Trainspotting 2 was serviceable, and it did have its moments where it struck a cord, more so than most films lately, so for that I'd say it did what it set out to do. I think it was as good as it possibly could have been, even though I got the feeling throughout that it was a film, and a story, that didn't really necessarily have to be told. It's main strength playing off nostalgia, although to be fair to it, it was self-aware of this. It was never going to, or even attempt, to try and recapture the mood and the themes of the first film. Where the characters are now compared to back then made sense logistically. Having Renton, Sickboy and co. carry on like a bunch of early 20 somethings, doing silly shit, just wouldn't have made sense. There was a couple of instances of that in T2, which to me were the weakest parts of it. The main criticism I have with it, though, is that the story overall felt a little bit too contrived just to get the group all back together again, but again, that's just a result of making a sequel to something that really never asked for it to begin with.
