An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power (2017)

Like a couple of others who've reviewed, this is my first review on IMDB. Reason being is people need to watch this documentary- and all others like it- its an extremely important issue, and one that we cannot know too much about. While this isn't the BEST climate change documentary I've ever seen, I still found it good. Al Gore is a great speaker, well educated on the topic (unlike some reviewers here) and it did give an inside look into the Paris Climate Change negotiations which was interesting. To those who gave it 1, 2 and 3 stars because you think the science behind it is fake... All I can say is I hope that you are lying on the beach the next time a hurricane hits. Let the ones with common sense survive, and let the Trump supporters be swept away with the twigs.

When you have a President who is a climate change denier, it may not be the worst time to remind people that our planet needs our help. Just because we made it so far, does not mean we should keep going at that pace we are right now. Slow down, take a look and try to better things should be in our self interest or that of our kids.Hopefully you can see that and while most people do not like to be lectured (me neither), the movie tries to walk a fine line between educating and warning. It doesn't always work, but you can't dismiss the facts. Well turns out you can, but you are not really helping anybody. Apart from your consciousness that is and so you won't feel guilty. The first one might have been better, but this is a decent follow up ...

Picking up from the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" (2006), Al Gore continues his crusade against global warming.Like the original film, Gore uses convincing data to explain his case, only occasionally getting too technical for the average non-science-whiz viewer. This sequel uses clips of the original in which predictions were made (and immediately dismissed by climate change deniers) and later proven to be true. The folks behind this film show diplomacy as they do not directly use the phrase "I told you so" even though they have every right to."An Inconvenient Sequel" showed promise by beginning with brief audio clips of naysayers believing Gore's mission to be a false one. It would have benefited by continuing with other viewpoints throughout the film but it concentrates too much on Gore alone. The restriction of one note, even if it is a good one as it is here, limits the impact.Similarly, some sequences don't gel well with each other overall and the movie comes off as choppy. Some of them went too far with sentimental, cheesy music during moments of victory and hope.Despite the flaws, "An Inconvenient Sequel" is still a fine film mainly because of its relevance and the solid character of Al Gore. Like its predecessor, it can cause the viewer despair at the world's situation but it is also balanced with hope for the good changes that are turning things around. The most unexpected moment of hope is when Gore meets a small-town super-conservative mayor in Republican Texas: Dale Ross of the town of Georgetown. The two men have a wonderful rapport because - are you ready? - the mayor believes in Gore's cause and implements similar policies for his town, stating that renewable energy is as good for the bottom line as it is for the environment. (Hopefully, this delightful man will have greater influence in his party in the very near future.)"An Inconvenient Sequel" provides hope in two ways. The obvious one is in the accelerating movement of positive changes going against the negative ones on the issue of climate change. Yet, it also gives a revival to something else that is deteriorating: an expression of liberalism with a solid heart and mind - something that has made this philosophy so appealing for decades. These days, there are many elements of liberalism that have become narrow-minded, mean-spirited, self-serving, hypocritical, and in some cases, violent - in other words, all the traits they accuse their opponents of having. May this movie contribute to the return of a healthy planet and a healthy liberalism.

Disclaimer: Al Gore holds a special place in my heart--I was in N. Carolina during his first bid for president when he championed climate change as an issue in 1988. Also, he's also the only politician I can say I have shaken hands with, back in 1996. He's the only politician I would and will have ever gone out of my way to see in person and it was a thrill. So if you are a Gore basher, move along.I enjoyed this movie. I mean I ENJOYED this movie. It made me smile, many times. You may say thats an odd reaction to the destruction but I am one of the few who is long past bemoaning the course we have set for ourselves as a species. It is what it is.I admire Al Gore's tenacity. I envy his hope. I envy his faith in the system and in people. And I enjoyed his angry rants. Wish there was more of this in the first film--it may have helped fuel the flame when it was needed most, and cowed the trolls and predators in the only language they understand. I am not angry he continues to carry these things forward into the twilight of our collective path. He knows what he wants to save (do you?) and he will continue to fight for it. Good on him.However, to be honest the film adds nothing to the discussion. Every scientific fact stated in this film was WIDELY known and accepted in 2006 when the first AIT film came out. But, given more than a decade has passed, things have shifted by an order of magnitude or so, so now we get to see it from the perspective of a rearview mirror. I am glad there was a lot of focus on the ocean in this iteration. Climate change activists are so doggedly focused on humans and fossil fuels, they have been completely oblivious to the slow death of the one thing that maintained this biosphere and the climate in which the biosphere we know and love has evolved. Twenty years ago I would regularly argue this point with greenie granola activist types, until I realized we had reach a point in time where this issue was yet another moot point. That aside, its nice to see this truth in full living color on the screen.We also get something else in full living color--the complete and utter commitment of our "leaders" and more importantly the elite, to this collective trajectory. When the bible says greed is the root of evil, it clearly wasn't a metaphorical statement. We will now all pay for that collective "sin".If you are clueless, you won't see this film. You are the type to deny what has been knocking you repeatedly between the eyes for years because it would mean you would have to relinquish some dogma planted in your head as a child. As Rhett Butler once said, "Well, far be it from me to question the teachings of childhood." I leave you to the inevitable crash and burn.If you are in the know, this film will not do much in terms of enlightening you, or motivating you, unless you fantasize about cornering the market on renewables or some such thing.All in all, this film is beautiful. You will see things you have only read about up until now. You can relish the carnage and anticipate the further unfolding that we face. Upon leaving the film, you can take with you the feeling that you have borne witness to the great unraveling. Its a spectacle that doesn't get much airtime and for that alone it makes this film worth seeing.