Review: T2 Trainspotting (second-pass)

T2 Trainspotting (second-pass)
Cert: 18 / 117 mins / Dir. Danny Boyle / Trailer

"The world changes, eh? Even if we don't…"
~ Francis Begbie, T2.

It's always good when you can get a new experience from re-watching a film, and T2 Trainspotting is a fine example. After not knowing what to expect the first time round and being bombarded with the twenty years of catching up that Boyle, Hodge and Welsh throw at the audience, my second-pass was a quieter, even more isolating watch. Not more poignant exactly, but knowing the destination means you can enjoy the journey more and take in the scenery*¹.

Away from the attention-grabbing, gurning bromance between Ewan McGregor and Johnny Lee Miller, this is really Robert Carlyle and Ewen Bremner's film. Begbie and Spud are the half of the original gang who actually manage to achieve some level of advancement from everything that occurs. And while I'd initially thought the movie was beating nostalgia with a harsh stick (being a large part of the reason that Renton and Sickboy find themselves caught in the same failing behavioural loops), it became clear that a more focused, objective nostalgia is the very thing which allows Spud to move forward with his life. And while Begbie still has some way to go by the closing credits, his character develops more in those two hours than it has in his previous fifteen years.

Although on the subject of the former two, that the scene in the King William Arms where Renton and Sick Boy improvise a sectarian musical number in the process of robbing and entire pub is excruciating. Utterly masterful and utterly excruciating. An underhanded confidence-trick played once on the page, it's amplified through by the screenplay to become so unfeasible that it somehow just works completely. All the while underlining the character-flaws in everybody on the screen. T2 embodies a pastime which has been made more popular and accessible than ever in the twenty-first century: looking on in gleeful, satisfied awe at the poor decision-making of others, ignoring the quiet voice at the back of your brain reminding you that you're no better.

I can see this movie getting some serious play at my house...

Trainspotting, pretty much.



While you still can, yes.



It does.



Maybe not best of everyone involved, but certainly in the top-half of their CV.



Absolutely not.



There isn't.



Level 1: Obi-Wan Kenobi's in this.
Plus, at the end of the movie there's a kid outside Renton's childhood home playing with a toy lightsaber. A blue one as well, so I think it's safe to assume that's a self-referential easter-egg? I mean it'd be a bit weird for someone to bring that to the set and have it be Anakin's saber, wouldn't it?





*¹ That said… while I think we'd all agree that Irvine Welsh deserves a repeat appearance in this movie, you'd think that at some point in the last twenty years he'd have taken some acting lessons, no? And while I'm on, in that scene where Spud steps out of the boxing-gym and has a flashback looking down the road, the repeatedly alternating camera-angles make the continuity-gaffe with his sweatshirt (on/off his shoulder) glaringly obvious. And also while I'm on moaning, can someone have a gentle word with Danny Boyle and point out that soundtracking a film by hitting shuffle on your iPod only works if you have good taste in music to begin with? Much like its predecessor, T2's soundtrack features three good tunes and the rest is padded out with bland filler. Ridiculous. ^{[ BACK ]}


DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.

Review: T2 Trainspotting

T2 Trainspotting
Cert: 18 / 117 mins / Dir. Danny Boyle / Trailer

"Nostalgia. That's why you're here. You're a tourist in your own youth…"
~ Simon 'Sick Boy' Williamson, T2.

If only all sequels were as self-aware. Packed with callbacks and flashbacks, director Danny Boyle, screenwriter John Hodge and author Irvine Welsh's long awaited sequel rolls into the station twenty one years after the last service. While the film is far from a rehash, it relies heavily on the dynamics (and clips) of its predecessor to exist. It also doesn't care whether that bothers you or not. With Renton (Ewan McGregor) back from his nervous exile in Amsterdam, Sick Boy (Johnny Lee Miller) now running his aunt's pub in Leith, Spud (Ewen Bremner) still struggling to stay off heroin and Begbie (Robert Carlyle) freshly out of prison, the boys are older but absolutely no wiser. As coincidence and desperation join forces to push the four back together again, Sick Boy's latest girlfriend/business partner Veronika (Anjela Nedyalkova) acts as the prism through which we get reacquainted. With scores to settle and new deals on the table, the boys are back in town…

This is, it has to be said, a film for fans of Trainspotting. As you might well expect. Occasionally too fixated on its predecessor for its own good, but that's all part of the forced nostalgia vibe, as quoted above. Not as much 'fun' as 1996 outing, but certainly not as prone to utter despair, either. This is the film that's realised it's apparently grown up and doesn't know how it's supposed to act, a feeling which will probably resonate with Generations X and Y in the audience. The screenplay borrows from Welsh's sequel novel Porno and retrospectively from Trainspotting without committing to being a true adaptation of either. As befits the characters we know and love/hate.

