T2 Trainspotting

In 1996, Scottish filmmaker Danny Boyle celebrated sneering, rebellious, drug-drenched youth in Trainspotting. In Boyle's sequel, the Leith lads segue into middle age. Re-visiting the same characters 20 years later, T2 recalls how Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) ripped off his friends in a lucrative drug deal, apparently taking the money and fleeing to Amsterdam, where he kicked his heroin habit and plunged into respectability, including a failed marriage. When Renton returns to Edinburgh after his mother's death, only the sniveling junkie Spud (Ewen Bremner) welcomes him. Feigning friendship, Simon (Jonny Lee Miller)—aka Sick Boy—is still furious over Renton's betrayal. Attempting to atone for his sins, Renton tries to help Simon and his Bulgarian prostitute partner (Anjela Nedyalkova) turn a decrepit family pub into an upscale brothel by scamming a European Union development grant. And the ill-tempered, impotent psychopath Begbie (Robert Carlyle) has escaped from prison, determined to wreak revenge. T2 is a bitterly cynical and somewhat redundant feeling film that also works in some contemporary commentary on urban gentrification, noting the rise of the populist movement that fueled Brexit. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Danny Boyle and writer John Hodge, deleted scenes (30 min.), the behind-the-scenes featurette “20 Years in The Making: A Conversation with Danny Boyle and the Cast” (25 min.), and a drug PSA (5 min.). Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a bonus UltraViolet copy of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for this uneven sequel.] (S. Granger)