plenty of salt,light on spice

Rating: 5/10 (16 September 2010)

(this review may contain minor spoilers) OK,i should point out first that i'd never really been caught up in the hype for this film.Its tag-line "who is salt" really didn't grab me like "what is the matrix" and other poster pullers you see so many of.To me,the answer to that question was obvious,she's the woman on the poster!.It didn't help either,that the last film i'd seen by Phillip noyce was the saint,way back in 1997,an i could never stay awake long enough to make much sense of it.But that was a different film,in a different year,so things must have changed right? well,kind of. . .
It's still about spying,and it does feature the odd disguise,but thankfully,thats where the similarities end.I wont bang on about the plot,others have already done that,so lets cut to the chase.This is jolie's film,all the way,everyone else is just an extra by comparison.Much has been made of the fact this looks like a female bourne film,and that's a pretty good description.Fights break out everywhere,chases ensue,and no one but jolie can shoot straight.The action is competent,if not truly riveting,and the plot ticks along at a pace that wont have you day dreaming for long,liev schreiber is good support,even in a thankless role,and the ending,as ridiculous as it gets,does keep you their.So what did i find wrong with it? once scene involving jolie in a make up disguise,actually made me laugh,it didn't ruin the film,but it really wasn't a highlight.The C.I.A are completely useless,and are unable to control their own security system,and attempted breakouts.The answer to "who is salt" is really not that interesting,and variations on the idea have been used before,the need to set up a sequel was a little to obvious and finally,i learnt that armed only with a gun and a smile,you can infiltrate the presidents security bunker as easily as you can open your fridge.
In the end tho,the negatives don't really matter.You know this type of film,an all you can ask is to be entertained.yes,you can guess the ending,and yes it's not as clever as it thinks it is,but it doesn't need to be.it's cinematic escapism.
To sum up then,if your the kind of person who thinks john mcclane would have been shot dead in the first ten minutes of die hard,that james bond should have twenty-two kids by twenty-one different mothers,and that,in reality,austin powers would have been slapped with a sexual harassment charge,then this film is not for you.If on the other hand you just want a decent action thriller to entertain you on a night out,then well,you could do far worse.A little more seasoning for the inevitable sequel,and salt could be a great franchise