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

It is not that often that I get to go to the summer theater of my youth. The single screen Uptown theater in Washington, D.C. is where I saw "Ghostbusters," "E.T.," and "Back to the Future."* So I was more than a little excited to get to see a summer movie at the Uptown with my family. The dark red curtains lining the walls and the magnificent curved cinemascope screen always make me a bit weak in the knees and giddy with excitement. So as I walked through those creaky old doors, I was more than ready to enjoy the movie.

I suppose it is an incredible bit of unhappy luck for "Hancock" that prior to its release, the wonderful "Iron Man" and "The Incredible Hulk" were released earlier this year. Those movies were unexpectedly good, which was a pleasant surprise to moviegoers but an unfortunate turn of events for "Hancock." This is because on a basic level, "Hancock" is not that bad a movie. A lot of the dialogue is funny and Will Smith and Jason Bateman are as likeable as always. Though the idea of a slovenly, destructive superhero is fairly unique, the plot did not seem to have any special, unique spark to it. That is not say that the movie is not any good. On the contrary, "Hancock" is fun. It is not the most memorable movie, but you do not regret the cost of admission either. It is a light, enjoyable summer flick. It is just difficult to review since "Iron Man" and "Hulk" raised the bar so high for superhero movies so recently.

Forgetting about what hit theatres earlier this year and speaking strictly on the merits of "Hancock," I would have to say it stands out pretty well. I could easily nitpick this movie to death, but honestly I did not go to this movie expecting anything truly special. I simply went to have a little fun, and this movie delivered on that for me. There is nothing especially memorable, but you are left satisfied thanks to some unexpectedly humorous moments. In fact, this movie was a lot funnier than the trailer led me to believe. I did not quite understand the dynamics of Bateman's family or Hancock's place in it (or his backstory for that matter), but for me, the movie was less about plot than character. I really liked the main character, and even though the story underwhelmed me, I found the time spent watching the movie worthwhile. This was partially because of the great venue, but I have to give a lot of credit to this movie, which is a total delight.

It is not the kind of Will Smith blockbuster that makes you stand up and cheer, but it does make you smile a bit. And really, you could not ask for more from the glut of action movies you normally sit through on any give summer movie year. I think as moviegoers we've been pretty lucky so far this season, and "Hancock" gives me the hope that there is still some more quality yet to come. After all, it doesn't get much better than sitting in the Uptown and hearing the theme from "Sanford & Son" blasted out in Stereo. Oh no it doesn't.

(*Fun and embarassing fact about America: the #10 grossing movie in 1985, the year of "Back to the Future," was "Spies Like Us." Yeah. That happened.)

A few days ago, it was announced that "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" will be remade, American style. Well I don't know what is good about this news - the fact that it isn't "Oldboy" or the fact that Charlize Theron is involved. Park Chan-Wook's original film is a classic, but to hear about them remaking it can either mean one of two things... it will be PG-13 or the director will be Roland Emmerich.

According to JoBlo.com, however, Chan-Wook actually WANTS to see his classic remade. He reportedly approached Theron and said that he wants to see her star in it. I think JoBlo's own James Thoo said it best... "Pray the movie tanks and puts people off adaptating Park's stuff? Or hope it is awesome, but then have to put up with someone thinking he can do OLDBOY justice?"

But for now, we're screwed.