T2 Trainspotting

Two decades after Trainspotting captured the zeitgeist, director Danny Boyle reassembles the cast for this sequel loosely based on Irvine Welsh's novel Porno. This time it's less about living in the moment, more about reflecting on the past. Renton (Ewan McGregor) may have asserted to "Choose life", but his life has hit a wall; his state of mind beautifully captured with a touch of slapstick when he is again introduced on the run - only now on a treadmill. Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller) ropes his old friend into a shady bit of business, psychotic Begbie (Robert Carlyle) aims to settle an old score, while Spud is still struggling with addiction. Plenty of dry humour leavens the drama, punctuated by brief pops of adrenaline-fuelled action to echo the original film, like a chase that culminates with Renton's shark-like grin over the bonnet of a car. The old soundtrack, too, is remixed with a more meditative tempo. But if the first film was an invigorating shot in the arm, this is a touching, slightly surreal nostalgia trip.