Salt (2010)

In a world where everyone is trying to best Jason Bourne it was only a matter of time before the fairer sex took a shot at besting one of the greatest secret agents in the business.  In a role originally written for Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie steps into the shoes of CIA agent Evelyn Salt, a wise casting decision as Jolie is one of the few female actresses who could pull off such as role.  Now the question is how does Salt stack up?

Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) has done a lot in her career to serve her country, but that's all about to not amount to a hill of beans.  On the day of her wedding anniversary Salt's pulled in to question a recent walk-in, a Russian defector named Vissily Orlov.  Orlov begins to spout senseless ramblings about the Russian's having created an army of spies who were trained since childhood in the ways of America.  Once of age these children took their skills and knowledge and procured high positions in the US government, leading normal lives until a certain day when they would begin their long awaited mission of taking over the United States.  That day has come. The first phase in the plan is the assassination of the Russian president who will be speaking at the funeral of the Vice President of the United States.  The assassination will be carried out by one of these Russian secret agents, an agent named Salt.  With her loyalty now under question Salt must try and evade the CIA, and find a way to clear her name, that is of course if she's not a Russian spy.

While Salt is no where near as action packed and thrilling as any of the Jason Bourne entries it does manage to have one thing going for it, the story keeps you constantly guessing.  Is or isn't Salt a Russian spy and are there other key players in this takeover of the United States that are right under our eyes?  Any veteran thriller fan can probably easily guess who the villain of the story is, but still Salt's multiple twists and turns still manage to leave a small amount of doubt in your mind and leave you guessing how and when the other characters are going to find out.

As for the story it seemed to lack a definable middle, and maybe because there really isn't much to the story to bother having one.  Forty-five minutes in the film felt like it was already wrapping up but then something happens which is supposed to throw you off guard and question what's happen so far, this occurs three to four more times.  To sum it up the last half of the film is a series of false endings (akin to Casino Royale), and for the most part it works but it's still an odd construction of mediocre storyline that throws you off on the flow more so than the actual twists.

For me Salt's an average thriller, Jolie does a decent job but truthfully if given the choice I'd rather watch one of her Tomb Raider films.  In comparison they're about the same in terms of quality but if your going to make a mediocre action film that defies all rational I'd rather go for a film that really doesn't try too hard.  Salt tries too hard to be mysterious, complex and even at times emotional, and ultimately it's trying to be a female take on the Jason Bourne or James Bond franchise and it doesn't have a leg up on either.  In the end, Salt makes a good rent on a Friday night, it's not memorable, it's not great, and it's more than likely going to be one of Jolie's forgotten attempts at reviving her action career, but it's decent none the less.

7/10