Deborah Ross

Sloppy seconds

Danny Boyle’s new film doesn’t have anything to say about ageing, politics, drugs or even friendship

Danny Boyle introduced T2 Trainspotting at the screening I attended and said that, throughout filming, he’d seen the cast looking at him and what these looks were saying was: ‘It had better not be shite, Danny.’ This may sum up all our thinking, pretty much. It had better not be shite, Danny. Danny, do what you have to do but, we beg you, don’t make it shite. Once more, with extra feeling: don’t, don’t, don’t make it shite, Danny. And? I take no pleasure in saying it (seriously, hand on heart) but this sequel is, in fact, quite shite.*

I won’t bore on about the original film, even though some of us are still recovering from it — oh God, Dawn, the dead baby — and may never recover from it, and this may be part of the problem. The original is Boyle’s masterpiece and will, I suspect, remain so no matter how many Slumdog Millionaires he makes, or Olympic opening ceremonies he conducts, and comparisons are unavoidable as, once seen, you can never unsee. (Oh God, Dawn, the dead baby. Also ‘the worst toilet in Scotland’.)

Based on Irvine Welsh’s novel, the film told the story of a group of heroin-addicted young men (and one violent, psychopathic drunk) in Edinburgh, but told it with such verve and wit and energy that there was something fiercely joyful about it. (That said, kids, don’t do drugs.) What’s happened to the characters over the past two decades you’ve possibly never asked yourself, but here we are, so let’s get on with it.

This is the deal: as loosely based on Welsh’s follow-up novel Porno, Renton (Ewan McGregor) has been living in Amsterdam but returns to Edinburgh to look up the old mates he double-crossed on that drug deal.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in