By Mac Spain
It’s been twenty years since we last caught up with our favourite group of misfits from Danny Boyle’s 90’s cult classic, Trainspotting. When I say twenty years, I mean an actual physical twenty years and this sequel is all the better for it. Usually the make-up department plays a key role in making the characters look as though they’ve aged for a sequel, and it’s often less than satisfactory. One thing’s for sure, nothing is more convincing than actual physical aging, the feeling of time gone by couldn’t be stronger…and that’s because it’s real. But enough on that, I’m sure the likes of Ewan McGregor and Robert Carlyle wouldn’t appreciate me banging on about how old they look.
While I understand that not just any film could be as ambitious as to film its sequel twenty years later, Trainspotting is a real staple in film culture and gets a free pass for good behaviour, or at least it does now… There was a fair share of scepticism being sprawled across the internet when the sequel was first announced, and I’m not ashamed to say that I was part of this group of naysayers. As time went on though I came across a number of interviews with the cast and crew, in each one they stressed that they were fully aware of the pressure in making a sequel to what’s regarded as one of the best British films of all time, but felt as though what they were making was more than worthwhile. All it took was that trailer to blow my doubts out of the water and it was something of a bonus for me that the trailer was accompanied by Wolf Alice’s ‘Silk’. One of my favourite bands of recent years, but also one of my favourite tracks from them.
Which brings me round to the subject of music and what a score T2 has! Just like its predecessor music has a strong presence throughout the course of the film. The original was known for featuring artists such as Lou Reed and Iggy Pop, T2 also features a lot of these artists, but the soundtrack combines this with newer bands such as Young Fathers, Fat White Family and the before mentioned – Wolf Alice. Perhaps the one track that’s most unanimous with Trainspotting though for most people, Underworld’s ‘Born Slippy’. It of course features in T2, but it won’t sound like anything you’ve heard before. Underworld worked especially on a new version of the classic 90’s dance track just for the film. The track’s reinvention now has it sounding kind of slowed down, drawn out and completely absurd. It’s not the sort of track you’d listen to recreationally, but it works in the context of the film and is almost reflective of the characters, their state of mind and where they find themselves now at this point in their lives.
T2 Trainspotting makes plenty of nods to the original, but still has plenty more to offer other than just pure nostalgia. Personally I really haven’t got a clue what else you could want out of a sequel to Trainspotting. There were a few scenes I felt went on longer than they needed to, moments where I could feel myself momentarily losing focus, but the main thing is I left the theatre enamoured with T2 Trainspotting and that’s why it gets an 8/10 Stick around for my review of Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge next week….
