Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, here with his electric Leaf, is one fo the stars of
Five years ago, the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car took the auto industry by storm. Now comes the sequel, Revenge of the Electric Car, and it is being embraced by the industry. The new film follows four companies' executives and their the development of their electric cars. They include General Motors' Bob Lutz and the Chevrolet Volt; Nissan's Carlos Ghosn and the electric Leaf; Tesla's Elon Musk and the creation of the electric roadster; and a startup firm headed by Greg Abbott in Culver City, Calif.Who Killed and Revenge, the original and sequel, are polar opposites, yet done by the same true believer, director Chris Paine. The contrast:
- The first movie had a fresh, brash, anti-corporate theme, with protesters being dragged away and automakers who clammed up about what came across as a conspiracy to bury a promising technology. The new movie opening today is actually a salute to the efforts by automakers to create electric cars. Several of them sponsored screenings leading up to today's release. It takes viewers into the boardrooms and humanizes the executives who came across as greedy robber-barons in the first time.
- The first movie seemed brazen and unpolished, guerrilla filmmaking at its best. This new effort is slick and beautifully photographed, the product of what seems like a much-larger budget.
- The first film was a personal crusade, rich with rebels who are true believers in the electric-car cause. The second is dispassionate with an unemotional narration and style that will remind you of the journalism practiced on PBS' Frontline.
Still, Revenge is a must-see movie for anyone interested in cars. With automakers now quaking in fear now that they know how badly Paine could make them look, they grant him full access. Yet given the Occupy Wall Street protests and backlash against corporations, the new film seems out of touch with the anger of the times.
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