Movie Review: Salt

Salt is a film that suffers from a thing I like to call “Cinematic over Marketing Disorder.” This is when a film is so over promoted and so shoved-in-everyone’s face for such a long time that people end up hating the movie before they even see this. Salt, staring Angelina Jolie, had a very severe case of this disorder. In all honesty, I cannot think of a reason why I saw this film. If there was some kind of reason it is defiantly not related to “pure enjoyment” or anything like that. I had planned to go and see it, and then spend the next four months mocking it. I had planned to do that.

What I found was a film that wholly entertaining and very fun, despite being bogged down by this horrible marketing plague.

Salt centers around a girl with the last name of “Salt.” What a horrible fate that must be. Anyway, Mrs. Salt gets told early on in the film by a Russian man that she is a Russian spy. Of course she doesn’t think she is, but everyone else around her does. So she runs. While my writing and the trailers for the film make that sound like that is all that happens in Salt, it is not. I am afraid I cannot type more, because I would then start to spoil the film.

While the above text is in fact a basic (very basic) plot outline I can’t and won’t even begin to describe what happens next. For one thing, it is far too complicated and it will spoil the movie viewing experience for you. I don’t want to do that. So to summarize the plot in a few words; exciting and unexpected.

If Salt does anything right (which it does) it nails the action sequences. This film is very exciting and fast paced. There is punching, kicking, shooting, stabbing, explosions, ect… It’s all there, and it is all awesome. A lot of times, films can’t use action sequences as their main crutch to pull them through. This one does that, not entirely though. Like I said earlier the plot is strong so both elements complement each other very nicely. It’s very well paced thanks to the writing, and the action sequences and the interrogation scene at the start are well directed by Phillip Noyce.

As far as the acting goes, it is solid on all sides. Jolie does a very good job convincing us of certain things at certain times, and fooling us about certain things at certain times. There aren’t any standout performances by some of her co-stars but they do their job and do it well.Liev Schreiber doesn’t have a whole lot to work with, nor does Chiwetel Ejiofor, becaused, understandably, the focus is all on Angelina Jolie and as I’ve already said – she delivers.

There really isn’t anything that stands out to me from the score, but again it does its job providing tense music during appropriate times.

In short, Salt is a very entertaining film that got me by surprise. In all honesty the trailers and promotions did it no justice and it is a film you should go see. It is a hands down excellent action film.

4/5