Featured Blu-ray and DVD Review: T2 Trainspotting

June 26, 2017

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T2 Trainspotting

The original Trainspotting came out 20 years ago and earned amazing reviews and was one of the biggest limited release hits of the year. It was also not a film that usually gets a sequel. T2 Trainspotting failed to live up to the original at the box office, but does that mean it is a bad movie? Is it a pale imitation of the original film? Or should more people have given it a chance?

The Movie

The film begins by introducing us back into the main cast. Francis “Franco” Begbie is in jail, no surprise there. He’s trying to get parole, but his violent temper is preventing that. Daniel “Spud” Murphy is still addicted to heroin and it cost him his job and his relationship with his wife, Gail, and son, Fergus. Simon “Sick Boy” Williamson has become a blackmailer with his girlfriend, Veronika, because running his aunt’s old bar isn’t paying the bills. He has also moved on from heroin to cocaine. At the beginning of the movie, Mark “Rent Boy” Renton returns to Edinburgh for the first time since he double-crossed them at the end of the first film taking all of the money they made from the heroin deal. None of his former friends know he’s back and not all of the reunions are going to be happy.

The first friend Mark reunites with is Spud. He arrives just as Spud is trying to kill himself. Mark manages to save Spud’s life, but Spud’s not too happy about that at first. Simon and Mark get into a fight right away and probably would have killed him, had Veronika not intervened. Even after he gets his share of the drug money, he’s still fuming. Granted, he only got the original £4,000, no interest, which is a legitimate complaint. He plans to patch things over with Mark, get into business together, and then stab him in the back as revenge. Meanwhile, Begbie has busted out of jail and plans to get his son into his life of crime, while his son wants to go to university. It isn’t that long til Begbie learns Mark has returned.

At this point, we are entering spoiler territory. Granted, the plot is mostly setup for these characters to bounce off of each other, spoilers are only in the finer details. Even so, this is probably the best place to stop.

T2 Trainspotting did do as well with the critics as the original Trainspotting did, but I think that’s because Trainspotting was a rather unique film and T2 Trainspotting can’t be as original and unique, because it is a sequel. If you go into the movie knowing it won’t be unique or fresh, does it otherwise stand up to the original film? Short answer: Yes. It doesn’t have the same energy as the first film, mainly because all of the characters are a lot older. They are not going to be able to run away from cops while we hear narration about choose life. Yes, that is an iconic moment, one that has eclipsed the film itself. There are no such iconic moments in this movie. This also means there’s no bathroom scene like in the first movie. I feel a little nauseous just thinking about it.

What the movie lacks in freshness and iconic moments, it makes up for with fantastic talent. Trainspotting was Danny Boyle’s second film and he’s grown a lot as a director since then. Likewise, all four main actors were very early in their acting careers when that film came out. You can’t help but get better after 20 years of practice. The film has a great sense of style, actors who really know their characters, and a story that really uses the four main leads effectively.

On the downside, Spud is the only one of the four leads who is a genuinely nice guy and frankly it is a little tough watching a movie when so few of the characters are sympathetic.

The Extras

Extras begin with an audio commentary track with Danny Boyle and John Hodge, the director and screenwriter respectively. 20 Years in the Making is a 25-minute chat with Danny Boyle and three of the four main actors. (Ewen Bremner was filming something else and couldn’t make it.) Finally, there’s more than a dozen deleted / extended scenes with a total running time of 30 minutes. This is a good collection of extras, especially for a limited release.

The Verdict

T2 Trainspotting isn’t as fresh as its predecessor, but the skill level of the people involved it top notch. The extras on the DVD, Blu-ray, or 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack lift it from a solid purchase to a contender for Pick of the Week.

Filed under: Video Review, T2: Trainspotting, Ewan McGregor, Danny Boyle, Ewen Bremner, Robert Carlyle, Shirley Henderson, Jonny Lee Miller, John Hodge, Anjela Nedyalkova, Charlie Hardie, Scot Greenan