Salt Film Review

As far as I know, there is no rule saying female action films can't be as over the top and idiotic as male action films. This feels like it was written for Bruce Willis or some other tough male lead but somehow Angelina Jolie slid in and got the role. It's called industry power. A victory for woman's rights. She is fine here having established her action credentials as Lara Croft and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Let's face it, these days any actor can be an action hero as long as you have the look and she has the look - how much of it is manufactured I can't say but she has the steely fuck you look down perfectly. So sure, she can jump from the top of a speeding truck to another speeding truck thirty feet below and later take out twelve guys in the time it takes me to get out of bed. And why not? If it was a man, we would almost buy it. She is a killing machine. When you piss her off. Otherwise, a loving wife and good cook. The plot is bonkers. Absolutely makes no sense. But director Phillip Noyce strips it of all non-essentials like character and logic and moves it along at supersonic speed. And it generally works, I liked this way more than I expected - a big fat stupid action film can hit the spot sometimes. I was hoping there was a sequel but no luck.

Salt (Angelina) is a CIA agent captured by the North Koreans and badly tortured until she gets traded. Her supervisor Winter (Liev Schreiber) meets her as does her boyfriend. Back in D.C she marries him and things are back to normal. For two years and then a Russian agent comes in to CIA headquarters with a crazy story. The Russians over the years have trained hundreds of agents from childhood to pass as American and infiltrated them into all levels of government. And one of them plans to kill the Russian President when he visits New York City in two days. And by the way, the assassin is Salt. What the hell. Clearly, a disinformation plot but Salt we have to lock you up for a while to be sure it is nonsense. Like hell, she breaks out and gets away in a terrific lengthy set-piece and then in another great but ridiculous set-piece kills the Russian President. Or does she? The film flies along leaving any logic behind - Russians have infiltrators everywhere and a devious plan to destroy America. Damn you Putin!

PS - ah, just read that it was written for Tom Cruise in fact but I guess he figured he had enough Mission Impossible's on his plate. And also just read that apparently there are three different endings to this film - the theatrical, the Extended and the Director's Cut - all different. So, if you don't like this one, try another. This was the theatrical cut.