Film Review - An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power (PG)

Couldn't you hear what Mother Nature was screaming at you?

The 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth (yes, it was that long ago) dealt with one-time US Vice-President Al Gore's struggle to raise awareness on the issue of climate change. It was structured around the touring presentation, in which he attempted to persuade audiences on the link between human activity and global warming. The picture painted was a bleak and frightening one.

The most striking thing about this new Inconvenient Sequel is that the argument is treated from the beginning as won and lost. The first section of the film counters the naysayers who criticised the claims made in the original, by focusing on instances of extreme weather during the intervening period. The footage is needless to say alarming. Statistical evidence is also provided regarding very recent rises in global temperature. That's it. Climate denial is dismissed here with an irritation similar to that of Professor Brian Cox during recent debates on the topic. Here's the evidence, both men appear to be saying, the bulk of climate scientists are agreed on the nature of the problem, now can we get on with solving it?

The solving is what we've arrived at, according to Gore, whose decade-long efforts in recruiting a worldwide squad of young climate activists is also chronicled here. A very real solution is in place due to tumbling cost of renewable energy sources, and global will exists following the creation of the 2016 Paris Climate Accord, with one high-profile exception. (Yes, Donald Trump does feature briefly in the documentary as a kind of minor villain - the sort who gets dispatched without much fanfare midway through a Game of Thrones season. The overall tide of history, we are assured, will wash such skeptics away.)

An Inconvenient Sequel replaces the comparative dynamism of the first film with something more pragmatic, culminating in an appeal for widespread use of renewable energy sources over fossil fuels and for campaigning at a community level. It deals in some depth with the politicking required, leading up to and during the Paris climate talks, particularly the question of whether developing nations can be expected to forego the 150 years of fossil fuel usage that First World nations have already enjoyed. While such tricky issues can only be sketched out here, the film does seem to provide some credible answers.

There are moments to genuinely move, some involving individuals caught up in the freak weather incidents of recent years, others dealing with the stalling of the climate talks by the Paris terrorist attacks of November 2015. Gore comes across as both passionate and compassionate throughout, as well as highly articulate, and if the whole thing comes across as slightly too much of his show, he's surely earned it through decades of commitment to this particular cause. 

Coming away from An Inconvenient Sequel there are two sequences that stayed with me. One is a conversation between Gore and a conservative Texan mayor who has embraced the challenge of renewable energy, suggesting the possibility of an issue that can transcend partisan politics. The other is the aftermath of the Paris attacks, when the organisers of the climate conference redoubled their efforts to achieve a consensus. As Gore says in his commentary, it's difficult express in words the connection between the two events, but on an instinctive and ideological level there does seem to be one. Destructive acts in the name of a spurious cause only highlight the need to take positive action in the name of a constructive long-term purpose.

Perhaps this is the biggest achievement of this follow-up documentary. Moving account of the Paris events aside, An Inconvenient Sequel takes a primarily businesslike approach to updating the climatic situation. This is about providing pertinent information rather than trying to score points for innovative film-making. What the movie does do is to create a sense of realistic hope as an alternative to the despair, and to provide global perspective in the face of petty nationalistic concerns. Yes climate change is happening and the chorus of dissent at that news is becoming weaker. But it's also true that the technologies are now available and affordable to limit the damage. This can be a good-news story. 

Gut Reaction: Quietly engrossed throughout. Spine-tingling sense of uplift at the end.

Ed's Verdict: For its message and for its insight into political process, this timely sequel is an unignorable watch.