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Review

Salt – Movie Review

Let’s face it, I was drawn to this movie for the same reason you were – Angelina Jolie looks all sexy and alluring on the poster, and she’s probably going to shoot a bunch of ‘bad guys’ in it.

That’s not to discredit Jolie as an actress, however. Sure, she’s had some abominations – Wanted certainly springs to mind. And the Tomb Raider films were more about the amount of padding they’d managed to force under Jolie’s shirt (I know, I know… ‘accurate’ portrayal of the character and all that). And yet, films like Changeling, A Mighty Heart and Girl, Interrupted (for which she won an Oscar for best supporting actress) have more than proven Jolie’s wonderful depth and range as an actress. Enough, in fact – for me to walk into a film like this one knowing that, regardless of her many wigs and long eyelashes, she’s going to deliver a great performance.

‘Who is Salt?’ the film begs the question. Well, she’s a CIA agent. The story begins when Salt questions a man who claims to be a Russian intelligence operative – and a defector – who has breezily waltzed into their offices with some long-winded story about a woman and a baby… that supposedly died… er, long story short: he explains that there is a sleeper agent in their midst! To Salt’s surprise, the operative then announces that the name of the agent is ‘Evelyn Salt’, which is of course, our lead protagonist. Bit of a spanner, there.

So begin Jolie’s angry protestations “I’m not a goddamn Russian spy!”

Instead of sorting out this silly mess like adults, however – Salt decides instead to flee, and of course – epic gun-fights and high-speed chases ensue as she races across America in an effort to clear her name.

There is some good mystery at work here, though – as it’s not long before you start questioning Salt’s motives and wondering if she really is who she says she is. The film gets off to a bit of a rushed start – and while I understand the goal is not to waste precious epic-action-shoot-out screen-time, I find it a little less believable when not enough time has been spent developing the characters we’re presented with initially. Salt’s relationship with her husband, for example… although revisited with occasional flashbacks, seem a little hurried and contrived. Plus – with the various twists throughout the story – you’ll start to question every one of Salt’s relationships, so it would have been nice to have a greater set-up to offset all the second-guessing you’ll be doing.

Leiv Schreiber and Chiwetel Ejofor co-star as fellow CIA agents, who have now been assigned with the task of pursuing and capturing their former ally. Both seem to spend a lot of time standing around and battling with their own opinions of which side Salt is really on – and while you’re trying to decide that for yourself, it would seem that everyone’s actions come into play in such a way that you’re left wondering which heroes are villains, and which villains are heroes.

Director Philip Noyce does a relatively good job of hurling us through somewhat unbelievable action sequences and Mission Impossible-style rubber masks with a ‘Well, it’s a spy movie’ kind-of shrug. If you’re the kind of person who’ll happily suspend disbelief for pretty implausible action sequences (but I don’t mean in a bullet-bending Wanted kind-of way, that was just plain stupid), then you’ll enjoy this film and it’s guessing-game intrigue.

Interesting to note is that Salt was originally a film intended for Tom Cruise (which, let’s face it, would have given us serious Mission Impossible de jas vous!), with the title character being changed to female when Jolie came on board. This has left me re-imaging every scene, and I have to say – having a female lead protagonist in this kind of movie did put a refreshing edge on this style of spy action. We’ve had our Jack Ryans (Patriot Games), our Ethan Hunts (Mission Impossible) and our Jason Bournes (The Bourne Identity) – so I’m glad that Jolie got a run as Evelyn Salt. It satisfied that butt-kicking girls-with-guns craving in a way that was more sophisticated than something like Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

All-in-all – Salt is an solid film that’ll keep you guessing right to the very end. It gets a little caught up in itself with all the “who’s betraying who” confusion, but ultimately you’ll appreciate the ride… and the wigs.

(Well, I thought they were cool.)

3 out of 5.

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About The Author

Hex

Stephanie Bendixsen is a television presenter on ABCTV's 'Good Game' airing Mondays on ABC2 (where she is more commonly known as 'Hex'). She occupies her time primarily as a games reviewer, however - also bides her time as an avid reader of fantasy fiction, lover of sci-fi and dabbler in art. Stephanie is happiest when involved in any form of media-related escapism - the cinema is her 'happy place' when taking time out from long hours of gaming. Omg. Follow Hex on Twitter.

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Article Information

  • Posted: Friday, July 30th, 2010
  • Author: Hex
  • Filed Under: Film,Review

Comments

4 Responses to “Salt – Movie Review”
  1. Shaula Shaula says:

    Yeah, might see this movie for the eye candy. I actually really enjoyed Wanted- Angelina Jolie, James Macavoy and Morgan Freeman = win. I kind of liked the aesthetic and didn’t even mind the bullet bending thing. But then again, I also enjoy movies like Chronicles of Riddick, heh.

    Reply
    July 30, 2010 at 1:15 pm
  2. Salty Person Salty Person says:

    This movie hasn’t even been released yet!
    It’s not due for release until 19 August 2010!
    How on earth have you seen it yet?

    Reply
    August 1, 2010 at 5:45 pm
  3. Sme Chan Sme says:

    I just saw this the other day and its really good, though I definitely agree with all of Hex’s interpretation of the movie. I kind of wanted to laugh/cry at the end, when you were just like ‘of course that’s how it ends. Why did I even think otherwise???’

    Still, its much better than any of the other rubbish currently showing in cinemas in the US.

    Reply
    August 13, 2010 at 7:21 am

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