Salt

Before I start, I should probably say that this entire review will be covered with spoilers from top to bottom. now. to begin.

Here's the plot of Salt, according to IMDb: "Evelyn Salt is a CIA agent and highly respected by all, including her boss, Ted Winter. Out of the blue, a Russian spy walks into their offices and offers a vital piece of information: the President of Russia will be assassinated during his forthcoming visit to New York City to attend the funeral of the recently deceased U.S. Vice President. The name of the assassin: Evelyn Salt. Concerned about the safety of her husband, who she cannot contact, she goes on the run. Winter refuses to accept that she is a mole or a double agent but her actions begin to raise doubts. Just who is Evelyn Salt and what is she planning?" does this sound like a decent movie? Yes, it does. It's simple, new, and mildly intriguing. is this even vaguely what this movie is about? Of course not.

Were I to attempt to sum up the plot of Salt, I would say something like this: "A secret Russian agent, working for the CIA as a cover, and pretends to kill the Russian president, because she's actually a triple agent, working for America, because apparently, America's just inherently good. after she succeeds in pretending to kill the president, she murders her Russian leader, although she has every reason to remain loyal to him, helps save America from nuclear war, kills another double agent, and escapes to who knows where after she convinces a government friend that she's a triple agent." did that make sense? No, of course not. Why? Because Salt (the Russian agent, played by Angelina Jolie) had no motivation whatsoever. She was trained since birth to work for Russia, endured no end of hardships for her country, did everything exactly how she was supposed to, and then, seemingly without cause, switched sides. Could it be because she loved her husband? no. Her husband was German, and uninvolved until near the end, when he was killed. could it be that she became attached to her colleagues? doubtfully. she killed several of them, and ran from the rest. Could it be that she was angry at the Russian society for killing her husband? doubtfully. she was a triple agent before they killed her husband. If she had a motivation, it is quite beyond me.

Additionally, the plot was really a two-movie story. Anyone who has seen "The Box" understands what I mean. The concept, expected due to the trailers, set up in the movie, and completed convincingly, was that Salt, a Russian spy, was going to kill the Russian president. That's all very well. There was a huge set up for a twist, but by the end of this particular section of the plot, the result was more or less "yup. that's it." after that, the plot spiraled downward, crashed, and burned. This is hauntingly similar to the plot of The Box. This movie was written by Kurt Wimmer, writer and producer or Law Abiding Citizen, who really should have known better.

But lets move on. I am pleased to say that I have never in my life seen more people killed by being hit with guns. No, not by being "shot" by guns.... being "hit" by guns. A pleasant break from the overplayed "shoot everybody really fast" routine that action movies seem to favor, or the "a secret agent can kill anybody with anything" routine Hollywood has recently fallen in love with.

But while the action was commendable and the plot was detrimental, perhaps the acting can save this movie? Ha. don't be silly. Jolie and Liev Schreiber (best known as Sabertooth from X-Men Origins: Wolverine) did awfully; terribly; horribly; almost unforgivably. Chiwetel Ejiofor (known for his work in Children of Men, American Gangster, and 2012), while not a terrible actor, is seemingly unable to act more than one character. However, almost seemingly in a feeble attempt to redeem the movie, August Diehl (known from a minor role in Inglorious Basterds) and Daniel Olbrychski (this being his first major American film role, but with a more than impressive television resume) did excellently, particularly Olbrychski, who I would enjoy seeing in more roles.

So on the whole, this was a mindless, pointless, wasteful movie. The plot was almost unbearable, the acting was shameful, and while the action was interesting, these things just don't add up to a "good" movie. If all you're out for is 2 hours to sit in front of a screen and mindlessly take in action and stereotypical plots, you'll find what you're out for. So maybe this movie isn't really pointless, just misdirected. It serves it's purpose: cheap action with a mindless story. for that reason, I give it a generous 4/10