Review | Film review – An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power brings clear reminder of climate change
Eleven years after Al Gore’s documentary about climate change, Jon Shenk and Bonni Cohen’s new film looks at the ex US vice-president’s attempts to persuade governments to adopt renewable energy
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3/5 stars
In 2006, the Al Gore-led Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth delivered a stark warning about the dangers of climate change. Eleven years on An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth To Power arrives, a stinging rebuttal to all the deniers and detractors who tried to discredit the original Davis Guggenheim-directed film.
Co-directed by Jon Shenk and Bonni Cohen, this follow-up – even if isn’t better made – certainly feels timely, following the recent US withdrawal from the Paris agreement on climate change.
If An Inconvenient Truth was Gore bombarding audiences with data via his slide show presentation, this goes on the road with the former vice-president in his continuing quest to promote renewable energy. Whether he’s watching melting ice shelves in Greenland or wading through flooded streets in Miami, the evidence of climate change is incontrovertible.
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It’s not all doom and gloom, however: Gore’s trip to Georgetown, Texas, deep in the heart of oil country, finds a Republican mayor who is turning his town towards solar and wind power.
The third act takes us to the 2015 United Nations Climate Change conference in Paris, as Gore wheels and deals to get a reluctant India on board. He is the hero of the hour, at least according to his directors. Some may find this self-aggrandising.
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Arguably, the film doesn’t do much more than hammer home the same points as its predecessor. But that shouldn’t invalidate Shenk and Cohen’s efforts: with a message this important, we need reminding that the battle for the planet is still not won.
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power opens on September 14
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