T2: Trainspotting sequel (as in Welsh's one)

[Wilf]

i liked the mix of tones - it shouldnt work but it did...sometimes scenes were like staid theatre, sometimes action movie, sometimes comedy, sometimes gritty....the visual style changes, different effects, text on the screen - all very postmodern - realistic characters one second, total over-the-top archetypes the next .... its a weird brew. But it worked for me

Was the first one like that? I cant remember...I think it was

I came out muttering the word postmodern to my partner. It definitely got a bit that way towards the end. The original had the same elements in terms of the on screen titles and voiceovers, but just seemed to flow a bit better than this one. Interesting that it opened up with

Spoiler: music

a lust for life remix.

. In some ways the whole thing felt like a remix. Where you hear a favourite song but with a different beat, a bit less of a driving rhythm. That was the problem for me, the pace and flow of the thing though, as I said, I still enjoyed it - and could see how most people really enjoyed it.

By the by, I really enjoyed skagboys. From what I remember of it, that was told as a pretty straight story (gave or take the equally postmodern debate about whether to tell the story in the vernacular or not).

 

[ska invita]

in a way its a bit like Force Awakens in that theres some soft reboot parallels...
but it definitely got me thinking about the last twenty years in my life, how things change, how things stay the same.... it felt deep and shallow at the same time.... unusual film

 

[Wilf]

Spoiler: A Kelly McDonald point

Bit disappointed her part was only a cameo. Not sure why that was. Her relationship with Renton would have been an obvious line to develop in sequel, particularly as the whole thing was about regret.

 

[Chilli.s]

I liked it a lot, if you enjoyed the first one its a natural choice. The person I went with loved it more. I don't remember Edinburgh staring so much in the first. Would watch again.

 

[davesgcr]

Excellent and enjoyable film , superb shot of Edinburgh - anyone know where the pub (planned sauna) was ? ....

 

[2hats]

a different beat, a bit less of a driving rhythm ... the pace and flow of the thing

Almost as if middle aged eh?

I don't remember Edinburgh staring so much in the first.

Well much of the original film was shot in Glasgow. But having said that...

anyone know where the pub (planned sauna) was ? ....

The Douglas Hotel in Clydebank, I understand.

 

[not-bono-ever]

a bit of blade runner at the end....

 

[gosub]

Sick boys business plan would have been a goer though, number of sailors you have to direct to Lothian Road is surprisingly high, and quite a few potential staff on the lynx

 

[oryx]

We watched the first one last night in anticipation...hadn't seen it since 96 but it was brilliant to watch again

(Cigs/ashtrays in pubs and the lack of mobile phones have become interesting period details!).

Can't wait to see T2.

 

[gosub]

Saw it Wednesday, 8 people in a Basingstoke cinema,:-( Mrs saw it @ cameo first night

 

[DotCommunist]

so I went to watch this at the cinema house and was not dissapointed, problem was it was late o'clock so I don't remember fuck all of it. 12.50 down the shitter. I mean I enjoyed watching it but around 20 mins in, je suis fatigue. Wanted to go earlier but circumstances conspired asginst me. will d/l

 

[Red About Town]

Choose life, choose a sequel, choose a farce, choose embarrassing yourself on screen desperately trying to be the breakthrough actor you were twenty years ago. Choose a sound track, choose vynal remixes of classic Iggy Pop when you haven't been to the record shop lately. Choose escaping from prison, going home and not being raided that very night. Choose getting an EU grant up front on the advent of Brexit. Choose mindnumbing spirit crushing reprises of scenes from the original in pursuit of a narrative. Choose an audience who loves it all anyway and secretly hopes for T3. Choose life.

 

[Treacle Toes]

 

[hammerntongues]

Worth the money for the Toilet Cubicle scene alone , I thought it stood up on its own merit , probably best enjoyed buy those of a similar age .

 

[19sixtysix]

Well much of the original film was shot in Glasgow.

T2 has a scene near the start shot at the gates of Glasgow University. The 1451 date was a bit of a give away.

 

[Wilf]

Choose life, choose a sequel, choose a farce, choose embarrassing yourself on screen desperately trying to be the breakthrough actor you were twenty years ago. Choose a sound track, choose vynal remixes of classic Iggy Pop when you haven't been to the record shop lately. Choose escaping from prison, going home and not being raided that very night. Choose getting an EU grant up front on the advent of Brexit. Choose mindnumbing spirit crushing reprises of scenes from the original in pursuit of a narrative. Choose an audience who loves it all anyway and secretly hopes for T3. Choose life.

Yep, I had a go at trying to say what was wrong with it earlier, but this does the job much better. Lots of good bits such as the 'pin number sketch', but ultimately it didn't 'feel right' to me. Entirely watchable as a farce, but didn't do anywhere near as much as it claimed it was doing.

 

[neonwilderness]

Choose life, choose a sequel, choose a farce, choose embarrassing yourself on screen desperately trying to be the breakthrough actor you were twenty years ago. Choose a sound track, choose vynal remixes of classic Iggy Pop when you haven't been to the record shop lately. Choose escaping from prison, going home and not being raided that very night. Choose getting an EU grant up front on the advent of Brexit. Choose mindnumbing spirit crushing reprises of scenes from the original in pursuit of a narrative. Choose an audience who loves it all anyway and secretly hopes for T3. Choose life.

I saw it tonight and thought pretty much the same. As a standalone film it's pretty average, but if you were a fan of the first one then it's great. I'll defninately watch it again at some point

 

[ska invita]

plot holes

 

[malatesta32]

Is Morningside posh? I know in the books they talk about coke as 'Morningside speed.' I thought it was basically saying coke was just expensive crap for yuppies. Is that right?

aye, and coke is pish.

