Ryan McNeil
As an overdramatic score screams from the soundtrack, a Russian defector named Orlov explains in no shortage of melodrama that a secret Russian plot was put into motion back in the days of the cold war. He explains a long and convoluted plot including brainwashed grieving parents suddenly childless…about those children being stolen…and about said children being trained and brainwashed to serve a greater good.
“You’re killin’ me, man” is the antsy reaction we get from his interrogator, Evelyn Salt.
Funny, but at the very moment I was thinking the exact same thing.
So after Orlov melodramatically explains a secret Russian past, he reveals that there is a plan in motion to assassinate the Russian President on American soil, and that the name of the assassin is Evelyn Salt. Just so happens, our interrogator is named Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie). A team of experts watching the interview determine that the Russian isn’t lying, thus agent Peabody (Chewitel Ejiofor) immediately moves to take Salt into custody.
While her partner Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber) tries to argue in her defense, Orlov happens to escape, and Salt herself manages to slip away. Once she’s out, she starts to run…immediately causing legions of CIA agents to chase her. The question then becomes “Why is Salt running?” Is it because she’s afraid of being incarcerated for something that isn’t true? Or is it perhaps because she is in fact who Orlov says she is?
SALT actually gets quite a few things right. Namely, the fact that the film seldom takes its foot off the gas, and stays all action for most of its 100 minutes. The stunts are daring – though often implausible – and guessing how Salt will weasel her way out of a situation immediately becomes a lot of fun. Indeed, before one particular sequence, Peabody says aloud “If she’s gonna do something here – it’s gonna have to be something pretty amazing.” Suffice it to say, our girl does not disappoint.
The film is a showpiece for Jolie, who has really dug a good groove for herself as an action film star. Her facial expressions automatically lend a haunting quality to shots like her quietly weaving through a crowd. She likewise uses her slight frame in a whirling-dirvish like manner to execute many of her fighting and stunt sequences. Precious little happens in this film without Jolie in the shot, and whether she’s standing on a boat deck or taking out federal officers, she tends to command every scene that she’s in. And remind yourself, she’s playing a part that was originally written for a dude!
Whether she’s scaling down apartment building ledges, or leaping from one moving truck to another, the stunts that Jolie performs feel very grounded. This helps take the sting out of their unlikelihood…if marginally. However, the likelihood train finally does pull out of the station in the film’s final act, where the story takes a rather preposterous turn. Some films can survive such a turn down Silly Avenue, but after seeing so many ‘yeah right’ moments already, this last turn feels one step too far. Perhaps it’s because this final turn is story driven, rather than action driven.
After seeing it once or twice, I began to actually believe that Salt could outrun legions of federal officers on foot without even being armed. However, revealing out of nowhere that there was a lot more to this terrorist plot than first laid out was just too much. What’s worse, is that there are screenwriting decisions that feel like they are made with one eye on the film’s franchise-ibility. While I dare not spoil it, I will say that your overall enjoyment of SALT will depend completely on your reaction to the final forty minutes.
Indeed watching Evelyn Salt perform feats of daring-do reminded me of the first time I watched jason Bourne or Ethan Hunt defy the odds. She might be handcuffed by some silly premises, but even handcuffed this film is still quite a bit of fun. It’s not a run-don’t-walk sort of feature, but for an entertaining night at the movies you might want to think twice before giving the salt a pass.