If you read only one review...

Rating: 7/10 (25 July 2010)

Let's keep this simple (because the writers sure didn't)...
Anyone that rates this movie a 1 or 2 just can't be pleased. If they rate it a 9 or 10, they are WAY too easy to please.
Salt is a John LeCarre style spy thriller, with a fairly implausible premise, and a couple of plot twists that you eventually have to relax and just "go with", or else allow them to spoil an otherwise decent picture.
Without giving anything away, Salt is an American CIA agent. One of the best. A Russian agent wishing to defect to America is brought into the CIA where he is debriefed by Salt (an expert on Russian spies), where he reveals that someone at the CIA named "Evelin Salt" is actually a Russian spy. This is a big deal for Salt for reasons that are made clear in the movies' opening sequence. Soon Salt finds herself on the run from the CIA while the audience (at least those not paying attention) are left to wonder, "Is she a spy or isn't she?" If you pay attention, you'll know the answer right away, and the movie becomes purely an action flick. If you are easily fooled or otherwise aren't paying attention, you may find yourself guessing almost up until the end (but if you haven't figured it out halfway thru the film, you're probably too dumb to have found the theater in the first place.) It's not Shakespeare, but it's not Plan 9 either. The film feels like one long action sequence that holds your attention till the end (which comes quickly, trimming the film to barely more than 90 minutes because of its frantic pace).
Jolie has the dramatic thing down pat in her career, but has been searching for a good action franchise for years (most notably the disappointing Tomb Raider series) without much success. Salt has the potential of turning into a decent female James Bond-esq franchise for Jolie, if they can just move past the sloppy plot formulation.
Bottom-line, if you see it, you won't come away feeling you wasted $9. If you can handle a decent action movie containing a number of weak plot-twists without groaning, you'll come away pleased. In all, a 6.5 is about right ratings-wise. Good, not great. Better than average despite weak writing.