 

[Sue]

Just saw this. I'm in the minority here but didn't think it was very good. Tired was the word that came to mind when I was watching it. Didn't really hang together and felt like it was just crying to cram in as many references to the original as possible without doing much else. Disappointing.

 

[flustercuck]

Choose life, choose a sequel, choose a farce, ......Choose life.

A very uncharitable opinion. Whilst some of it felt completely illogical plot holes wise (ie, the running back home after the prison break and the police not visiting, the "who owned the car parked at the end" stuff), plus a couple of wasted plot strands (the stolen TV in the warehouse? That was surely a police raid being signposted).... overall I came out of it not feeling cheated, but feeling it was quite a good exploration of what it is like to constantly try to live in the past, paling against your own self twenty years earlier. Mostly the crisis of male self-image, I thought.

There's absolutely nowhere to take T3. And I don't want to see a T3 anyway - T2 completes the whole thing about the arc of everyone there.

I really did not like the closing shot and end credits, mind you.

 

[Smokeandsteam]

Trying not to put spoilers in here.

I found the film enjoyable but flawed. It has almost a manic or desperate air to it. No sooner had a possibility or story arc been opened up it's gone to replaced by another.

The worst bit for me was the entirely contrived 'choose...' monologue that just appears. Toe curlingly obvious. I also thought the film was very male (literally no role at all for the original women characters - whiit??), a bit naff in parts (the Renton/Sick Boy bonding scene/George Best obsession/middle aged blokes having it) and it missed so many potentially interesting reference points such as the Referendum and the return of a Tory Government etc. The soundtrack was so bad I'm still shuddering. And I really disliked what they did with Begbie.

The pervading air of nostalgia worked well in parts, beautifully so with a couple of moments and I also thought some of the film was really well shot. I liked the rumination on time and friendship, in fact I thought these themes dominated the film. It was also momentarily thrilling to be transported back to that point in your own life. I thought the use of Spud as a writer and what he writes was a really clever idea and device. I thought the family stuff with Renton was massively moving.

Overall, good but far from a classic.

 

[Wilf]

Trying not to put spoilers in here.

I found the film enjoyable but flawed. It has almost a manic or desperate air to it. No sooner had a possibility or story arc been opened up it's gone to replaced by another.

.

This. Almost felt like a sketch show in parts.

 

[Smokeandsteam]

This. Almost felt like a sketch show in parts.

Yup, which is ironic given that the novel Trainspotting was a series of short stories stitched together and this is a film script they've had 20 years and presumably a massive budget to write, direct and edit

 

[Sue]

Trying not to put spoilers in here.

I found the film enjoyable but flawed. It has almost a manic or desperate air to it. No sooner had a possibility or story arc been opened up it's gone to replaced by another.

The worst bit for me was the entirely contrived 'choose...' monologue that just appears. Toe curlingly obvious. I also thought the film was very male (literally no role at all for the original women characters - whiit??), a bit naff in parts (the Renton/Sick Boy bonding scene/George Best obsession/middle aged blokes having it) and it missed so many potentially interesting reference points such as the Referendum and the return of a Tory Government etc. The soundtrack was so bad I'm still shuddering. And I really disliked what they did with Begbie.

The pervading air of nostalgia worked well in parts, beautifully so with a couple of moments and I also thought some of the film was really well shot. I liked the rumination on time and friendship, in fact I thought these themes dominated the film. It was also momentarily thrilling to be transported back to that point in your own life. I thought the use of Spud as a writer and what he writes was a really clever idea and device. I thought the family stuff with Renton was massively moving.

Overall, good but far from a classic.

I thought the Spud storyline was definitely the best thing about it.

 

[flustercuck]

Yup, which is ironic given that the novel Trainspotting was a series of short stories stitched together and this is a film script they've had 20 years and presumably a massive budget to write, direct and edit

According to Danny Boyle, they started again from scratch early in 2015 and abandoned all the previous drafts, story ideas... the whole lot (except that lifted from Porno) ; I think that was mentioned in his interview with Kermode.

Thing I hated about the ending was this Whilst I loved the idea that the towerblocks Spud is living in are raised and demolished - indicating the passing of everything they used to base their lives on - I felt the photographic treatment of it in the end credits (all greyed out and digitally manipulated) significantly diminished the impact of it. Made it look fake, when it is obviously a real demolition.

According to imdb, the budget is $18million (about £13 million), and that probably includes marketing. Compared to Boyles previous budgets for his films - Steve Jobs $30m, Trance $20m, 127 Hours £18m (in 2009),Slumdog $15m (2008), Sunshine $33m (2007), - T2 is his cheapest film (bearing in mind inflation) in over a decade. Compared to your standard blockbuster budget, he can do 8 or 9 films for the same price. I'd hardly say "Massive", though I would concede the budget is (inflation adjusted) about double that of the original.

 

[Cheesypoof]

Saw it tonight (last night in my local cinema). Not bad for what it had to live up to (which it never would). Some good storytelling and very charming in moments. Liked the nostalgia and Spud's journey. It was thought provoking and entertaining, but left me a bit deflated nonetheless.

 

[elmpp]

You're all off your collective nuts.

This was pretty much a unique sequel - huge time gap, evolved characters and totally different premise.

But yeah, keep banging on about the "choose life" thing

 

[Shirl]

Last night I watched Trainspotting for the first time I don't know why it took me so long but I won't leave it so long to watch the sequel

 

[Sea Star]

I had a cry in the middle which surprised the fuck out of me!!!