Angelina Jolie has definitely reached star status. She makes films that have a certain cerebral quality that the critics enjoy but she remains true to her fans, those that bought repeat tickets to see TOMB RAIDER, by making action films as well. And if nothing else SALT is a non stop action thrill ride that those fans will love but with enough story to satisfy the critics.
Jolie stars as Evelyn Salt, a CIA agent who as the film starts has been captured by the North Koreans and then traded due to the insistence of her boyfriend, an arachnologist (he studies spiders) she was involved with. The two marry and Evelyn continues working for the CIA without his apparent knowledge.
Move forward two years and Evelyn is about to go home for the night. But she and her boss Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber) are stopped before going to interrogate a man who has just turned himself in saying he was a Russian spy and knows of a big event about to take place. As she interrogates the man he tells her about a spy movement begun during the cold war when deep undercover spies were placed throughout the U.S. to be activated years later. That time is now. Viewing his statement as nothing more than talk, she begins to leave until he tells her the name of the spy who will assassinate the Russian president: Evelyn Salt.
The team goes on high alert and Evelyn is place in a holding cell till they can sort through it all. The Russian is being escorted to a cell of his own but kills his guards and escapes. Fearful of what might happen to her husband, Evelyn breaks out on her own after a creative escape. She has to find him and protect him.
While Ted continues to defend Salt, Agent Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor) (a sort of internal affairs agent) leads the chase to bring Salt back into custody and prevent what appears to be a legitimate threat to the Russian president. Set to deliver the eulogy for the recently deceased Vice President, the assassination could result in a world war.
Salt is tracked to her apartment where she finds the remains of an abduction of her husband, her worst fears come to pass. She barely makes it out before the CIA comes crashing in but once she hits the streets they follow. A sequence involving Salt jumping from the top of one semi-truck to another makes for one of the best chase scenes filmed in some time.
Salt makes her escape, changes her look and begins preparing…to assassinate the Russian president! This is where the film brings on a fantastic twist. Where we would normally think that since this is Jolie she has to be innocent, we’re suddenly wondering if she really could be the spy they think she is, an assassin. And when she causes panic and blows up the floor of the church where the Vice President’s funeral is taking place, bringing the Russian president down a floor and into her gun sights, who knows if she is innocent of guilty?
But long viewing film fans will figure out pieces of the puzzle before the last minutes of the film. As Salt continues on her path, reuniting with the Russian agent we saw her interrogate, more deep cover spies are revealed. It seems there was more to this story. Perhaps hundreds of these spies were placed long ago and now the plan is to turn them lose in an attempt to destroy the United States. Will Salt be the one to bring this plan to its ultimate goal or is she really trying to stop it before it begins?
You’ll have to watch to find out in a movie that has the feel of a roller coaster ride, swinging you this way and that until you roll into the station. The action is non stop, enhanced by both fantastic stunt work and a fast paced musical score that adds to the mix.
Jolie does a great job here and should win over new fans. She offers both a tender side to the character as she worries about her husband and a killer side that plots out the destruction of those set in her sights. Best of all she switches those emotions without words but with acting, a tough job to accomplish. Best of all she takes a predominately male type role and offers an incredibly strong female combatant to the spy genre.
The ending of the film offers a surprise of its own. What appears to be the final twist in the tale is given another little nudge that means perhaps a SALT 2 is in the making. At least the possibility is there.
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