Salt

This movie made waves before it ever got going on filming. It was set to be Tom Cruise's comeback picture, but he passed on it and Angelina Jolie took over. The part had to be re-written for a woman, and the battle was set for the summer of 2010: Tom Cruise's actual comeback vehicle vs. the one he passed on. I was not really anticipating Salt all that much. I like Jolie in the action genre, but I could not get excited about this particular one. There was no reason for the lack of enthusiasm. In fact, this is usually the kind of movie I get up for. I love espionage action flicks! The trailers were just so "blah." Yet the reviews were mostly positive and that has the ability to swing me one way or the other if I am unsure about a movie. I mean, I probably would have seen it eventually, but with all of these critics saying it was a solid, fun action movie, I ventured out hoping I was not being led astray.

Evelyn Salt(Jolie) is an American Spy with a specialty in Russian spy stuff. When a Russian defector comes in to the office, Salt is charged with finding out if the guy is on the level, or not. The defector tells that a Russian spy is going to kill the Russian President on United States soil during the United States Vice President's funeral. He also tells a story of groups of young kids who were stolen from their parents as kids and turned into killing machines and then planted all over the world with assumed identities and when the time is right, they will all be called upon. Salt smells the B.S, but the defector says the name of the operative and, you guessed it, the operative is Eveyln Salt. From there, the chase is on. Salt is the one being chased and Ted Winter(Liev Schreiber) her friend/boss, and Peabody(Chiwetel Ejiofor) are the ones doing the chasing. Winter believes that Salt is being framed, Peabody does not. With crazy twists and turns hitting every 15 to 20 minutes after that, it would be wrong to divulge anymore of the plot from there.

Salt has a title that lends itself to really bad puns about flavor for critics to put in the headlines of their reviews and it is hard to get away from that for the first little while of watching the movie. You think to yourself, why is her name Salt? Could the writer really not come up with something that was not so silly? However, when you get over that, you settle in and realize you are watching a surprisingly kick ass movie. With old school action stunts, Jolie's winning charm and solid acting performances from Schreiber and Ejiofor, Salt turns out to be a great action movie. From the moment Jolie's Salt goes on the run, through every twist and turn (some awesome, some totally ridiculous) to the even more ridiculous but fun ending, Salt kept my attention and at times put me on the literal edge of my seat. The car chases all have this very old school feel to them and the limited use of CGI effects helps that. Yes, there are explosions, but mostly there are just cars running into each other and this brilliant moment of Jolie stealing a motorcycle to better weave through the traffic. This sequence is one of the best, and the most extended. She is leaping off of trucks, she is running while getting shot at, she drives the motorcycle and dodges oncoming traffic and when this scene comes to an end, you can finally exhale.

I do not want to compare this movie to some movies that I want to mention, but I want people to know what kind of action movie this is. I really got a The Fugitive vibe from this whole movie. The Fugitive worked because it was constantly moving, had a lead who was comfortable in the role and had this wonderful supporting role. It also hearkens back to another Harrison Ford movie, Patriot Games, which was directed by the same man who did this one, Phillip Noyce. These action movies work because they keep the foot on the gas. Yes, there are pauses in the action, but the tension never really goes away once the movie gets going. There are no light hearted jokes once the action gets moving. We do not pull away from the main characters to see what someone else might be doing. No, we watch Jolie on the run for nearly 90 minutes and she handles all of the action stuff wonderfully. She never looks out of place holding weapons, or shooting them and She keeps the mystery alive at every twist. We are never entirely comfortable with Evelyn Salt and that is to Jolie's credit.

The script might have some holes, upon closer examination, but that is the fun of this style of action. it moves too fast to really pay attention to those potential holes. I love the sequence at the church, and how creatively it is set up and the hand held fights, while semi plagued with shaky camera syndrome, look crisp and clean and it is possible to actually see what is going on, which is always a welcome change in action movies. I know we are supposed to feel the action as opposed to seeing, but I like to be able to see Jolie totally kicking ass. The effectiveness of an action movie rests on the action and Salt has great set ups, wonderful execution and it is all shot in ways that allow the audience to actually see what is going on. That is all the important factors.

Salt is not a genre changer, nor is it this wonderfully epic movie that everyone needs to run out and see, but it is a solid action movie. It would have been a wonderful comeback vehicle for Tom Cruise, but Jolie is definitely solid in the role and it helps having pros like Schreiber and Ejiofor handling some of the more tedious work. Your enjoyment of the film may rest on how you handle the 3 or 4 big twists, but I think the action looks good enough that it can overcome twist problems, although I had no problems with the twists, even the more ridiculous ones.

Final Grade: B+