Sequels should match or surpass their predecessor’s quality, but accomplishing that becomes more difficult the longer it takes to create. Danny Boyle’s “T2 Trainspotting” bridges the twenty-one-year gap between the first “Trainspotting” film in a special way. Where “Trainspotting” showed the horrors of addiction, “T2” showed the realism of nostalgia.
Like “Trainspotting,” “T2” is based on a novel by Irvine Welsh named “Porno,” which takes place ten years later. Given the amount of real time between the films, “T2” occurs twenty years later.
“T2” follows “Trainspotting” protagonist Mark Renton as he enters a midlife crisis and revisits Edinburgh, but the movie also follows the friends he abandoned. Spud’s life has been rocky, Sick Boy delved into pornographic blackmail (hence the novel’s name), and Begbie is serving a prison sentence but manages to escape.
A clever, subtle method “T2” uses to enhance its nostalgic theme is by administering nostalgia to its fans. Besides flashbacks, fans will definitely recognize several call-backs to “Trainspotting”: Mark survives getting hit by a car and laughs it off again; Spud witnesses the memory of himself and Mark evading police occur in third person; and Begbie reenacts the pub brawl he started years ago.
Even the surreal style of “Trainspotting” is still present through “T2’s” visual effects and cinematography, showing that the apple never falls too far from the tree.
Nostalgia is different per person, though.
One scene has Mark and Sick Boy ecstatically playing foosball after reuniting post-conflict, and they even wear football jerseys. The scene ends with them sliding like rock stars through an indoor patch of fake grass, then being shown in a real football stadium as the camera zooms out. Thus, in some circumstances, you truly can feel larger than life, and boy, does it feel amazing?
Unfortunately, people’s perspectives affect whether or not something is nostalgic. Whatever I find as a throwback, you might not. It’s all about the feelings surrounding the context.
Begbie is the biggest supporter of this notion as “T2’s” villain. Since Mark stole his drug money and indirectly got him caught while he was a fugitive, the only reason Begbie wanted to see Mark was to get his revenge.
Others might not want to remember something potentially painful in their memory. Mark’s friend, Tommy, died in “Trainspotting” after resorting to heroin as a coping mechanism, ultimately contracting HIV and toxoplasmosis. Mark, Spud, and Sick Boy revisited the mountain they hung around. However, Sick Boy feels nothing and claims Mark is only doing this for nostalgia, even pinning Tommy’s death on Mark for selling Tommy his first hit. In moments like these, people might be blinded by their own nostalgia.
Time is also a factor that affects nostalgia. Some things age like fine wine, and others age like milk. Regardless, people will pursue endeavors again hoping they will be satisfying.
Chasing nostalgia can also cause self-reflection.
“Choose life” was the line that began “Trainspotting” with Mark’s unforgettable monologue. In “T2,” Mark reveals it was an ‘80s anti-drug campaign slogan that he and his friends tacked sentences onto, all starting with the word “choose.” While giving examples, he breaks into a similar monologue, but you’ll notice that his speech was less about choosing life and more about how our lives are cyclic, even redundant.
“Choose watching history repeat itself” is an example that sells this theme. Mark and Sick Boy steal credit cards in “T2,” which is no better than when they used to shoplift. Additionally, the two retry heroin, breaking two decades of sobriety to experience a well-missed high. Mark also initially resists listening to Iggy Pop because his music reminded him of chaos but succumbs to it by the end of “T2.”
“T2 Trainspotting” is telling its audience that you never really grow up. Instead, you only become a remix of your past self.
Speaking of remixes, two songs “T2” borrowed from its predecessor’s soundtrack were remixed to elicit emotion. A hard-hitting remix of Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life” underscores the thrill of crime-related scenes. Meanwhile, a slower version of Underworld’s “Born Slippy .NUXX” highlights somber moments, like when Spud converses with his ex-wife, Gail. They might sound different, but in the end, it’s essentially the same thing.
“T2 Trainspotting” sends its message both literally and visually. By capturing its predecessor’s essence, it’s a throwback for its fans. For everyone in general, it’s an unmasking of nostalgia through a lens of change and age. Choose life, but choose knowing that we’ll always revert back to our default state without contemplating what’s best to leave behind.