Salt Is Definitely A Movie Worth Seeing

Written By: mike on September 28, 2010 No Comment

A new secret agent has been born and her name is Evelyn Salt. Angelina Jolie breathes amazing life and incredible versatility into the Salt character. Jolie has demonstrated a considerable aptitude for convincingly portraying action heroes in previous films such as Tomb Raider and Mr and Mrs. Smith. However, Jolie is not rehashing either one of those characters in this film. Jolie exchanges the comic book like heroines of her past films for a much grittier female C.I.A agent who can be likened to the female version of Matt Damon’s Jason Born. Additionally the range of emotion that Jolie conveys during her character’s back story is just as engaging as the action sequences in the film.

However, a film with so many twists and turns could not stand alone on one terrific performance. Jolie’s cast mates Live Schreiber, as CIA agent Ted Winter, Chiwetel Ejiofor, as Peabody, and Polish actor Daniel Olbrychski, as the villainous Vassily Orlov, deliver as well. Schreiber has a gift for being simultaneously sinister and likeable. Similar to his role in the Scream trilogy as Cotton Weary you’re never quite sure if you can really trust his character. Ejiofor, on the other hand, plays a great strait forward “good guy”. However, in the world of Spies, the good guy’s inflexibility can often make him seem like a jerk. Ejiofor effortlessly stays committed to his character forcing the audience to understand his perspective and still remain sympathetic to Evelyn Salt. Finally, there is Olbychski, who plays Vassily Orlov a Russian spy who transforms from seeming vulnerable to being invincible. If I told you anything more about his role… you’d want to kill me. So I’ll leave it at that.

The movie itself is a thoughtful thrill ride that will have you guessing and second guessing yourself quite frequently. Similar to other spy movies, such as The Mission Impossible trilogy (which is called to mind every time I see Evelyn Salt rip off her disguise in the trailer), Salt does not rely on bombs and missiles to keep the audience engaged. There are periods of long exposition and slight lulls in the story that allow the effects to be more punctuation than statement. The story line is actually strong enough to stand on its own but it’s always cool to see innovative action sequences.

Great story, great acting, great plot twists, but very obvious use of exposition. Unfortunately, you will not go back and watch Salt and marvel at the foreshadowing. There are not any secrets in the movie to discover when you watch it a second time. So if spotting those little clues throughout a movie that allow you to connect the dots are your thing… You’re better off renting this one. But, if you like a big, Hollywood bang with a few twists and turns this movie’s definitely got all the usual suspects; Espionage, Explosions, Acting and Angelina Jolie as an action star.

Overall, Salt is definitely a movie worth seeing… especially because there just might be a sequel.