI.
you'd enjoy re-visiting the characters that you loved once but not the story. Praise Danny Boyle's efforts nonetheless.
I've seen the first one but i didn't consider it a classic, this felt a lot like money grabbing and less than a film. It had its moments though
Tribute and nostalgia. Trainspotting forever
unnecessary sequel, but still a "solid" movie that stays WAY behind the 1st one.
Most of it has been said in the other comments. The movie has some elements from the original Trainspotting, where it plays on the nostalgia from the original. I found myself sitting and begging for the theme song to just explode already.. and for the rant of "chose life" to commence.
I do think this movie is a worthy second. But I will always love the first trainspotting for its new take on movie making, effects, psychedelic and insane state of mind.
Robert carlyles performance was top notch. 10 out of 10!
A film worth watching, but don't expect the same level of WOW effect the original had.
This is a movie about the time and about how your life changed in the last 10 years.
I really really loved the first one, so to see characters I care less for in a story that relies heavily on nostalgia only made me want to rewatch the original again.
Missed it ..got company on ...need to
Audiovisual orgy inside this perfect sequel.
Review by Niklas PivicBlockedParent2017-03-01T14:01:26Z
This is more a film, I think, which is about aging and repeating your past than anything else. Sure, the characters are older, but I cringe a lot as Boyle has chosen to have them repeat some of their "fave lines" from the first film, 21 years later, for no apparent reason.
The slow parts move best, for example, where Renton visits his father, despite that one being sappy. The "new girl", basically a Renton, doesn't bring much to the table.
However, Robbie Carlyle steals the show; where Ewen Bremner's "Spud" previously did, by being a comedic maestro with his movements and druggy cadence, he is now converted into a caricature of himself - and yes, I am aware that druggies who have been on dope for more than two decades tend to turn into caricatures in more ways than one - while Begbie offers more. A lot more.
Carlyle's acting is so strong that even Begbie's most obvious characteristics - e.g. as displayed where his son stands up against him by wanting to go to college to learn hotel management instead of joining his dad in a life of crime - turn interesting. He's a tour de force.
Still, while this film is interesting and entertaining, it is too much of a parody of itself to become a truly interesting introspective. And the plot turn at the end was really a bit too tell-tale and boring to me.