It has been way too long since I was able to not only post but actually get out to a theater and catch a new release. I've been sparring in the mornings lately, which helps free me up a bit... So I caught Phillip Noyce's Salt.
Right from the opening scene we are thrust into a roller coaster ride that just doesn't let you up for air the entire 99 minutes. The first half, particularly, is extremely fast-paced and go-go-go... and definitely keeps the audience on their toes. Making you guess if Salt is who she says she is and always staying a step ahead of where your guess is. It is a fun movie, even if the wheels spin off towards the end a bit.
Jolie looks great here and she is pretty awesome overall - even if some of the action is extremely unbelievable. Liev Shreiber, who I guess is a great actor - but I say that more because that sentiment is crammed down our throats more than my actual opinion - is actually really good in this movie. And the rest of the cast is great as well.
Spoilers:
The biggest problem I have with the film occurs about 3/4 of the way through - when we find out that Evelyn Salt is actually a Russian Spy. The twist however is that she is not going to rise up on Day X, but fight back against her Russian handler/creators. Salt's motivations for doing this are just never truly explained. Has she fallen in love with America and her new life? Is she just anti-war? Has she abandoned her Russian heritage and mission? They try and set this up with her German husband - and them killing him, but he isn't killed until after she makes her decision. So, although fun, once you leave and start to ask questions the train went far off the tracks...
It’s all about love dude. The original “fake” kill of the Russian president is because she wants to get back in with the Russians so they’ll lead her to her husband. It could have gone a couple of different ways once she finds and saves him- she could have tried to come forward as a defected Russian spy but it would have been risky not knowing who was a Russian spy in the gov’t. and who wasn’t- she also could have hidden her husband somewhere while she took care of business (meaning save the world from the atomic bomb stuff like she does in the end anyway). But then the Russians kill her husband - and really piss her off. So her next move is to take the whole operation down anyway, as planned, and this time she has nothing to lose. So to answer your questions- at least with what I got from the movie - is that yes, she fell in love with America and her life here. She abandoned her mission long before they even blew her cover. In fact it seemed to me that her decision was made from the beginning of the movie when we learn that she’s applied for some other job pushing paper- she clearly just wants to settle down with her husband... but as she says at the end, “They’ve taken everything from me” - they blew her cover, they killed her husband... so now she’s pissed. And she’s taking the Russians down... like a female version of The Punisher. If the punisher was a really hot defected Russian spy.
ReplyDeleteThat explanation was kind of all over the place. But you get my drift, yes?
P.S. - There at least 50 different actors they could have cast as Mike - AJ’s husband- that would have been believable. I’m all for the normal guy look, but that guy married to Angelina Jolie? Not a shot. Took away from the movie for me.
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