Less entertaining than its predecessor, this doc still convinces that global warming is a force to be reckoned with.
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power
Grade: B
Directors: Bonni Cohen (The Rape of Europa), John Shenk (Lost Boys of Sudan)
Cast: Al Gore (An Inconvenient Truth)
Rating: PG
Runtime: 1 hr 38 min
by John DeSando
If Al Gore had been elected president, the US would have signed the Paris Climate accords, and renewable energy initiatives would be on fire. But as An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power shows, he was rather sidelined to the quest of making the world better for energy renewal, and he has delivered.
This sequel to his Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth lays out in a more discursive way the changes for the better in the last ten years. From investments in wind to lower cost for solar, optimism prevails despite India's massive carbon print, considerable as it tends to the energy needs of over one and half billion people. The good news: Thanks in part to Gore, India signed the Paris Accords.
The doc, informative as Gore is, suffers from a surfeit of Gore. More tracking with him through airports and lobbies means less of those nerdy charts, which upon comparison are more interesting. Although I complained about their wonky presence, I now see they were a dramatic counterpoint to his slightly boring persona.
To be fair, if he would have shown the passion in his campaign he has here, he would have been president, and Iraq would have remained under our radar. Let's hope the next installment of this worthy and persuasive doc finds global warming has abated, and the former vice president has found a filmmaker who knows how to keep the audience's attention.
Otherwise, he’s still working for us all, as this informative doc shows.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
