T2 Trainspotting is a welcome revisit of those much loved characters 20 years later. Mark ran off to Amsterdam and got married, Simon “Sickboy” is a coke-addled hustler who gets his Bulgarian wannabe bordello madam girlfriend Veronika to make strap-on blackmail videos with prominent local businessmen. Begby is in jail doing 25 and still furious at Mark for ripping him off, Spud is still hopelessly addicted to skag but is trying to be some kind of father to “wee Fergus”, his estranged and ashamed son.
Mark returns to pay Sickboy back the 4k he stole from him and after a few score settling scuffles (Simon gives Mark a pool cue demo in a more traditional Scottish sense and then lo, Mark secretly shags Veronika) they team up on a new business venture to build a high-class brothel in Simons run-down Leith alkie pub, Begby breaks out of jail in a typically self destructive manner and begins his pursuit of Mark to gain a revenge he’s fantasized about for decades. I don’t want to give the rest of the plot away, but it’s a really enjoyable update of the outlaw mentality of the first film mixed with an honest depiction of todays Apple product narrated hi-rise nightmare for many Scottish low-income families.
The junkie punk chic rave melting pot was a heady concoction during the 90s and T2 Trainspotting manages to get those juices flowing again. It made me yearn for being in a pub on Leith walk in the mid 90s waiting for the man. I think they accomplished what they set out to achieved in fine form. I really enjoyed T2 Trainspotting.