The four leads pick up the reins effortlessly, inhabiting their old personas with an ingrained weariness that is no doubt helped by twenty years of being a jobbing actor. Various secondary-characters from the first movie pop up, with screen-time not unlike that which they had the last time (I'm fairly certain they only feel so familiar to me because of how many times I've watched Trainspotting over the years). And threatening to outshine them all is the aforementioned Anjela Nedyalkova, but sadly we don't get to know Veronika as much as I'd have liked. Although given her role in the film, I suspect that's entirely intentional.

In T2*¹, echoes of a shared past rearrange into the mistakes of the present and regrets of the future. In any other film this could be lazy writing, but here it's a sign that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Like gangsters, psychopaths and monsters, we can spend time with this bunch of utter misfits in the cinema so that we don't have to associate with them in real life. Grinning at their excesses, wincing at their follies and laughing at their stupidity.

Compelling yet charmless; gloriously and selfishly nihilistic. T2 Trainspotting is, in the best way, a film which stopped giving a fuck two decades before it was made. Choose life, indeed...

Well let's be honest, Trainspotting.



If you want to see it, you'll want to see it a) big and b) loud and c) soon.



It does.



As much as I loved it, I'm not sure I'd go that far.



Hell, no.
This film is not for everybody.



There isn't.



Level 1: Obi-Wan Kenobi's in this.





*¹ Although while I'm on, what kind of title is "T2 Trainspotting", anyway? Obviously you can't properly market a film called 'Porno', but at least have a think about what rolls off the tongue, eh?

DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.

Review: Danny Boyle's Frankenstein (JLM as the Creature)

National Theatre Live: Frankenstein (with Jonny Lee Miller as the Creature)*¹
Cert: 15 / 125 mins / Dir. Danny Boyle



On reflection, I think that this version of Frankenstein, with Benedict Cumberbatch as the ethically-bereft doctor and Jonny Lee Miller as his first-draft creation, is my favourite of the two performances. A short featurette before the play has Cumberbatch recalling how he studied recovering stroke-patients for his portrayal of the creature, whereas Miller says a lot of his performance was based around his 4yr old son. And it's Miller's child-like interpretation of the part which swings it for me, if only because I could identify more closely with it (not that BC's creature is any less stunning, but it does have a different feel).

In addition, it seems that Cumberbatch is able to get more out of the role of Victor Frankenstein. Both actors pull off the fraught, distracted scientist well, but BC adds a layer of vulnerability which makes the doctor a more sympathetic character; an interesting dynamic in the scenes he shares with his creation, creating a conflict around who you're meant to be rooting for.

Mrs Blackout accompanied me to this, and while she enjoyed it throughly, she feels the other version has the edge. We also took some friends along who hadn't seen either version, and they were suitably blown-away by the whole thing (although, as is customary, they were raising eyebrows at the opening sequence. I think everyone does, that first time). So y'know, your mileage will vary, but you should still love it either way.

Without wanting to sound clichéd, the story really has held its relevancy, and this production does it justice perfectly. Screenings are continuing into December: take a look at Frankenstein's National Theatre page for details of performances near you.

Apart from anything else, how often do you get to see two Sherlocks on stage at the same time?

As much as it can be, yes.



Yes.



Undoubtedly.



Cinema as an when you can, because there's no DVD on the horizon.



Yeah.



Yeah.



Y'know what, I think there's one buried repeatedly in a music/sound-effects sting that transitions two scenes. But I could well be wrong, so I'll err on the side of no.

Did you get the chance to see this at the National Theatre? How does the atmosphere compare with the cinematic presentation?

*¹ You can read my review of the show with Benedict Cumberbatch as the Creature here, and my original 2012 review (also with Jonny Lee Miller as the Creature) here.

DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.

Review: Danny Boyle's Frankenstein (BC as the Creature)

National Theatre Live: Frankenstein (with Benedict Cumberbatch as the Creature)*¹
Cert: 15 / 125 mins / Dir. Danny Boyle



So as circumstances unfolded, I missed this version of the performance last year. Tonight's showing was the variant with Benedict Cumberbatch as the shambling, slurring and utterly charming Creature, and Jonny Lee Miller as his emotionally anesthetised creator. As you might suspect, BC gets the lion's share of the stage-time in this role, and has that and more of the work to do. This isn't to downplay JLM's performance at all, but as the story is told from the Creature's point of view, it's a necessity that we spend the most time with him.

