Review: ‘T2 Trainspotting’ relies on nostalgia from 1996 classic, but … – Omaha World-Herald

Danny Boyles two-decades-later sequel to his 1996 classic about Scottish heroin addicts is messy, sappy and hooked on its own supply of nostalgia. But its also frequently hilarious, moving and exhilarating. So basically ... its a Danny Boyle film.

T2 Trainspotting will appeal more to fans of the original, obviously. Its more or less the Gilmore Girls reboot but for lovers of cool/gross 90s cinema. Its inessential, its superfluous, yet its undeniably nice to have around.

Just as Carole Kings Where You Lead puts a lump in the throat of any good Gilmore fan, Underworlds Born Slippy still will make any Trainspotting fiend more than a little misty-eyed. Which is why Boyle uses snippets of the track again and again in T2. Its blatantly manipulative. Its cheating. But it does the trick. The nostalgic kick of seeing Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, Ewen Bremner and Robert Carlyle in the same frame for the first time in 21 years has a similarly stirring effect.

T2 kicks off with a clever callback to the original several scenes mirror iconic moments from the first film. Mark Renton (McGregor) is running. But this time not from the authorities or someone he just ripped off. Hes running on a treadmill.

Since Mark betrayed his friends all those years ago hes been living a square, safe and heroin-free life in Amsterdam. Hes married, he gets plenty of exercise, he works as an accountant for a company that makes stock management software for the retail sector.

Mark returns to Edinburgh for reasons initially unclear, first reuniting with his father (now a widower), then his kindhearted friend Spud (Bremner) and the sociopathic Simon (Miller).

Marks reunion with Simon is a pool-sticks-and-beer-mugs-busted-against-faces kind of a meeting. But before long Mark gets embroiled in Simons schemes.

In the years since Mark betrayed him, Simon has traded heroin for cocaine and become an entrepreneur: He pimps his Bulgarian girlfriend, Veronika (Anjela Nedyalkova), to wealthy men and records them having lets call it unconventional sex. He then blackmails the johns with the life-ruining videos. His dream is to convert the family pub into a brothel.

Meanwhile, Franco Begbie (Carlyle) has also returned to Edinburgh, having just escaped a 25-year prison sentence. He blames Mark for putting him there, and hes more than justified in his blame. Hell kill Mark the first chance he gets.

John Hodges script based loosely on Irvine Welshs Trainspotting follow-up, Porno is more plotty than the first film, though nearly as loose. T2 is mostly a series of diversions that toggle between silly and sentimental.

Several sequences are priceless. Such as Mark and Francos abrupt reunion. Or Mark and Simons grift in Glasgow that ends in a musical performance. Or Spuds monologue about the vagaries of daylight saving time.

Its also a pleasure to see old friends pop up in cameos: Kelly Macdonald, Shirley Henderson and (in flashback) Kevin McKidd.

T2 often veers too close to maudlin, interspersing the story with grainy footage of Mark, Simon, Spud and Franco as young boys and then teenagers, buying and using the first hits of smack that would start them on their respective spirals.

Boyle has become a softer filmmaker since 1996. He still has the grand, caffeinated vision, and hes still capable of nailing the big moments, and he still knows how to choose a solid soundtrack (the Scottish hip-hop trio Young Fathers are all over this movie). But since he became an Oscar winner (for Slumdog Millionaire), hes unquestionably lost some of his viciousness.

Among the many things that made Trainspotting such a fresh breath of Scottish-toilet-stained air was its unapologetic nihilism and its heros commitment to self-annihilation. But now when Mark delivers a sequel to his Choose Life speech (updated for the Facebook generation), it feels a bit watered-down.

Still, a watered-down version of Trainspotting is as potent as anything else in theaters right now.

Rating: R for drug use, language throughout, strong sexual content, graphic nudity and some violence

Cast: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle, Kelly Macdonald, Shirley Henderson

Running time: 1 hour, 57 minutes

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Review: 'T2 Trainspotting' relies on nostalgia from 1996 classic, but ... - Omaha World-Herald