Salt (2010) is an updated version of La Femme Nikita (1990)

Rating: 10/10 (24 August 2010)

Salt (2010 Columbia) starring Angelina Jolie and directed by Philip Noyce is a duplication and update of a well done French classic movie make in 1990 titled La Femme Nikita (1990 France) starring Anne Parillaud and directed by Luc Beeson.
See the "Alternatiave Ending" version of this movie.....it's better, makes better sense, should have been chosen as the "primary" or "main" version of the movie released to movie houses. The Alternative version ending is very intelligent and satisfying in a way the "official," "main" version of the movie is not. Nuff said!
Well....more about that....(to drive the point home!)......
The "Alternative Ending" version of "Salt" (2010) available on DVD's with several variations of the movie is the best one, and all interested in the great "Salt" movie should see that version, rather than the version which was released to the movie houses in 2010, and which is the "default" "official," and "main" version viewers see unless they visit the "special features" section of the DVD of "Salt" and choose the "alternative ending."
To get back to the comparison of "Salt" (2010) with "La Femme Nikita" (1990), both movies are about beautiful females who look like high fashion ramp models, both unusually underweight with exotic faces and thick, sensuous lips, who are recruited, manipulated, forced to become government assassins, and who murder many innocent people in cold blood 'doing their job" during the course of the story and the movie, but in the end "jump ship" and escape from their government manipulator puppet-masters, and disappear at the end of both movies to an unknown and uncertain future....the price both women pay for escaping from their roles as forced government assassins.
Both movies demonstrate and assert that the classical "femme fa tale" may be part of a story which has almost nothing to do with romance or connection with any male, and also that the female protagonist in an action/ mystery story (both Salt and La Femme Nikita are action/ mystery stories) can be capable of astonishing feats of physical prowess and strength against male antagonists in which the female wins physical fights and the males lose....repeatedly.
Both Angelina Jolie as "Evelyn Salt" in SALT and Anne Parillaud (one of the top fashion models in France before she became a movie star) as "Nikita" retire from the stories both star in "undefeated" in all serious contests they engage in....the men they come up against always lose, the female protagonists always win.
The female protagonists never face female antagonists in either movie, which is significant.
The Salt (2010) movie uses a lot of tricky editing and fast paced cutting to assist Angelina Jolie 'do her thing" beating up men and doing Harrison Ford style action miracles which would easily kill most people....
The La Femme Nikita (1990) movie is smoother, and more believable for that reason, and probably the better of the two movies for that reason.....it is much less a "video-game" Dark Knight type movie, relies far less on gimmicks and technical/ digital tricks.....
Salt (2010) starring Angelina Jolie lacks the needed humorous and human intervals provided in La Femme Nikita (1990). The main female character in Salt (2010) is much less lovable and far more driven...she really does stay "on task" and is almost a machine as military ideal soldiers are supposed to be. Women may or may not be capable of all the superstar action and heroic stunts Angelina Jolie performs as the "Evelyn Salt" character, but such ladies are like the napkins neatly folded for wedding anniversaries Angelina Jolie ("Salt") comments on at the start of the movie..."Not too sexy." How true, how true.
But Salt is a good movie worth seeing....so, of course is/was La Femme Nikita (1990).
The DVD disc version for home viewing I bought included three different versions of the movie, including an "extended cut" which showed and alternative ending and at least one key part earlier in the movie changed to fit the alternative ending. I can see why the version ultimately released in movie houses and offered as the "official version" was chosen. The released version (the "official" one) is more logical, and the ending is closer to La Femme Nikita (1990 French).
Both Salt (2010) and La Femme Nikita (1990) examine the potential and unexpected physical and mental power of beautiful females built like super-models one sees on Vogue Magazine covers, and almost never in Hollywood (or French) action movies.
Both are good movies. We need more just like them....odd that it took 20 years for Salt (2010) to pick up where La Femme Nikita (1990) left off.
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Written by Tex Allen, SAG Actor. Visit WWW.IMDb.Com and choose "Tex Allen" "resume" for contact information, movie credits, and biographical information about Tex Allen.
Tex Allen has reviewed more than 35 movies posted on the website WWW.IMDb.Com (the world's largest movie information database, owned by Amazon.Com) as of January 2011.
These include: 1. Alfie (1966) 29 July 2009 2. Alien (1979) 24 July 2009 3. All the President's Men (1976) 16 November 2010 4. American Graffiti (1973) 22 November 2010 5. Animal House (1978) 16 August 2009 6. Bullitt (1968) 23 July 2009 7. Captain Kidd (1945) 28 July 2009 8. Child Bride (1938) 24 September 2009 9. Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) 22 September 2010 10. Detour (1945) 19 November 2010 11. Die Hard 2 (1990) 23 December 2010 12. The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (1993) 19 November 2010 13. Jack and the Beanstalk (1952) 26 July 2009
Written by Tex Allen, SAG-AFTRA movie actor. Visit WWW.IMDb.Me/TexAllen for more information about Tex Allen.
Tex Allen's email address is TexAllen@Rocketmail.Com.
See Tes Allen Movie Credits, Biography, and 2012 photos at WWW.IMDb.Me/TexAllen. See other Tex Allen written movie reviews....almost 100 titles.... at: "http://imdb.com/user/ur15279309/comments" (paste this address into your URL Browser)