Salt - Review

Salt is an interesting movie. Well, actually the movie itself isn't that interesting but the story behind it is. The script, written by Equilibrium screenwriter, Kurt Wimmer, originally featured a male actor to portay Agent Salt. It was eventually greenlit with Tom Cruise set to star, but problems during production forced Cruise to drop the role, leaving the movie without a suitable male lead. Finding it difficult to find a new lead, the script was rewritten to accommodate a female lead, and Angelina Jolie was chosen as the new Agent Salt.

The movie centers around Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie), an elite CIA agent. Salt is a dedicated, respected, and trustworthy agent, until evidence is presented linking her to a group of Russian spies. Now, with her husband's life in danger and her name is question, Salt goes on the run to discover who is behind this.

Let me address what I wrote at the beginning of this review, "actually the movie itself isn't that interesting." That does not mean that I didn't enjoy the movie, on the contrary, I actually loved it! Its just that the plot... yeah its very generic. If my plot description seems lacking, its because I literally could not think of a creative way to describe such a oft-told story. Once you get past that you have a woman playing a character that is typically male, there's not much to else to get by. The premise was basic, characters were typical, and the ending was incredibly predictable. So like I said, the movie may be good, but its not particularly interesting.

The technical execution of the film is what really made Salt entertaining. I've heard a lot of critics dismissing Salt's action sequences as generic and "been-there-done-that." I understand where they are coming from, but after watching the movie, it occurred to me... for the typical summer blockbuster, what is generic action? Blockbusters nowadays are typically cg-laden, comic-bookish, almost fantasy-like over-the-top action. While Salt wasn't particularly realistic, seeing a movie with human characters doing stunt work not aided by heavy and/or obvious cg was actually quite refreshing. It reminded of movies like Die Hard or Speed, movies that used traditional film making to accomplish cool action scenes. Don't get me wrong, cg has become quite impressive, but its become such a staple of modern cinema, that creativity and imagination has been headed downhill for quite some time.

While Salt was occasionally being slowed down by a basic premise, the movie kept a good pace. The cinematography was surprisingly good for this kind of style. It utilizes the sort of Jason Bourne-ish hand held approach, but tones town the shake-factor so you can actually see what's happening. The action was appropriately erratic but not insane, and the less thrilling scenes didn't rely on shaky-cam gimmicks to increase any moods. For once, a cinematographer actually used this style well. The editing was quick and fast-paced as well. Not much of the movie was dragged out, but instead kept a good pace and didn't lose much of an intensity. It was impressive to say the least.

Acting was pretty standard overall. For a part that was originally intended for a guy, Angelina Jolie was the ideal choice. She brings a good charisma to the character without overdoing it. Plus, she avoids the typical movie cliche of a female agent dwelling on her sexual prowess as opposed to her skills. Of course, while saying Jolie isn't sexy in this movie would be a lie (lets be reasonable, its impossible for her not to look good), they don't dwell on it nor do they exploit it... wise move. The other performances were overall good. Nobody else really stood out, though Liev Schreiber did his usual good job.

The ending of Salt was left often for a sequel and possible franchise. If you ask me, they might have been a bit too optimistic to bet on this kind of concept to keep going. It was a fun movie, but the storyline wasn't nearly compelling enough to repeat itself, nor was the action breathtaking enough to leave one wanting more. A solid action movie, but I would be very surprised to see this one continue.

I give Salt 4 out of 5! A bit generous maybe, but it hit most of the right notes.