Review by John Packman.

The 1999 World Trade Organization protests in Seattle attracted a considerable amount of media attention for both the high turnout of the demonstrations and the controversially violent response by Seattle police; protesters managed to shut down a large section of the downtown area and authories responded with tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets and the imprisonment of over 600 people. Who better to tackle such a weighty and relevant subject than actor-turned-auteur Stuart Townsend, best known for his roles in such vital films as Queen of the Damned and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? All snark aside, his film Battle in Seattle admirably attempts to locate compelling human drama within a chaotic real-life event. Townsend shows promise as a director; he exhibits a keen eye for composition and rhythm, particularly in the riot scenes, where a careful balance is maintained between cacophony and clarity.

Ultimately, however, Battle in Seattle remains an intriguing failure, primarily due to Townsend's insistence on shoehorning such a sprawling and complex event into the tidy framework of an ensemble drama. The script employs the recently popular tactic of assembling a few dozen actors and assigning them exactly one character trait each, as seen in other multi-character films of late like Crash and Cannonball Run (sorry, I'm being snarky again). Consequently, talented actors ranging from Charlize Theron to Isaach de Bankolé are essentially wasted. Townsend's dialogue further hampers his film and his actors, alternating between clumsy exposition and clichéd don't-turn-your-back-on-us-now entreaties. The whole thing just comes off as pandering and obvious, a would-be primer on globalization that manages to avoid actually saying anything substantial about globalization in favour of shaky-cam shots of cop-on-hippie violence. Interestingly, the most compelling segments of the film are the two sequences that bookend it; newsreel clips and stock footage are overlaid with facts and figures regarding the WTO and the effects of free trade. Maybe the entire film should have been a documentary. I'd watch that.

Battle in Seattle
Stuart Townsend | USA | 2007 | 91min

Wed. Oct. 3 | 7:00pm | Ridge Theatre
Sat. Oct. 6 | 11:00am | Empire Granville Theatre