Promotional material for the action thriller Salt starring Angelina Jolie does not really do the film justice. Trailers make the movie appear to be a run-of-the-mill rogue spy on the run type of story, something that is not very enticing. The marketing team behind the publicity should probably get the axe though, because Salt is surprisingly more complex than it appears on the surface.
Evelyn Salt is a seasoned officer in the CIA, who is both loyal and tough as nails. Early in the film it is revealed that she endured torture and imprisonment in North Korea after being caught spying. It was her husband Michael Krause’s (August Diehl) stalwart determination that got her rescued from the clutches of the North Korean government and reinstated in the CIA.
On the eve of her anniversary, Evelyn Salt is poised to leave active duty to pursue a quiet life with her husband. Salt’s plans go awry however when a Russian defector (Daniel Olbrychski) strolls into her office ready to spill his guts. During the interrogation he claims that a mole inside the CIA is planning to kill the visiting Russian Vice President. This sleeper agent he says is none other than Evelyn Salt, the woman questioning him.
Her friend and colleague Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber) is ready to defend her innocence, however the uptight Agent Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is immediately suspicious. Peabody plays things by the book and is unwilling to trust Salt despite her service record. When Winter and Peabody attempt to detain her, Salt makes a daring escape, convincing them that she really is a Russian spy.
The rest of the film is her running from the CIA, and them trying to catch her. Without giving away too much of the plot, the accusations against Salt are not entirely false. Her loyalties seem to sit somewhere in a nebulous area. Thankfully the filmmakers don’t reveal her motivations too early on, keeping them close to the chest until the final act.
Not sharing her motives with the audience help keep interest and build suspense for the later part of the film, however the problem with doing this is that it also prevents people from relating to the character. Since you don’t know what Salt’s plan is and why she is doing everything it’s tough to root for her.
Jolie convincingly plays a strong female heroine, although as an actress she does not add much flavor to the role itself. Her character lacks enough personality to make her sympathetic to audiences despite decent character development. While her stunts are entertaining, some of them border on unbelievable feats of strength even for a trained operative.
Even though some are hard to believe, director Philip Noyce delivers some exciting action scenes. His experience on the Tom Clancy films Clear and Present Danger and Patriot Games serve him well in this spy story. Every time the CIA closes in on Salt you keep wondering how she is going to get herself out of the jam. Noyce shows us that Salt is both brave and inventive in the ways she continues to evade the authorities.