Danny Boyle
T2 Trainspotting

I had been waiting for several months for this sequel of a cult classic that I devoured and re-devoured over many years. Yes, ever since I found out that the project was actually going to be made, I felt no distrust, no skepticism; I did not have the classic fears that they might "ruin a cult" nor did I care that "there was no need for it." Of course, there was no need. Clearly, it's not like I was eagerly waiting for a sequel of equal value to a film that, for various reasons, was epoch-making (along with Pulp Fiction it probably had the greatest impact on pop cinema since the '90s) and unrepeatable.

But let's make it clear now: despite its apparent non-essential nature, this sequel made more sense (and certainly more interest, at least for me), this sequel, in the wake of the literary sequel by Welsh, Porno, rather than the various sequel-prequel-reboots of films much older than Boyle's that have been rampant in recent years.

And the emotion, it cannot be denied, in seeing again the characters I have always loved, who have left such a cinematic mark on me, is indeed strong from the get-go, in reuniting with Renton, Spud, Sick Boy, and Begbie. Now grown up, aged, still without a place in the world. Once the emotion is spent, however, the doubts creep into my mind. The more it progresses, the less the film convinces me, it involves me little, the self-references, the replay by Boyle of several shots from the first chapter, appear forced. The only new significant character - Simon/Sick Boy's Bulgarian accomplice-girlfriend - lacks substance and interest. The update of the monologue about choosing life comes off poorly due to how it was shot rather than the content - though widely agreeable. Yet... yet there is something, something moves. The personal failures, the physical ailments, the small and large misfortunes in the lives of these four slackers, the memories, the lost time. The fact is that the intention, as it may seem on the surface, is not to create a mere nostalgia effect, but rather to reflect on the very sentiment of nostalgia, on living anchored to the past. A sentiment actually very common and one that, in a broader sense, may reflect today's trends. One thinks of George Best, there are those who lament the bygone glories of the Kingdom. In this respect, the surreal scene with Renton, Simon, and nostalgic Edinburgh Protestants is memorably executed in its own way.

Tommy is paid tribute to.

"The world changes, we don't" Begbie clearly states. And indeed, the nature of individuals does not change, characters remain immutable, while everything else moves inexorably. Although there is an abundance of self-citations, and while the same streets and locations are retraced, T2 has a completely different atmosphere from Trainspotting. It could not be otherwise. It does not have, and it could not aspire to have nor did it want to have, the characteristics that made that film unforgettable. Its youthful nonconformity, its subversive charge, its black humor, and its being outlandish. The same nicknames no longer mean anything. In T2, there is a bitterness, even when not explicit, that is inevitable. It speaks of friendship in a sometimes touching way; in the end, through Spud's surprising writings, T2 celebrates the mythology of the anti-heroes of Trainspotting, its own mythology. Today that drugs, if before used as a pretext to speak especially of other things, are now an occasional element and not decisive.

Today a betrayal much more costly than the sixteen thousand (minus four) pounds that Mark pocketed weighs less. And in the end, despite Sick Boy's theory of life still being valid, there is still something to move forward with.

Delightful, despite its extreme brevity, is the new cameo of Welsh in the role of Mickey Forrester and a pity for the few scenes dedicated to a mature and full of charm Kelly Macdonald/Diane.

Boyle, after last year's excellent Steve Jobs, confirms to be in a good moment. Certainly, it is not a masterpiece or a great film, and the flaws remain (the same soundtrack, regarding the choice of "new" tracks did not impress me); but still, for me, it was worth going to the cinema to reunite with these extraordinary, misfit, junkie bastards in this unconventional sequel, with a more noir touch than the first chapter. If only to witness the encounter between Mark and Begbie in the toilet, and the chase of the latter with Relax in the background.

Lust for Life.