Movie Review: Salt

I saw Salt, featuring Angelina Jolie, Liev Schrieber and Chiwetel Ejiofer, last night. So, because I'm a movie and book junkie, I thought I'd do an informal review.

Salt was very entertaining, I will give it that. It kept me watching, kept me entertained, and kept me on my seat. I was kept in suspense, wondering how Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie), who was recently accused of being a Russian spy, would escape from those who were chasing her, Ted Winters (Liev Schrieber) and Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofer). And boy, did she escape. I was left in suspense about who Salt really was as well. The whole thing was a great, mindless, classic action flick. We haven't had one of those yet this summer, so it was due.

Salt's portrayal of a CIA agent on the run was spot on, even if some of the escape scenes were fairly unrealistic. The feeling that her husband wasn't safe as her husband, and how she portrayed the fear that those going after her would go after him was really emotional and lovely. And she also portrayed the tough-as-nails, I'll-kick-your-ass-faster-than-you-can-blink attitude extremely well but still appeared to be human. A superhuman, but still a human. In my opinion, that would be very difficult to do.

In fact, Salt's portrayal of her character is even better when it is considered that the writer of the script had Tom Cruise in mind to play it. And she delivers a powerful performances that punches you in the gut harder than any performance by Cruise would have. Why? She adds layers to the character that Cruise couldn't have done, such as woman-scorned vengeance and an aura of feminine mystery. It makes her performance much more real. There should be many more action flicks with a girl as a lead.

As stated above, some of the escape scenes were pretty unrealistic. For example, if anyone else jumped from car to car, they would be severely hurt. And no one can walk through an explosion and not get burned. It's simply impossible.

Also, it didn't really have much of a plot beyond badass escape tactics. It was just what it appeared to be, a good ol' action flick. There's not harm in those. And this one was definitely one of the best.