The long-awaited sequel to 1996's groundbreaking drug-culture black comedy, Trainspotting, hits theaters next month bringing back Renton (Ewan McGregor), Begbie (Robert Carlyle), Sick-Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), and Spud (Ewan Bremner). Titled simply T2: Trainspotting, the film picks up 20 years after the original leaves off, as we find out what these heroin addicts (and, presumably, ex-heroin addicts) have been up to.
We've already seen a couple of trailers for Trainspotting 2, but now Sony has released one more celebrating the legacy of the original movie.
This latest trailer is titled 'Legacy', and combines shots of the original '96 Trainspotting with clips from the upcoming movie as well as reviews in a montage just under two minutes long. The 'Legacy' trailer opens with a shot of Renton walking into his childhood room, before the iconic music (Iggy Pop's Lust For Life) kicks in. Over the older scenes we see the words "In 1996 one film revolutionized our music, our culture, our world," before later scenes are combined with reviews like, "An intense, emotional rollercoaster," and, "Every bit as brilliant as you've been hoping."
The trailer breaks up the scenes from the two films using color - clips from the original film are shown with an orange wash (a call-out to the tone choice for the original posters), whereas new scenes are shown in full color. The new clips combine scenes that we have already seen in previous trailers with some brand new shots, and the trailer ends with a scene from the new film that mimics one of the iconic shots from the original - Renton having a run-in with a car, leaning on the hood, and grinning at the camera.
This latest trailer looks just as phenomenal as the previous ones, with director Danny Boyle managing to create something that recalls the original film while not being too nostalgic for his '90s style of filmmaking. T2: Trainspotting looks like it will be just as manic and claustrophobic as the original, and it's amazing to see the ways in which Renton, and his ideas about "choosing life," has evolved in the past two decades. The trailer also promises the same kind of dizzying, trippy shots that were so innovative in Trainspotting.
Obviously, the reviews chosen are all extremely positive - the trailer is, after all, a marketing tool for the film. While we are still thrilled to see so much enthusiasm for the film, it's going to be difficult for Boyle to satisfy fans with something that balances the legacy of a film as amazing as Trainspotting with the need for novelty. Some will undoubtedly believe that T2 tries too hard to recreate the magic of the original, while others will believe that it doesn't try hard enough. That's the inherent problem with a follow-up to a film as iconic as this, but from the looks of this Legacy trailer, T2: Trainspotting gets it just right.
Next: Does Trainspotting Really Need Another Sequel?
Source: Sony
