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As far as I’m concerned, the summer of 2010 can officially be divided into two distinct eras: B. I. (Before .nightsandweekends.com/articles/10/NW1000292.php>Inception) and A. I. (After Inception). In that ho-hum time before Christopher Nolan’s mind-boggling thriller hit theaters, a movie like Salt might have seemed pretty good, in that brainless action movie kind of way. But now that we’ve been reminded of what a summer blockbuster can be, everything else seems ridiculous by comparison—including this first installment in Angelina Jolie’s new spy movie franchise.
CIA officer Evelyn Salt (Jolie) is eager to get home from work to celebrate her anniversary with her husband, Mike (August Diehl), but she’s delayed by a man who claims to be a Russian FSB defector with valuable information to share. Salt waits impatiently as the man tells her a story of a Russian plan to infiltrate and destroy the US using highly trained child warriors. Their latest plot involves one of their spies killing the Russian president. The spy’s name, he tells her, is Evelyn Salt.
In the chaos that erupts in the CIA’s offices following the man’s revelation, Salt escapes and races home, worried that whoever’s setting her up will also put her husband in danger. Finding her apartment empty, she continues to run, closely followed by her CIA colleagues, who aren’t sure whom to believe: their trusted friend or the Russian who claims that she’s a double agent.
Now, I’ll give Salt this much: the nearly non-stop action—while completely over-the-top—was done surprisingly well. Many directors resort to shaky, disorienting action footage that suggests action without really showing it, but Salt director Phillip Noyce (Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger) keeps the film’s fights and chases smooth and clear—no Dramamine required.
Jolie, too, is just plain fun to watch. As far as action heroes go, she’s one of the best in the biz—both male and female. She’s tough and she’s gorgeous—a winning combination. Unfortunately, though, Angie’s big spy thriller—designed as a franchise to rival Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne movies—has plenty of spice but not enough smarts.
Salt is riddled with plot holes and loaded with outdated Cold War paranoia. Sure, it’s just a far-fetched spy story—with an invincible heroine who can walk away from car crashes without a scratch (and without anyone noticing) and jump back and forth on moving trucks as if she were playing hopscotch. But nothing about it feels the slightest bit genuine. Audiences are supposed to believe that Salt is such a loving wife that she’ll do anything to keep her husband safe—but running from the CIA still seems like a pretty stupid thing to do. And it’s all downhill from there. Salt simply tries too hard to be too clever—taunting its audience with a game of Is She or Isn’t She?, though we know full well how it’ll end.
Of course, had it been released a month or so ago, Salt may have seemed like an action-packed thrill ride. Now, however—after the release of a brilliant thriller like Inception—it feels more like a kiddie ride: entertaining but immature.
