Director: Philip Noyce.
Release Year: 2010.
Rating: * *1/2
It’s been almost an eternity since I last saw a decent popcorn movie; Salt filled that void recently. Surprisingly, and unlike other members of its herd, the movie had a pretty nice concept at its core, which could’ve executed in one of many ways, with “competent enough thrill-ride” being one of them, and Salt paints that picture pretty vividly.
The movie opens with Evelyn Salt’s (Angelina Jolie) interrogation at the hands of North Korean military, charge with being an American spy. The opening sequence itself is pretty grim and the movie itself is pretty violent in parts; an improbable trait for such flicks, but the movie does ample of justice to this approach. Flash forward to two years later, with the front as a petroleum employee, Salt is, in fact, a CIA agent, with a pretty steady life and a loving German husband. Soon, this whole equation is soured, when a Russian defector walks into the hands of America’s secret services, with an incendiary piece of information. On the eve of America’s Vice President’s funeral, visiting Russian president will be assassinated by one of the Russian agents, currently active on American soil, and has been so for a huge portion of his/her life. But that info is just the tip of the iceberg. He proceeds to reveal the identity of the assassin in question, which obviously, is none other than Salt herself. Inexplicably, despite claiming innocence and having her colleague Ted (Liev Schreiber) stand by her side, Salt escapes from the facility, and we’re thrown into the thick of action. Thereafter, it’s a breakneck-speed ride, with not even a straying moment, and the movie breezes past its running length in a snap.
The movie acts as a vehicle for Angelina Jolie, to remind people that she still got the Lara Croft chops, the agility, the oomph, and some acting talent, too; I’m yet to see her act as good as others in her league do. Anyway, the lady digs into her role, coming up with some fabulous action scenes. She looked very unconvincing, though, in scenes where she’s shown excelling in hand-to-hand fights. She just doesn’t carry that super-swank ass-kicking presence; something Carrie Anne Moss symbolized and is idolized for in “The Matrix Trilogy”. Talk about jumping down an elevator shaft, or from one tanker in transit to another speeding van, or even handling myriad of firearms with ridiculous ease, I’m willing to bend backwards and watch her do all that, but she just wasn’t convincing enough for me in the combat department. As for other instances, she was an absolute treat to watch. Her turn as a desperate agent on the run, dumbfounded by the accusations made on her, and yet, seemingly cryptic in her actions at every step of the way, was credible indeed. She managed to let the ambiguity of her identity reflect and project onto the viewers. Throughout the movie, we’re left guessing the verity of her reality, and the moment we recline in our seat, believing that we’ve figured it out, the plot throws another acute twist and jolts us out of our comfort zone, to use our noodle some more.
As previously stated, if the movie’s concept had been utilized to its exhausting possibility, it would’ve been more than your typical summer action flick. In fact, if Paul Greengrass had directed this movie, I’m certain he would’ve produced another Bourne-class female spy movie. Sadly, but not regrettably, the actual director does plenty of justice to his role as well as the movie’s rather zigzag plot, which is told in a simple fashion. The director lets the story unfold through a series of over-the-top chase sequences, gunfights, improbably hairy situations that are always a joy to watch and see it materialize on the big screen. The director does try to throw in a little humor, with Liev Schrieber quipping in some parts, but they come out as clichéd or corny as they can ever be. Amidst all the crashing cars, whizzing bullets, some overblown claims and scenarios, the director does stop to remind us of the actual plot the movie is woven around, but doesn’t add much to that notion. It just acts like a reminder, while you’re busy watching the femme fatale kick some butt. Overall, the movie is not a bad choice at all, for a lazy evening with friends of both genders. Males would get to drool over the leading lady they probably fancy or once did, and the other lot would gape in awe, admiring the stuffs that this lady can pull off.
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