Tomb Raider meets Jason Bourne and no one wins

Rating: 5/10 (4 January 2011)

Another entry into the superspy genre, this film stars Angelina Jolie who plays Evelyn Salt a CIA operative who gets framed or rather caught into action as a double agent. She eludes her American fellow agents, thwarts the Russian conspirators and smashes her way as a superheroine, superior to either JB: James Bond or Jason Bourne. Liev Schreiber is solid as her fellow agent in the CIA who sticks by her side. August Diehl is convincing as Evelyn's loving husband who never abandons her and changes her outlook on the world. Beware the superspy on a mission of vengeance! Phillip Noyce does a nice job of directing.
So that's the good, fun news. The not-so-good is the weak script, weak plot and just unconvincing action. Matt Damon's Jason Bourne is a bit more convincing, more human character. James Bond made more than a few human errors as in his Quantum of Solace. But at least the action is terrific. Perhaps it reminds me of La Femme Nikita without the stylish director of Luc Besson and the vulnerability of Anne Parillaud. Only in the opening spy trade-off do we really feel for Evelyn. If it stayed more to that path, it would have made a much better film. The rest of the way it is a charade or worst, a farce. It's a fine movie to watch on DVD, not to pay $10 for the theatre but to pass a rainy day with nothing to do but watch a mindless movie with a plot retold a hundred times.
I might give this film a 6 but it is so silly at times. Angelina's best action film was Tomb Raider. Here the writers decided it's Tomb Raider meets James Bond. Write a better script and give Evelyn a bit more vulnerability and we'll have an 8 of a movie.