54
Metascore
17 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75TV Guide MagazineKen FoxTV Guide MagazineKen FoxWhat the film lacks in artistry it makes up for in commitment.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThe Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttWhile it makes no bones about where its sympathies lie, these fictional stories show a genuine fascination with the role politics plays on both sides of such confrontations and how things can spin out of control with no single person to blame.
- 67Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean AxmakerSeattle Post-IntelligencerSean AxmakerIs it too much to ask that the fictional scenes have at least some of the complexity and unpredictability of the real-life theater?
- 60VarietyDennis HarveyVarietyDennis HarveyPicture's ambition, cogency and decent performances make up for its uneven aspects. Woody Harrelson has some especially good moments as a cop.
- 50Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanFlapping like a scarecrow in the wind, Battle in Seattle is too frantic to make more than a transitory impression, yet too responsibly hackneyed in its characterizations to achieve pure tabloid hysteria.
- 50The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenA drama is only as convincing as its characters. The people awkwardly forced together in Battle in Seattle are rhetorical mouthpieces tied to the sketchy plotlines of a so-so Hollywood ensemble movie.
- 50New York PostLou LumenickNew York PostLou LumenickIn his directing debut Battle in Seattle, actor Stuart Towns end does an impressive job (on a shoestring budget) of re-creating the massive street protests that forced the cancellation of the World Trade Organization summit in 1999.
- 50San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco ChronicleGetting an inside view on events is fascinating enough to carry the movie.
- 30Washington PostWashington PostIt's a movie by a true believer in anti-globalization, and it may win a few converts, but not among devotees of convincing, capable cinema.
- 20New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierNew York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierWell-intentioned but as earnest as a college freshman discovering campus politics.