Battle In Seattle
Year: 2008
Director: Stuart Townsend
Studio: Screen Media Films
Stars: Ray Liotta, Woody Harrelson, Connie Nielsen
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 97 Mins.
Official Website: http://www.battleinseattlemovie.com/




"Battle In Seattle" is a film that makes a statement regarding the World Trade Organization by focusing on the riots that took place in Seattle.

The film is about, four people (Andre Benjamin, Jennifer Carpenter, Michelle Rodriguez and Martin Henderson), who are out protesting against the governments that are involved with the WTO meetings. Their peaceful demonstration turns to into violence, when things get out of control. Soon the mayor (Ray Liotta) of the city declares state of emergency making the situation a lot worse, as people's civil liberty are violated. In the crossfire of this situation are a riot squad officer (Woody Harrelson), his pregnant wife (Charlize Theron) and a reporter (Connie Nielsen) who’s covering the meetings.

“Battle In Seattle” is that a film that would have been on my best of 2008 list, if it weren’t for that fact that it didn’t play in my area. This is a very powerful and thought provoking film. Writer/ director Stuart Townsend does a great job making everything seem realistic, by not holding back. It makes you feel like that you are in middle of these protests that took place in late 1999. It’s the way that he captures it, which makes everything powerful. What also makes this film very powerful; the fact the acting was just great. Townsend does a great job using his experience as an actor to make sure that all of the performances are very dramatic and powerful, as there were some great performances, including Woody Harrison, as a Swat team member,Ray Lioita, as the city’s mayor and Connie Nielsen, as a news reporter covering these riots.

Townsend’s screenplay was also very dramatic. One of the things that make this film very good, the way that he writes each of the film characters. Each of the film’s characters was very interesting in it’s own right, as each of them is caught up in a situation, during all the chaos that’s happening. It leads to some very good dramatic moments. Another thing that was also done right, the fact that the story covers all aspects of the situation. This screenplay covers everything from the protesters, to the mayor and his police force, to the media’s role, and the happenings inside the conference. This leads to a lot of interesting dramatic action that’s needed for a film like this. But what makes all that work, the way that Townsend sets up everything, very well. His screenplay does a great job setting up the main characters and the situation that they’re in. They both made the film, very interesting. Even though all of this was good, the main reason Townsend does that, by staying on the same theme through out the entire movie, as the plot doesn’t go into many different directions, to the point that it ruins the message of the film. It makes the action and all the dramatic elements work.

For those who are not into the political nature of nature of the film, see this film for the performances alone, as they’re that good. “Battle In Seattle” is a powerful and entertaining drama that stays on message, with powerful performances all around.

Review Rating: Five Stars