A Wee Bit Better Than You'd Expect - 'T2: Trainspotting'

Late to the game here, I know, since the sequel came out in America in March, but I finally caught T2 Trainspotting. Not quite my fault, since the rollout of this film in America was very small and lackluster for being a sequel to such a pop culture smash from the '90s. It was hard to find a screening until it came to second-run theaters.

With a bigger budget than the original but only half of the box-office take and teamed with rather mediocre reviews, T2 had the aura of a bit of a failure. That unconsciously also probably added to my reluctance to chase down the movie when it opened. Was it also the worry that this sequel would squash my cheerleader feelings about the original, which made such a huge splash among twenty-somethings like me in the '90s? It was such a cultural touchstone when it came out right at the peak of Britpop and the New British Art movement, with a huge audience of American youth going gaga for the film.

One huge selling point of the original was the soundtrack, with its mix of Britpop luminaries (Blur, Pulp, Elastica) and classic cool rock (Iggy Pop, Brian Eno, New Order). Although music is present in T2, it seems to fill more of a background role throughout, with the same reliance on old classics (Blondie, The Clash, Queen) and new Brit artists (Young Fathers, Wolf Alice).

The missing spark seems to be this sad American 21st century complete lack of interest in British rock/pop/dance music, probably for the first time since pop music began. The music element becomes almost an anonymous non-event in T2, which is such a 180 from the selling point excitement of the original. Maybe it's the loss of excitement and monolithic power music has overall in mass culture in 2017.

Nostalgia and the world moving on without care is a strong thread throughout the film. And this is the selling point for the successful moments in T2. The film has a massive melancholic streak that the exciting, caper-filled elements of the original film lacked. There is less drug taking in T2 than Trainspotting, and more talking. There's the beaten-down, forty-something "what the F*&% am I doing with my life?"/one-last caper heaviness that permeates and gives it a bit more weight than you would think it could muster.

Ewan McGregor and Jonny Lee Miller look weathered in all the right ways in their return as Renton and Sick Boy. And all the main actors have gotten skillful with nuance over the past 20 years (especially goofy Ewan Bremner). Flashbacks are dotted throughout T2, but it's a better film when it sticks to the present day. It makes for maybe a less fun, but more believable ride.