As in Wanted,
Angelina Jolie’s fashion model looks and steely fierceness make her a riveting
center of action attention in Salt.
And like that prior summer effort, her latest is an underwhelming vehicle for
her talents, an espionage-tinged chase film in which her CIA agent Evelyn Salt
is accused by a former Soviet bigwig-turned-defector (Daniel Olbrychski) of
being a deep-cover Russian spy intent on murdering the Ruskie president in an
effort to spark nuclear war. Professing her innocence and determined to save
the German husband (Mike Krause) she believes will be targeted because of this
accusation, Salt goes on the run from her former American comrade (Live
Schreiber) as well as a resolute agent (Chiwetel Ejiofor) hot on her trail. For
a time, director Philip Noyce adequately laces his breakneck pursuit sequences
– including one involving multiple jumps onto the roofs of moving semi trucks –
with both frenzied anxiety and tantalizing mystery over whether Salt is a
patriot or traitor. Alas, what’s mildly engaging in the moment dissipates
almost immediately once it’s done, as Salt’s
centerpieces are assuredly helmed but lacking in imagination, and once Salt’s
identity is revealed, the film (and its preordained third-act double-twists) loses
whatever vivacity it originally had. From innocent start to lethal,
propel-off-walls-to-punch-adversaries finish, Jolie’s sultry ice-queen badass
routine remains magnetic, but it deserves better than this passable 24-derivative thriller.
Hey man. We met today, I was Jilted Interviewer #2. Great blog + great writings, will frequent often. Probably will catch you at a screening soon or at NYFF. Take care!
Posted by: Chris Bell | August 12, 2010 at 05:58 PM
Hey Chris. Did you hear that Noé did eventually show, and that the afternoon interviews happened? Gotta love it...
See you around town.
Posted by: Nick | August 13, 2010 at 12:31 PM