Carrying on from my Trainspotting blog, T2 in my opinion can't be compared to trainspotting due to the style it goes for, instead of focusing on Renton, T2 lacks the narrative voice over and is more like a conventional film that follows lots of different stories, giving the film a very different vibe.
One of the things I enjoyed about the film was how they reflected shots out of the old film by either recreating the shot with the new setting or showing the scene play out with a character reflecting on it, each giving it's own feeling.
Recreating the scene implies that the characters are reforming to their old ways showing the audience that they will go into a similar character arc to what they had in the previous film ultimately reforming back to their drug habits also creating a form of nostalgia for the characters so they can reflect on it later in the film.
Something that I think is more effective on the other hand is showing the scene play out, because unlike the characters looking happy about it, it generally looks like they have lost something from back then and they are trying to find out what made them that happy. For example there is a shot where spud is walking back home, where he stops in the same alley where he and Renton 20 years prior were caught by the police which was shown in the first film. However instead of cutting back to a close up showing Spud looking nostalgic, instead he looks lost and feels distant from that memory.
I think that just like the original, that this film still manages to define a generation. What i'm talking about is how the characters react during the film still acting like teens, but in the modern age. But more importantly is the speech Renton makes in both films. The choose life speech in the original stood out because it helped define the 90's generation, where the teens were rebellious and did whatever they wanted, using choose life a mock from 90's adverts where they would say to stay away from rebellion and choose your future. But eerily manner the speech he does in this film reflects the present day where people are more concerned with what on their phones and how to harm each other online, and I think this is where the two differ. Where the speech in the 90's was about living how you want, Renton in present day isn't talking about living how you want but instead living in the present and absorbing the things around you and this is where you can see how the 20 years away from the others has developed his character.
Also another thing I liked about the film which is really weird is the lack of closure from the characters. It feels like Renton may or may not go back to the old days. Sick Boy hasn't changed but it can go two ways, either a owner of a business or a rapid decline into drugs, Spud yet so far in the film having a somewhat successful book in the works but you don't know if that's enough to help him out. With Bigby its only a matter of time before he does something batcrap crazy taking someone out. The only person with somewhat of a solid ending is Veronika who leaves with a big chunk of money leaving the boys to go back to her own family help them out. This for me doesn't sit right because everyone else doesn't get a happily ever after which a some deserve. I think that everyone else got grey endings where it feels like real life not knowing the way the wind blows. Where she gets her perfect end.
Link to scene with spud : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UFpuctFlp4
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsozpEE543w
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