T2 is a follow up to Trainspotting; released in 1996, Trainspotting follows Mark Renton, who's immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene. We go with Mark as he tries to clean up and get out, even with the appeal of drugs (mainly heroin) and the influence of his friends. T2 brings us back to Edinburgh twenty years later, much has changed but just as much has remained the same. Mark returns to the only place he truly knows as home, his friends are all waiting; Spud, Sick Boy and Begbie. Mark seems to be a different man, he's outgrown his habits and matured; it doesn't take him long to get back into step and emotions begin to arise.

First of all, I have to mention the narrative. When looking back and considering it, the story isn't that great. That's not what takes over the audience, it's the themes of lifetime achievement and losing friends. All the boys are in their late fifties and have achieved nothing, Renton comes home because he's divorcing his wife and has no faith in his job. Even though the lie Renton tells about his family may not seem so significant, I feel that it really is; he wants Sick Boy to believe that he's got something to be proud of, something that even if all else fails he can look at and think I've got this. It's heartbreaking that Renton is now alone, what's also upsetting is the loss of his mother. Maybe he didn't come back because he was scared of the boys reaction or maybe because he couldn't face the empty void his mother left.

T2 is and isn't nostalgic. Of course, there's no doubt that nothing could have beaten the original Trainspotting because it's unique and strange yet totally endearing. We see our favourite characters again, A number of places we go with Renton in the film made me so emotional- to see how things hadn't quite changed but seemed so derelict. Flashbacks are quite prominent in this film, they go from back twenty years to when Renton was a child, they added something to the film and in a sense they reminded me of the flashbacks we see in Boyle's Slumdog Millionare. Personally, I feel the flashbacks are there to make audiences see that no matter how far apart the boys drift they'll always have a massive connection, they're like brothers not friends.

What's genius about T2 is that all the boys aren't keen on seeing each other and if anything they wish that Renton hasn't come back. Memories and nostalgia overcomes all their feelings of hate towards Mark and brings them back together again. Character wise, I'd say Spud is exactly the same. I find him cute and he's still as dim witted as twenty years ago, still an addict but the father of a teenage son. Sick Boy, well he's kind of grown up but is dealing in some risky business and also still addict- to cocaine this time round. Begbie is absolutely crazy, even more crazy now than any other time; I felt by the end of the film Begbie was going to be the one to grow the most but that's just a delusion and he gets more insane. Although, normally I do enjoy watching characters in a narrative evolve over the course of the film, I didn't mind so much in T2. Rather than changing they're reverting back, back to when they were young and relatively care free but learning to contain this attitude and make it suitable for their adult lives.

More than this, the characters are where the allure stems from. Spuds innocence, Begbie's bawdiness, Sick Boy's boyish quality and Renton's every-man type. Along with them we discover their reignited friendship, at heart they'll always be those twenty something, addicts. That's why we love them.

As a whole the mise en scene is spot on, Edinburgh is of course the main setting. We see the Castle, the tram line which definitely wasn't there twenty years ago and some of the same old spots from back in 1996.  Once again the boys leave Edinburgh and catch the train to Rannoch Moor, I want to go to this place a lot! It's so beautiful and I can imagine it to be breathtaking in real life, of course in the original Renton labels it 'shit'. Two of the main places we return to (and they're main because they're my favourite) are Prince Street, the opening running scene of Trainspotting, and Calton Street Bridge, when Renton runs into a car. The costumes are basic and what they need to be, all the boys have gotten a little smarter.

I'm not really going to talk about the ending because it's so easy to give it all away. Let's just say Begbie still holds a massive grudge. It's such a clever ending, the outcome is unexpected but I suppose you can get a little inkling right before everything is revealed.

I could go on about this film all day, the only criticism I have is that it wasn't as social realist as the first. I don't know what it was, I just did't get the same feeling. Overall, it lived up to expectation besides that one little blip. A must see if you loved Trainspotting!