Movie Review: SALT

Expectations are a big part of the movie going experience. Going into a dumb comedy or Nicholas Sparks romance flick, one cannot expect to walk out having seen a masterpiece. If they put up a fuss over lack of quality film-making in these dumb movies, they should have just stayed home and rented The English Patient. So what was I expecting from Salt, the newest action flick from Angelina Jolie? I was expecting a Bourne-like thriller that was entertaining as heck and defined 'popcorn summer movie'. And boy, did it deliver.

Salt is the last name of an FBI agent, Evelyn (Jolie) who has the seemingly perfect life. She has served the United States well, and loves her spider-loving husband. Salt's world comes to a screeching halt when a mysterious Russian man strolls into the FBI HQ claiming to be a defecting spy who knows that Salt is actually a double agent. His accusation leads to an all out woman-hunt of Salt who goes on the run to 1) find her husband and make sure he's okay, and 2) other stuff I won't spoil.

The movie is 70% a giant chase sequence which is both stupid and maddeningly entertaining. There are silly moments - too silly to overlook. For instance, when Salt is escaping out an apartment window with her pet dog, she makes her way onto the outside ledge. We can clearly see her dog's head sticking out of her backpack, but in the very next continuous shot, the dog's head is gone and backpack is sealed. It seemed a little careless - I shouldn't be the one catching that type of error in continuity. That being said, I really enjoyed Salt. It's not as good as Inception but it's not trying to be and is still worth the price of admission. I would give it a score of 7 out of 10. (And please admire me for avoiding the endless Salt puns that are out there!)