Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
A decade after An Inconvenient Truth brought climate change into the heart of popular culture comes the riveting and rousing follow-up that shows just how close we are to a real energy revolution. Vice President Al Gore continues his tireless fight, traveling around the world training an army of climate champions and influencing international climate policy. Cameras follow him behind the scenes—in moments private and public, funny and poignant—as he pursues the empowering notion that while the stakes have never been higher, the perils of climate change can be overcome with human ingenuity and passion.
An Inconvenient Sequel suffers from being a largely derivative follow-up to its landmark predecessor. The narrative structure mirrors the original too closely—Gore on stage, Gore traveling, Gore pontificating—without finding a genuinely fresh cinematic approach. The documentary captures some compelling real-world moments (Paris Agreement negotiations, flooding in Miami) and Gore remains an earnest, occasionally charismatic subject, but the film lacks the urgency and revelation of the original. Cinematography is serviceable with some striking climate-impact imagery but nothing that distinguishes it visually. The ending, meant to be rousing and hopeful, feels somewhat hollow given the political context of 2017 (Trump's withdrawal from Paris). As a sequel it adds little conceptually new to climate documentary filmmaking, earning a low Novelty score.