Review by Loc
They say Angelina Jolie needs to do action flicks for her own enjoyment. After churning out a couple of dramatic pieces, she’ll get antsy and take on a physical role just to get her blood running again. Now, this may all be marketing or PR, and really, it doesn’t matter. What matters is her track record as an action star is…mixed at best. She may have been the perfect actor for Tomb Raider, but those movies weren’t all that great. Something like Mr and Mrs Smith was great to some, and abhorrent to others. Even Wanted was merely pedestrian, so action-star Jolie is a mixed bag. How about this spy drama? Quick hit: more of the same from Jolie.
Imagine the female version of The Bourne Identity, with more Hollywood polish and much less unsteady-cam grime, and you have Salt. If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve seen the setup. Some “person of interest” gets hauled into some covert government agency interrogation room. The questioning goes as expected, until the prisoner reveals a plot to kill the Russian president within 24 hours. The biggest surprise: he fingers Angelina as a covert Russian spy picked to do the deed!
And we’re off. If there’s one thing to commend Salt on, it’s the lack of pretense. The summary you got above, the clips you’ve seen in the trailers, that’s the same treatment you get in the film. It’s a five minute setup followed by 1.5 hours of action. Good for this production, stop jerking around and embrace what you are: a mindless action flick.
The action is solid. There’s the escape scene with Angelina flying all over the highways of the nation’s capital, using SUVs, motorcycles, stun guns, and spider-man powers to evade her capture. You have the assassination event, you have more running, you have dyed hair, more running, jumps into the Potomac, sail barges, there’s a lot of ground covered in this film. All of it looks pretty good, even if it’s not pulse-pounding or original.
There is a little bit of story involved here, which is good enough. Something about Russian programs and long-term, sleeper programs. Sadly, I had an idea similar to this. Not sad because someone else beat me to it. Sad because apparently this isn’t that great of an idea as evidenced by this film.
The performances are good as well. Liv Schreiber steps in as Jolie’s long-time partner and does an excellent job. He’s become an unsung rock of steady, always turning out really solid performances with little fanfare. Along with him is Chiwetel Ejiofor, less empathetic agent chasing the now-fugitive Jolie. The rest of the pursuers are nameless entities and more cannon fodder than anything else.
Jolie does her thing, which leads to the same performance you always get with her. She’s cold and calculating, which means a very even performance that neither disappoints nor excites. If there’s one thing that doesn’t work with Jolie and action films, it’s the action. Maybe she could really kick all of our asses when faced with the situation. However, watching her do her best Bourne impression leaves you wondering how the 90 pound petite can pack any type of wallop behind her punches and kicks. It just doesn’t look believable, even in the world of unbelievable action heroism.
Overall, Salt delivers what you expect. It just doesn’t do it in a particularly thrilling or engaging way. It’s good enough to have on in the background, but not enough to plan an evening around. It is what it is, another average Angelina action flick. Out of 30 years of supposed sleeper existence, Salt blows its cover after 18.
Rated: 6/10
