SPIDER-MAN needs his web-shooters and an arachnid?s radioactive venom to crawl on walls, and James Bond would be less than invincible without his gadgets. Not Evelyn Salt?or Angelina Jolie, who plays her in Phillip Noyce?s ?Salt.?
In fact, Salt, as depicted by Brad Pitt?s better half, is Spidey, the British supersleuth and MacGyver all rolled into one! One moment, you watch her dismantling a table to improvise a rocket launcher; the next minute you see her jumping across eight floors as she descends down an elevator shaft?and she effectively pulls it off them without looking like a steroid-pumped, CG-driven android!
Sleeper spies
Salt?s adventure begins when, as a CIA operative, she is tasked to interrogate Orlov (Daniel Olbrychski), a defector who discloses a plot to assassinate the Russian president?a move that would jumpstart Day X, when Soviet-backed sleeper spies embedded into American society some two decades ago commence a series of large-scale strikes against the US and its allies to reignite the Cold War, resulting in ?the greatest war the world has ever seen.?
The revelation would have been less shocking had Orlov not accused Salt of being the Russian president?s assassin?and the MRI scans confirm that he isn?t lying! As the embattled CIA agent stops at nothing to prove her innocence, her efforts to evade capture only throw her motives in doubt. But, is Evelyn Salt who she says she is?
You?ll be asking that question throughout the movie, as Jolie flits from one exhilaratingly dicey situation to another. Don?t get us wrong: The movie is no ?Inception? in terms of thematic pertinence, and there are preposterous physical implausibilities that hobble its storytelling.
But, while ?Salt? is thematically featherweight, it also effectively maneuvers its divergent plot points in ingenious ways, aided further by relentless, non-CG-assisted stunts and an infectious energy brought about by snappy editing. If you put your logic on hold, it?s hard not to get drawn into Evelyn?s trials and tribulations. ?Salt? is Hollywood escapist filmmaking at its finest!
Simply put, Jolie rocks and sizzles as an action hero?and she doesn?t even need guns or huge muscles to defeat her pursuers! As she shuttles between drama and hard action, her thespic stamina is simply mind-boggling. She handles Salt?s duplicitous nature so well that she keeps you guessing about her motive until the very end!
Crucial insights
And, she knows when to put her dramatic acumen to good use?a skill that elevates her portrayal well beyond the ordinary. Jolie is also an action star with a heart, but she?s not one to rake up the melodramatic muck.
Instead, she makes astute thespic choices that provide crucial insights into her character (however, her back story as a Russian spy trainee is underwritten at best, while her relationship with her arachnologist husband is underdeveloped). She?s even believable as a man?albeit an unattractive one!
When she witnesses the slaying of her husband, Jolie proves her brilliance: In a moment of thespic perfection, the actress is shown not saying anything. But, as Salt?s face displays conflicting emotions, her eyes can?t betray what she truly feels inside.
Later, when she looks at her husband?s remains for the last time, you know exactly when she embraces her grief?then contains it to finish her mission!
