Movie with Abe: Revenge of the Electric Car (Capsule Review)

Revenge of the Electric Car
Directed by Chris Paine
Released October 21, 2011



It’s a rare pleasure to find a documentary that’s both highly informative and extremely entertaining. This sequel to “Who Killed the Electric Car” takes a look at the resurgence of gasoline-free vehicles over the past few years, picking out the three major players and one small-time shop to tell this particular story. The characters are all fascinating personalities, particularly Elon Musk’s driven and questionably sane CEO of Tesla Motors, and the film addresses both their professional and personal lives to provide a complete picture of who these people are. The story is an absolutely interesting one, and the way it is told is highly energetic and invigorating. It’s hard not to become passionate about the topic over the course of the film’s run time, and the film does its subject matter justice with the appropriate range of focus and detail. Its ending isn’t as neat in practice as it wants to be in theory, but it’s still a fully worthwhile and educational experience.

B+