Good in parts, but feels silly, derivative and too open ended

Rating: 6/10 (8 August 2010)

Salt sounds like a pretty good deal, what it delivers is just mildly good. As is typical of everything Kurt Wimmer writes, Salt mistakes street smart for intelligent smart. I thought this was pretty dumb, maybe even Wimmer's dumbest movie yet. Okay fine, Ultraviolet was pretty silly, but then again, it was a b-movie right, (this isn't)
Salt has a few good action scenes, which work well individually, but the film in its entirety doesn't amount to much. It feels rushed, shallow, devoid of common sense, and has an ending which makes the story feel vastly incomplete; perhaps a tell tale sign of a sequel to come.
Director Phillip Noyce knows how to Make Angelina Jolie look good on camera, but she isn't much of a character. Her performance is a huge step up from her last action film Wanted, but even so, her function here is not too dissimilar. She has little to do outside of running around and killing people.
Treated as an extended chase scene, Salt could easily get an A+, but as a hundred minute story, it feels rather feeble. It is a derivative spy/thriller which is usually slick, and certainly not dull, but its superficiality and general lack of brains make it difficult to appreciate to the full.