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Ultimately, Salt comes across as a big budget TV pilot. I wouldn't be surprised to see the character of Evelyn Salt globe trotting around the world and taking on all sorts of undercover missions, and helping the occasional indigenous village, while on her quest to seek her ultimate revenge against shadowy evil-doers, all with the help of her inside-the-government contact that gets her needed information throughout her journeys.
That might or might not be the inevitable Salt television series, or even the next couple of low-budget sequels (depending on profitability, of course), but this film is definitely all about intrigue and set up. It's actually an interesting mix of 1990's and 2000's action film language, some of it working well, and some of it falling a little flat. But overall, not a bad way to spend an hour and a half during these balmy summer days, watching a multi-million dollar pilot episode for a proposed espionage series, starring one of the world's most popular actresses, nonetheless.
Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Wanted) is a CIA operative accused of being a Russian spy. She ends up on the run, while fellow CIA agent Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber, X-Men Origins: Wolverine) tries to track her down before internal investigations guy Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor, 2012, Children of Men) can find her, with big political and diplomatic problems between the US and Russia at stake. Salt is of course totally bad ass and runs around in the movie dodging bullets and walking away coolly from explosions while mowing down rows and rows of gunmen. A lot of people don't seem to buy Jolie as an action star, but she does trick for me. It helps to have other great actors like Schreiber and Ejiofor in the mix, as well as Andre Braugher for a hot minute as the Secretary of Defense.
The 1990's style action comes in through the 90's style score, which alternates between generic orchestral chase music and cheesy rock music. And there are a lot of physical stunts and actions, as opposed to CG-aided stunts, and that's always a plus. Not to say there isn't some obvious CG-work here and there, but for the most part it looks like they preferred to cut to a stunt double in a wig more often than Jolie against a green screen, and even then, it looks like Jolie did a lot of her own stunt work anyway. Of course this is coming from director Phillip Noyce, who himself in no stranger to 90's style espionage action, having directed Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger and The Saint. But this is 2010, and every action film these days is filtered through the lens of the Jason Bourne movies it seems, and Salt comes from the same mold as The Bourne Ultimatum, filled with car chases, identity issues and shaky cam. Writer Brian Helgeland has co-writing credit, like he did with The Bourne Ultimatum, and writer Kurt Wimmer has been trying to push the action boundaries for a while now with flicks like Ultraviolet, Equilibrium and Law Abiding Citizen (to varying degrees of success). While Salt doesn't push any boundaries and never dares to be that original, the story hums along at a nice enough speed and there's enough action to keep things going. Economy is the name of the game here, and much of the opportunity for character growth is eschewed for tighter storytelling and a quicker pace. Don't expect deep meaning and emotion here - just enjoy the ride and watch Jolie kick ass in a competent fashion.
The Trailer Rundown:
The Green Hornet - what's stranger than Seth Rogen as an action star? How about Michel Gondry as an action director? From the film maker who brought you Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep and Be Kind, Rewind comes an adaptation of an old radion and TV super hero. This should be delightfully quirky and fun.
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps - unless a trailer is exceptionally well made, I get tired of seeing it after three or four times. The trailer for the sequel to Wall Street is not exceptionally well made, and as such, I am tired of seeng it.
Paranormal Activity 2 - the first film was okay enough, but this teaser features a young baby and I always draw the line at the inclusion of very young children in perilous situations. That's just the kind of exploitation I can't get behind.
Devil - this looks like it could be a decent horror movie. Everyone is afraid of getting trapped on a stuck elevator, but imagine how much worse it would be if that elevator also had an evil entity in it?
The Last Exorcism - much like how Devil is produced by M. Night Shyamalan, Eli Roth is giving some young director a chance by throwing his support behind this project. It looks like a typical, grimy exorcism movie, but so far nothing has touched The Exorcist, and this doesn't look like it will either.
Faster - this was just a teaser trailer, but its essentially Dwayne The Rock Johnson out looking for revenge. Its about time Mr. Johnson returned from the lucrative world of Disney-produced children's movies.
The Other Guys - from director Adam McKay (Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Eastbound & Down) comes an action comedy of absurd proportions. It was funny how this trailer ends with a joke about movie characters walking away from explosions, and then I proceeded to watch a movie about a movie character walking away from explosions. Good stuff.
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Comments
Loved loved loved the action! I dont believe there is any other female actress out there that can pull off what Angelina does - she is great!!!
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