Five things we learned from the Trainspotting 2 world premiere

Trainspotting 2 - or T2 as it’s become known - had its world premiere in the movie’s hometown of Edinburgh on Sunday night and the stars of the film were out in force.

Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller, Ewen Bremner and Kelly Macdonald joined director Boyle on the orange carpet at Cineworld, Fountain Park, in the Scottish capital.

The film, which is loosely based on Irvine Welsh’s own 2002 sequel to Trainspotting, Porno, is one of 2017’s most anticipated releases.

Without giving away any massive spoilers, here are five things we learned from the Trainspotting 2 world premiere...

1. There could be a Trainspotting 3

A few weeks back, author Irvine Welsh said he thought “there’s probably room for one more kind of Trainspotting-themed film.” Speaking at the film’s world premiere in Edinburgh over the weekend, actor Robert Carlyle, who plays psycho Begbie in Trainspotting 1 and 2, said he’s keen to bring his character back to the big screen for a third time. Begbie is, of course, the protagonist of Welsh’s 2016 novel, The Blade Artist, and talking about the possibility of another film, Carlyle said: “We’ve been talking about that... I am up for doing it, So maybe we ain’t seen the end of Begbie yet.”

2. Like the first film, it has an amazing soundtrack

There can be little doubt that Trainspotting became one of the most iconic films of the 90s, in part, because of its pulsating soundtrack. So it’s good to know that the musical accompaniment to T2 is brilliant as well. Featuring on the soundtrack to the sequel are Edinburgh’s own Mercury Prize-winning trio Young Fathers, indie darlings Wolf Alice, and south London psych-rockers Fat White Family. The T2 soundtrack is bookended by updated versions of songs from the 1996 original: the Prodigy’s remix of Iggy Pop’s classic Lust For Life and a re-imagining of Underworld’s Born Slippy, titled Slow Slippy. There’s plenty of old-school hits thrown into the mix too, including Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s Relax, Queen’s Radio Ga Ga, Blondie’s Dreaming, and (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais by The Clash.

3. T2 isn’t as good as T1

The reviews are in and the critical consensus is that T2 is not a patch on the original. That’s not to say it’s a bad film. Far from it. Most critics have praised the film, and the general consensus is that its nods to the original are very slickly done. Some have complained that it’s a little long, but it’s laugh-out-loud funny at times, full of violence and vomit, and has the same fast-paced energy of the first film. The cast are also superb.

4. The years have passed, but not that much has changed

It’s more than 20 years since we met the film’s four main protagonists on the big screen, but despite them now being in their 40s, not that much has changed for the boys. Begbie (Carlyle) is still a rage-filled radge; Sick Boy (Miller), who now goes by the name of Simon, is as scheming as ever; Spud (Bremner) is still as daft-as-a-brush and hopelessly addicted to heroin; and Renton (McGregor), who absconded to Amsterdam with his mates’ money at the end of the first film, is back living at his parents’ house after the breakup of his marriage.

5. The girls don’t get much of a look in

Kelly Macdonald (Diane) and Shirley Henderson (Gail) were two of the stars of the original, but sadly, both actresses are criminally underused in T2. The pair make small cameos, which seems like a missed opportunity. There’s a lack of female characters in the film in general, although we are introduced to Sick Boy’s (sorry, Simon’s) “business partner” Veronika (played by Bulgarian actress Anjela Nedyalkova).