Preposterous plotting

Rating: Null/10 (19 December 2010)

Tony Stark (aka Ironman) may have ultra-efficient aide 'Pepper' Potts but it seems that the CIA has super skilled agent Evelyn Salt (presumably an allusion to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks). The eponymous role in this spy caper is taken by Angelina Jolie who is prettier than James Bond or Jason Bourne but, in spite of being so much smaller and slighter, no less proficient if we are to believe what we see. So we have plenty of running and kicking and shooting in an action-filled movie from Australia director Phillip Noyce who has previously given us a couple of Jack Ryan adventures.
The problem is that Kurt Wimmer's script is simply sizzle without the sausage and no amount of salt can make up for that. The plot - which ignores the end of the Cold War - is preposterous and full of huge implausibilities and impossibilities while the dialogue is leaden, so that the twist is telegraphed well in advance. There are three versions of this film: the theatrical one (which I saw) plus the director's version and the extended version. They all have different endings but the theatrical version leaves open the possibility of a sequel. Believe me: too much salt is bad for you.