Since the phenomenal success of Al Gore’s `An Inconvenient Truth‘ , the world has witnessed a powerful resurgence of the activist-filmmaker; Director Chris Paine represents one of the successful examples of these ecomentarians. In Revenge of the Electric Car, the follow up to Who Killed the Electric Car, the carbon-friendly cameraman goes behind the closed doors of General Motors, Nissan and Tesla Motors to highlight the efforts of an elite band of entrepreneurs, determined to jump-start the electric car revolution, despite strong opposition from the oil industry, price-wary consumers and even a recession hit US Government.
In only his second feature, Paine confidently steers from the shadowy boardrooms of global giants Nissan and GM, to the DIY car converters of blue-collar America in this well structured snapshot of the biggest motor revolution since the Model T Ford. Stylishly visualized and fluently edited, the competence of Paine’s craft is never brought into question. However, this ambitious documentary suffers through its feeble delivery key information: Exposition of vital facts are communicated with all the flair of a PowerPoint presentation. Just as disappointing is the lack of a clear theme or direction; Is Paine presenting a shocking expose of corporate wastefulness, a call-to-arms for activists worldwide or a character study of an elite few who tried to save the planet, one free-way at a time. These flaws, combined with an assumed advanced knowledge of motor corporate politics, threaten to undo the many merits of this striking, and highly informative, documentary.
On reflection, Revenge of the Electric Car is a well crafted but ultimately average documentary which achieves alot despite its ham-fisted delivery of exposition. However, by the end the ninety minute running time, the film recovers its form and concludes nicely when the various narrative strands wrap together to paint an optimistic picture of a cleaner, fully-charged world.
Revenge of the Electric Car is released on DVD on 6th August.