'An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power' delivers a nimbus-tinged view of Al Gore's actions

The documentary is the follow-up to the Oscar-winning documentary 'An Inconvenient Truth,' in which Al Gore laid out the case for climate change Armageddon.

Al Gore poses for a photograph before talking about his new film 'An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth the Power' in Toronto.

Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press/AP

July 28, 2017

“An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power” is the follow-up to the 2006 Oscar-winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” in which Al Gore laid out the case for climate change Armageddon. He’s still at it, leading “climate leadership training” sessions as he circles the globe educating and cajoling politicians and business leaders to take up the cause of wind, and especially solar energy, as a replacement for fossil fuels.

Gore’s unstinting optimism, drive, and behind-the-scenes maneuvering at such events as the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference is well documented in this film, directed by Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk. (Davis Guggenheim directed the first film.) I find much to admire in Gore’s mission, although I wish the filmmakers had not delivered such a nimbus-tinged view of his exploits. The documentary is like the cinematic equivalent of humblebragging. But it does provide one great “told you so” moment: In the first film, skeptics scoffed when Gore touted scientific projections showing rising seas flooding the demolished site of the World Trade Center. In the new film, we are presented with footage of superstorm Sandy ravaging the site. Grade: B (Rated PG for thematic elements and some troubling images.)