Sugar and salt, but missed some pepper

Rating: 6/10 (6 January 2013)

CIA operative Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) hopes to retreat from active field duty to a more laid back office position after spending time in North Korean prison, only to be saved by German scientist Michael Krause (August Diehl). However when former Russian spy Vasily Orlov (Daniel Olbrychski) turns himself in to uncover a conspiracy spanning several decades - special underground units are raised from youth to infiltrate American soil from deep within and soon they will be called upon to assassinate the Russian president. When Vasily names Salt as one of these supposed agents she is soon on the run, followed closely by CIA agent Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber) and home security operative Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor).
With this action packed spy thriller Phillip Noyce attempts to create a female counterpart for Matt Damon's brilliant Jason Bourne. Evading capture via simple ingenuity, touch-on creativity as well as the occasional fighting dominance, Salt wriggles out of seemingly hopeless situations. Done with a spark for action, the script by Kurt Wimmer ("Equilibrium", "Total Recall") doesn't afford as much believability, instead being culpable of what could be deemed deus ex machina. The dosage of suspension of belief far outdoes any of the Bourne trilogy, fronted by what unravels to be an unassailable plot spurned into action by a pretty rag-tag master-plan. Angelina Jolie does manage to instill some level of coherence to her spy persona, making Salt a pretty credible character with due promise for further sequels. Noyce as well manages to follow through with resolve, especially during a tension filled first half of the movie, where Salt's identity is yet to be truly revealed. Overall however "Salt" is watchable and enjoyable, but lacks the charm and character consistency to make it as memorable as the Bourne trilogy.