Summer Review #2 -- Salt

One of the action/thriller entries in the 2010 summer movie pantheon, Phillip Noyce's Salt is a mixed bag of covert tricks. It delivers in terms of dynamic sequences and leading lady charisma, but its weak story arc and poor character development lead the movie to fall short of expectations.

After interrogating a defector who accuses her of being a Russian spy, CIA operative Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) finds herself on the run. With a skeptical colleague (Liev Schreiber) and a determined counter-intelligence agent (Chiwetel Ejiofor) tracking her every move, she desperately tries to find her husband (August Diehl) and elude capture, while rushing to prevent an assassination that she is supposedly linked to...

I felt shaken, rattled and rolled after seeing Salt, what with the juggernaut stunts and shootouts and chases occurring in quick succession. The story, though filled with twists and turns, does not offer much substance or character evolution. The screenplay suffers from attempting to cram too many genre staples into one yarn without proper justification. Gunfights, assassinations, executions, high jumps, stakeouts -- you name it, Salt has got it. The stunt sequences are impressive, but completely take over the meandering whodunit narrative, which eventually dissolves into violent, conspiratorial chaos. Another problem is the heavy-handed treatment of some scenes; for example, the ending comes very abruptly, and the events explained through a montage could have been dealt with through some innovative exposition. The awkward writing and the slam-bang tendencies of every single situation lend the movie an air of confusion, rather than credibility.

The cast do what they can with the script. As an action hero, Jolie is pretty damn awesome; in fact, she is better than the movie. She has already proved her tough-as-nails bravura in the Lara Croft films and in Mr. & Mrs. Smith; Salt only proves further that she can handle her ordnance and fight, AND look plausibly dangerous while doing it. Her sultry beauty is never a distraction; instead, it is the perfect asset, fatal to any and all opponents. Schreiber gives a somber performance as a fellow CIA agent, and Diehl -- of Inglourious Basterds fame -- has a decidedly more tender turn this time around, playing the husband. And will someone please tell Hollywood already that underusing Chiwetel Ejiofor is a crime?

In its attempts to become the next Bourne Identity, Salt misjudges its logic and leaves the key players in the dust. It is worth seeing if you are looking for an energy rush, but, if you are looking for a deftly constructed spy thriller, you will leave the theatre unfulfilled. Take it with a grain of... well, you know what.

6/10