Ten years after An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore returns with a follow-up documentary about the threat that climate change poses to our planet, and our potentially fatal lack of action as a species in response to it.
As evidenced by the mere existence of a sequel, Gore acknowledges something of a failure on his part to get the message across as effectively as he'd hoped in the earlier film, despite its perceived success. The fact is, as a planet, we still aren't stepping up like we should be to tackle the problem.
So when scientific consensus isn't enough, we turn to the power of cinema.
The first film took much of its structure from Gore's "slide show" about climate change, and the sequel features chunks of his updated live presentation. We travel with Gore as he promotes a world less dependent upon fossil fuels. The tangible legacy of the first film is also addressed, particularly in how many of the people featured have gone on to be heroes in the field.
There are plenty of extremely emotive moments, most of them involving big dramatic visuals, such as polar ice caps falling apart or devastating flood footage. And considering his reputation as someone lacking passion, Gore himself also gets pretty worked up a few times.
The final third follows the build up to the Paris Climate Agreement in 2016, so the film naturally finishes on something of a downer when you-know-who announces that the US will be withdrawing. This also highlights the difficulty of addressing a macro issue among so many political distractions.
It's not the most dazzling documentary, but the urgency of the issue is well-illustrated, and the power is placed firmly in the hands of the audience by the end.
Cast: Al Gore
Director: Jon Shenk, Bonni Cohen
Running Time: 97mins
Rating: PG
Verdict: Can you handle the truth?
DID YOU KNOW...
In 2006, An Inconvenient Truth became the first documentary ever to win two Academy Awards. Despite accepting the Oscar for best documentary and making a speech, Al Gore did not actually win the award, rather it went to director David Guggenheim.