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Thursday, April 25, 2024
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HOLLYWOOD SALT
EDITOR'S PICK
Rating:***
Action movies are easy. All it needs is a decent story, action and wit. An
action-thriller is a different ball-game altogether. Not only do they have to
get the action right, they also have to get the suspense and its delivery right.
Salt scores on the action and the story, but fails in the convincing
delivery of the suspense.
In the film, Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) is a CIA operative in New York,
married to a German. A Russian defector informs them that Russia has infiltrated
many super soldiers in different defence agencies of the US who wait for the
order to carry out subversive activities and Salt is one of them. He tells her
that it would be her job to assassinate the Russian president who would be
visiting the US soon.
When the needle of suspicion is directed towards her, she escapes but states
that she has done so to save her husband. The rest of the film plays on who
exactly is Salt, a Russian assassin or a US spy with some interesting twists and
turns.
The plot and the suspense are not the film`s drawbacks. Neither is the action as
Jolie`s antics keep the audience glued. The problem is the pace and timing at
which the suspense unfolds.
Not much time is dwelt on the transformation of Salt due to her attachment to
her loving husband, thus losing out on a stronger emotional connect for the
audience.
Also, the Russian connect is a bit too late. Had it been in the Cold War, the
topicality and believability of it would not have been so lost to an average
viewer today.
Originally the script was written with a male lead in mind and Tom Cruise was
approached to play the lead. However, he had problems with it being similar to
his Mission Impossible franchisee after which the lead was turned to
a female.
Indeed, the character of Salt borrows heavily from Ethan Hunt in Mission
Impossible as well as Jason Bourne in the `Bourne` series of films.
Kurt Wimmer, who has written the cult classic Equilibrium, fails in
getting the same tension and depth to the story in Salt. Yet, if the
film is a hit, room is left open for sequels to follow.
Angelina Jolie has revealed that she wanted partner Brad Pitt to do a cameo in her new movie "Salt", but he refused for the sake of their children. Read More
As a CIA officer, Evelyn Salt (Jolie) swore an oath to duty, honor and country. Her loyalty will be tested when a defector accuses her of being a Russian spy. Salt goes on the run, using all her skills and years of experience as a covert operative to elude capture. Salt`s efforts to prove her innocence only serve to cast doubt on her motives, as the hunt to uncover the truth behind her identity continues and the question remains: Who Is Salt?
