Battle in Seattle is a childish, ineffectively manipulative piece of self-serious agitprop about the four-day World Trade Organization meetings in 1999.
Comment
08/30/09
Rate this Movie 
Battle in Seattle (2008)
50
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work
Reviews Counted:56
Fresh:28
Rotten:28
Average Rating:5.6/10
Consensus: Well intentioned and passionate, this docu-drama about the 1999 WTO protests draws stronger political assertions than it does strong characters.
Theatrical Release:Sep 19, 2008 Limited
Box Office: $120,313
Synopsis: Actor Stuart Townsend (HEAD IN THE CLOUDS) makes an accomplished writing and directing debut with BATTLE IN SEATTLE, a fictionalized account of the 1999 World Trade Organization (WTO) meetings and... [More]
Starring: Charlize Theron, Martin Henderson, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Rodriguez
Director: Stuart Townsend
Get This Movie
Reviews for Battle in Seattle
Approaching its subject with a neat idealism and packaging its political fervor in the most facile of forms, the film boasts a cast loaded with Hollywoods both new and old and wraps its message up with eye-rolling naivete.
08/08/09
Click to read the article
03/20/09
Actor-turned-filmmaker Stuart Townsend would have been better off keeping things on a more modest scale. There are just too many characters here.
12/04/08
This is a powerful, wrenching and impressive writing and directing debut for the talented actor, definitely now a triple showbiz threat.
11/20/08
It sheds much needed light on a mostly forgotten event in our country's history.
11/06/08
Top CriticWhat I think the movie failed to do was the thing it had to do most, which was explain what is the WTO and why in Stuart Townshend’s opinion, is it bad.
11/06/08
Top CriticTownsend's efforts to be honest to the spirit of the event carry the film through its sloganeering and familiar backstage dramas.
10/18/08
If current events hold, Battle in Seattle could look like prophecy as well as history.
10/17/08
Top CriticThe issue deserves a better sounding board than this.
10/17/08
There is a monster in Battle in Seattle, but it never speaks and remains mysterious.
10/17/08
Top CriticActor-turned writer-director Stuart Townsend makes great use of the documentary footage of the '99 Seattle WTO riots. And he gets across his talking points about this shadowy outfit, too. It's a shame his script and all his actor friends get in the way.
10/16/08
Very ambitious, the story constantly jumps back and forth, trying to give both sides of the story. I'll say it's mostly successful.
10/08/08
Braiding brief snippets of these automatically suspenseful storylines with archival video footage of the actual event, Townsend makes a good point that the thing just got away from all involved.
10/02/08
Most inspiring in its throwaway moments, the flick mistakenly thinks we give a damn about an irritating romance when it would be better served by facts, outrage, and complexity.
09/30/08
It's the next best thing to being there, in that it's likely to make shuddering viewers intensely glad that they weren't.
09/26/08
It's easy to see why Townsend was attracted to this inherently dramatic situation, but the characters he's put on screen feel less like real people than like entities created to either make plot points or stand in for specific positions.
09/26/08
Top CriticThe film’s default position is to always fall back on anti-capitalist rhetoric whenever dialogue and drama grow too banal.
09/26/08
One strength is Barry Ackroyd's handheld-camera work, which deftly tracks the action but still captures the disorientation of those engulfed by the mayhem.
09/26/08
Top CriticThe chief culprits are Townsend's TV-movie characterizations and a very muddled message.
09/26/08
Top CriticLatest News for Battle in Seattle
March 21, 2009:
In the continued acceleration of doc and drama cross-breeding, the movie is adept at fleshing out opposing points of view leading to a city under siege, but setting the stage for a tad too impartial percolating political passions. 
More...
March 21, 2009:
In the continued acceleration of doc and drama cross-breeding, the movie is adept at fleshing out opposing points of view leading to a city under siege, but setting the stage for a tad too impartial percolating political passions.
More...
September 18, 2008:
Critics Consensus: Lakeview Terrace Isn't Sturdy; Igor Lacks Brains
This week at the movies, we've got an angry cop (Lakeview Terrace, starring Samuel L. Jackson); a disgruntled hunchback (the CGI Igor with voice work by John Cusack and Molly... More...
September 16, 2008:
Exclusive Clips: Charlize Theron in Battle in Seattle
Watch Charlize Theron in two exclusive clips from Battle in Seattle, a fictional retelling of the five tumultuous days in 1999 when thousands of protesters stormed the streets... More...
RT On Current TV
What’s Hot On RT
Fresh Links
Featured
Best Dozen of the Decade
Last week, MSN gave us their top 09 films. Now see what their favorites of the decade are!
Top 50 of 2009
Here's a list of the 50 best movies of 2009, according to the good people over at Moviefone.
Santa's Naughty List
Hollywood.com takes a stab at determining who in movies will be on Santa's naughty list in 2009.
Top 10 Movies of 2009
TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.
Top 20 of the Decade
Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!
RSS Feeds