Greetings Movie Fans!
After a two-year hiatus, Angelina Jolie is back on the big screen with Salt, another action-packed thrille
r. I was über-excited to see Salt. Like most of the world, I am a big Angelina fan and can be counted on to run right out to the theater to see her in just about anything. Never mind that she plays the same two characters over and over again (mostly some version of a hot secret agent type with superskills or a tragic heroine). We like those two characters a lot and she can play them like no one else. Actually, I take that back–Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne was also a pretty awesome hot secret agent type with superskills. (Could we please have a movie that puts Jason Bourne and Evelyn Salt together? Pretty please?)
What follows are my own thoughts about the movie. I have made an effort to keep from revealing any major spoilers, but if it is really important to you to see a film without any hint of what is to come, please stop here, go see the movie, then come right back and check your opinions against mine. I welcome and appreciate all of your comments, whether you agree with me or not.
If you like action movies, this one is for you. As government agent Evelyn Salt, Angelina Jolie spends most of the film running, jumping, fighting, or getting ready to run, jump or fight. Much of the action is on the improbable side, but who cares? It’s an action film.
Still, the script was a bit disappointing. Despite multiple plot twists designed to keep us wondering about who Evelyn Salt really was and where her allegiances really lay, I was never all that uncertain. It could be that Angelina Jolie is such a strong personality, and her performance was so completely focused, that I could not help but be convinced of Salt’s true character despite the writers’ best efforts to confuse and mislead.
The script and Jolie’s performance also completely overshadowed the film’s very talented supporting cast, including Liev Schreiber (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Defiance) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Children of Men, Kinky Boots, Serenity).
Salt is another big-budget film that could afford big special effects as well as a mega-star’s salary. At least, that is what it looks like to the casual moviegoer (a.k.a., me). The film looks great. The visual effects are very good, very realistic.
My recommendation? See it, but only for pure action entertainment. 