Suspenseful, slick, daring....Salt delivers the punches

Rating: 8/10 (27 September 2010)

OK I thought this was simply going to be one of those - 'I've been framed' movies and discovering who is behind this whole set up thing. This is what turned me off from seeing it in the first place, but I was still intrigued, so saw it with a group of friends after celebrating my birthday.
What a surprise! This was not only interesting but suspenseful all the way through. The action scenes have been criticised, saying they aren't realistic - for people comparing this to James Bond, come on - you think those scenes are realistic (aka: Die Another Day title wave scene?). This was well directed and I thought the soundtrack added a lot of the tension. In comparison with the Bourne films, well I don't think you can compare it on all levels because essentially they have different plot lines, different motivations and also Bourne is more about discovering who he is. In Salt, Salt knows who she is, but it is up to the audience to find out.
What I think we miss nowadays are strong female leads in action roles in which the film has a serious tone, so it is a welcome refresher to see Angelina kick some butt. I mean we already had Matt Damon in the Bourne films, so I thought it was about time we had a woman. It was a wise choice to change the lead role (in which it was originally meant to be a guy with Tom Cruise, thank god it was changed since he probably would have made this really boring!) to a female as it gave it more depth and an added twist.
The plot in short: Angelina plays Evelyn Salt, who works for the CIA, then is accused by a Russian defector of being an inside Russian Spy undercover in the US. Of course, Salt doesn't stand for it and ends up on the run, with us wondering exactly who she is.
Yeah OK it's not the most original plot line (but what is nowadays) but the way it is handled is terrific, the action scenes are done fast enough to not make you notice the slight flaws and absurdity (which I think adds a lot to it anyway) of it. The truck trailer scene I thought was done spectacularly.
Much has been said about the fact that Salt jumps from one truck to another then is able to run at fast speed again - well yeah I can see they sort of made her superwoman but I guess I didn't really notice it too much when I first watched it.
I think they should have had a bit more quiet moments throughout the pacing; it pretty much jumps from one action scene to another, with a few flashbacks into her past, though more could have been done with character development. If Jolie weren't to star in this, I don't know which other Hollywood actress could pull this character off and have the same screen appeal to keep the audience rooting for her.
There is one thing I am a bit tired of - why keep making Russians the villains? It seems America will never get over this love/hate relationship with them, so for all those Russians out there who watch this movie, well you are forgiven for criticising this movie, and are probably blaming Hollywood for Americans stereotyping them so much.
Angelina never looked better as a black haired action heroine, and she definitely delivers. It is definitely a roller coaster ride that kept me intrigued from start to finish. The ending is a bit abrupt and was done for the purpose of a sequel but if the sequel dwelves more into her character, I'm sure it will deliver.