Renton, Sick Boy, Spud and Begbie are characters so familiar they almost feel like family - if your family is an incredibly dysfunctional collection of recovering and not so recovering heroin addicts, offset by one unhinged, violent psychopath.
Oh how I missed them.
When Renton reappears after 20 years, his friends are all older, but not remotely wiser. Spud is still an addict while Sick Boy is dabbling in a little blackmail to feed an unhealthy cocaine habit.
Begbie? He's in jail, of course. But not for long.
The predominant theme of the film's early proceedings is most definitely retribution. Renton did a runner from his mates with some ill-gotten gains, now they want to make him pay.
The boys are most definitely back in town, their lust for life a little more jaded and a lot less hallucinogenic.
Two decades on, my love for these boys remains unchecked. Director Danny Boyle balances the nostalgia nicely, giving us flashes of their past as quick shots at the bar of the original rather than long, self-indulgent pints of lager lager lager.
Aging not so gracefully is sobering and thought-provoking, and while nothing could ever match the impact of the first, I was very happy to have them back in my life.
Three-and-half stars.
T2 Trainspotting
:: Director: Danny Boyle
:: Starring: Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller, Ewen Bremner, Anjela Nedyalkova, Kelly Macdonald, Shirley Henderson, James Cosmo, Irvine Welsh
:: Running Time: 117 minutes
:: Rating: R16 - Violence, offensive language, drug use, sex scenes & content that may disturb
:: Release Date: February 23, 2017
Newshub.
