It's a Gas

Last year, I wrote about the documentary Gasland, which delves into natural gas mining through hydraulic fracturing. Director Josh Fox is back this year with Gasland Part II.

The first film focused more on the process itself, demonstrating the dangers of it, and presenting a case that the supposed safety measures surrounding it are insufficient. Now, years after he made that film, far more people know what fracking is, so the thrust of this film is decidedly more political. It lays out the lobbying machinations of the big fracking companies, and examines the attitudes of government officials on the subject -- which are basically shown to range from sadly ignorant to willfully corrupt.

I noted in my review of the first Gasland movie that it showed the signs of being a novice filmmaker's work. Josh Fox was at times a stale personality in his film. He had a passion for his subject, and had clearly done research to become knowledgeable on it... though he wasn't always successful at conveying that passion and knowledge.

In Gasland Part II, Josh Fox has found his voice. Unfortunately, it seems to be modeled off the more shrill, grandstanding moments in Michael Moore documentaries. (You know, not the moments where he's making a reasonable point, but the moments where he's ambushing a half-senile Charleton Heston at his house.) In his new film, Josh Fox spends still more time showing people lighting their water on fire (well covered in the first film), and caps it all off with storming a congressional hearing with the apparent desire to get arrested (and he does). It's style without substance.

And it's a shame, really, because Josh Fox really does have good points and a worthy cause here. I suspect he's gone to this frustrated place due to the opposition he's faced in pursuit of this cause over the years. For example, when he went on Real Time With Bill Maher to plug this very documentary, he was basically denounced as an idiot by all three panelists, who shouted their prideful rejection of his facts without ever letting him finish a complete sentence. So I get his attitude.

But with a more attentive audience as he has in someone who has decided to watch his new film? I just wish it presented a better case in a more compelling way. Gasland Part II is perhaps even more important than its predecessor, but has even less polish. I give it a C+.