Mrs Blackout was on my arm this evening, and so was my newbie-by-proxy. She spent the first fifteen minutes or so as I initially did, thinking 'well, this is all very avante garde; do we get a script or is it all expressionism?'. The unannounced, untitled, introductory birthing-sequence does feel longer than it is (even watching it again), yet it's absolutely essential for bonding with the Creature, and by the time of his departure from the farmstead you're glad you shared it with him. Cumberbatch is nothing short of magnificent here, and as much fun as he's having, it never gets hammy or overdone, even when delivering the humourous lines which the script is deftly hiding (although these moments are intentionally more broad when delivered by the other members of the cast). Extra props go to the ever-engaging Karl Johnson and Naomie Harris, whose roles seem almost criminally (if needfully) short.

Whether you're a Shelley aficionado, or have only caught fleeting glimspes of the Karloff-guise, this interpretation of the tale is worth your time, money and attention. Meticulously staged, and thought-provoking without beating you over the head with weighted morality, Frankenstein is definitely "theatre", but definitely worth a watch for even the most hardened cinephile.

Oh, and as it turned out, Mrs Blackout enjoyed it very much. So, all good.

Folks in the UK: The other half of the performance (with Jonny Lee Miller as the Creature) is being shown at participating Cineworld, Vue, and Odeon cinemas. Independents are listed on the NT Live website. International screenings are being held, but you'll have to Google your area I'm afraid ;)

Well, it's not really meant to be, I don't think.



I did.



It does.



If you can see Frankenstein at a cinema, do, because it looks like there's no DVD imminent.



I probably will.



If they show it again, I will watch it again.



There isn't.

What's your favourite version of Frankenstein's monster?
Yes, I know it's an obvious question.
That's why I asked it.

*¹ You can read my original 2012 review of the show (with Jonny Lee Miller as the Creature) here.

DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.

Review: Trainspotting

Trainspotting
Cert: 18 / 95 mins / Dir. Danny Boyle



So I received an e-mail the other week, from the lovely people at Vue, informing me of a special screening they were holding of a new film called 'Trainspotting'. I have to say that the quirky poster they attached was quite different from the staid, sober mood the title would suggest. With that, I was intrigued, and decided to pop along for a look.

Well, firstly, I should point out that this must have been a very exclusive screening, as Vue showed the film in the bijou Screen 10, and only eleven people had been invited to attend! There was an absolute minimum of fuss, and I wasn't asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement, so I'm guessing Channel 4 Films are hoping that influential bloggers and social-networking types will spread word of mouth, ahead of general release. Obviously, I'll be only too happy to oblige.

Secondly, as it transpired, the film isn't about trainspotting at all (although I did catch a train to the cinema to see this, and there were some trainspotters on the platform. Viral marketing performance art?), but is actually about some Scotch heroin addicts! I did see two trains in the film, but the characters seemed to make no attempt to record either their model nor registration numbers. I'll assume they have those down in their books already. Although with all that skag coursing through their veins, who knows what their handwriting looks like?!?

The story follows Ewan McGregor's 'Mark' and his pasty chums as they get into an escalating series of scrapes around money, women and you've guessed it... heroin! I've seen Ewan before in a Star Wars film, but don't worry - his Scotch accent is almost impeccable. He is quite convincing. A rather nice touch, I thought, is that this is a period piece, set in the 1990's, and the fashion, music and branches of John Menzies add a layer of realism that really draws you in.

Although bleak at times (don't worry, the baby comes back later!), 'Trainspotting' is a real Boy's-Own romp that will keep audiences entertained and adrenalised from start to finish. Mark my words, publicity may be low-key now, but this is a cult-hit waiting to happen, and by the end of the summer I suspect you'll be hard pressed to find any serious film fan who hasn't at least heard of it.

Warning: features Keith Allen, albeit briefly, and two scenes of people with poo on their hands. I'll let you decide which is worse.

---

---

It makes the film look like a lot more fun than it often is, but yes.



Yes.



Yes. Which is to say it's more cohesive than the book.



Well, if you get the chance to revisit this at the cinema, it's well worth it, but the DVD/BRD should see you right.



Yes.



Yes.



No.

If / when the gang get back together to make a sequel, would you want it to incorporate (if not neccessarily follow) Welsh's sequel book, Porno?

DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.