Take it with a grain of....ha was that bad?

Rating: 7/10 (18 August 2010)

Salt seemed to have a lot of buzz around it. Mysterious, action packed and fan boys were cooing about seeing it. So I guess I had decent expectations. It was an action film and Angelina Jolie has done them well enough and it had the Bourne angle and feel to it so it should have been exceptional but I think many will agree with me, including the box office numbers that it just turned out to be okay and almost completely forgettable the minute the credits rolled. It isn't a bad film, it entertains for the run time but it really doesn't get the adrenaline rolling, the characters don't truly draw you in and it doesn't have any sort of unique quality that will put it heads and tails above the slew of summer blockbuster. The unfortunate part is that it does try to have a quality in the twisted mysterious story but it takes so many twists and turns and doesn't always feel like it works or that it is making sense. The action scenes are kind of tame and for a summer blockbuster you can't have tame entertainment. I guess kudos should be given because they do really try to give the film a smart, twisty, psychological, and political story.
Angelina Jolie is a good actress. I've seen her do some good roles and some bad roles but it seems like in the last five or so years she rests on the laurels that she is Angelina Jolie and that is all that matters. She just doesn't seem to put any meat into the role. She seems almost bored at times and while we know she can do stunts and action she doesn't seem to hit her stride as Salt. Liev Schreiber could have been truly great in this role and instead he is just good, or even okay. The plot and script don't seem to really give him a lot of character to play with but he is still good in the role. Him and Jolie could have great chemistry but again it is just good. Polish actor Daniel Olbrychski should have been a much stronger villain and I think he could have done well but once again...you see the pattern...the story doesn't give him the reigns to be truly great. The supporting cast can all be given the same review that they are likely a great ensemble but the film isn't strong enough to support them. I think they rested on the fact that they had a solid cast and the story would evolve around them but I think that rarely works (don't tell that to The Expendables cast.)
At first glance some would say Kurt Wimmer is a great writer have penned some really big films in the last few years but when you start to look at what those films COULD have been you'll see where Salt stumbles. I've seen seven of his twelve penned movies and every one of them I would say...yah it was good BUT imagine what it could have or should have been. I think Wimmer rushes his scripts. Phillip Noyce is no slouch at directing either but I think it relies on the script. He directed two terrific Jack Ryan films in the 90's, and also some good TV in his career. I just noticed while writing this review that they are talking a Salt sequel and I'm okay with that but please lets see some real depth to the characters and a more solid well laid out story. So lets sum all of this up, Salt was not a bad film. It entertained me just fine. But it wasn't amazing and it didn't blow me away and I didn't leave the theater hopped up on adrenaline like an action movie should make me feel. I wanted more. And unfortunately I put much of the blame of writer Kurt Wimmer but then he is the one talking sequel so we might get more of the same in 2012-ish. 7/10