There are no correct responses to art, yet the notion of “guilty pleasure” is one that nearly everyone can agree upon. I can list dozens of idiotic things about the movie Salt that could (should?) make me conclude that it is garbage. Nevertheless, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I enjoyed this inane motion picture, more so than other recent mindless pics like Predators, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Prince of Persia. As my colleague Matt Patches puts it, “Salt is the finest movie version of a terrible airport novel yet made.”
Salt begins with Angelina Jolie getting the crap beat out of her by North Koreans, swearing she is not a spy. After a prisoner exchange, we learn that she is a spy. Then a crazy Russian dude shows up at the CIA to claim that sleeper Russians who never got the memo that the Berlin Wall fell are readying for “Day X” – a long gestating master plan to overthrow the world. (They’ve done this before – please see the Kennedy assassination.) He also accuses Angie of being one of these Russian spies. She goes on the run, without letting the audience know her true motives 'til the very end.
With that, the bulk of the talking in Salt is over and the rest is non-stop chasing, shooting and shouting. And building a massive gun out of found objects like Kirk did when he fought the Gorn in “Arena.”
Despite a preposterous script and action sequences that never reach the level of dazzling, Salt remains curiously watchable. 98% of this is due to the mystic bond that exists between Angelina Jolie and the camera. It’s like a fractal on iTunes – you can’t turn away from Angie when she’s pumping bullets and changing disguises.
There’s no set piece that truly stands out (and, yikes, even Eagle Eye had that bit with the crane) and other than a prop-wink to From Russia With Love there is nothing about this movie that doesn’t feel slapped together. (I was shocked when I read James Newton Howard’s name as composer. He should be ashamed.) When the lights came on, everyone in my group had five different plot holes to point out and no one had answers. None of these complaints could argue with the fact that the movie zoomed along and kept me engaged. It is, beneath it all, something of a success.
Had Salt been cast with its original star, Tom Cruise, I doubt I’d be giving this picture the meager pass it’s getting. (And I’m no Cruise hater – I really dug Knight and Day.) With Angie in the lead, though, she proves she can take a damaged script – very much an action hero worth her salt.
