Salt

Spoiler lite review...






Angelina Jolie's latest foray as an action heroine opens with her getting beaten up by North Korean soldiers who accuse her of being a US spy and sprout such gems as, "You are here to sabotage our nuclear ambitions!" Falsely protesting her innocence, Evelyn Salt gets beaten up further but is later unexpectedly released in exchange for some old Korean guy as she is escorted out by CIA agent Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber) to be reunited with her devoted husband Mike Krause (August Diehl).

Some time later back in the States, Salt and Ted spend a regular day at the office as CIA agents masquerading as petroleum company executives. Just as they're about to leave for the day, a Russian defector, Vassily Orlov (Daniel Olbrychski), walks in offering information about sleeper Russian agents out to DESTROY AMERICA. It seems that during the Cold War, the Russians had camps where children were trained as super spies with the intention to replace actual American children whose families met with unfortunate "accidents" while visiting Russia. One of these agents is about to kill the Russian president who is visiting America for the funeral of the American vice president. Chalking this up to a well-known Cold War myth, Winters and visiting counter-intelligence officer Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor) call bullsh*t until Orlov names Salt as the sleeper agent in question.

Salt defends her innocence again but Peabody still wants to question her. Fearing for her husband's life, she escapes from the office even as Orlov himself escapes custody. Winters firmly believes in Salt's loyalty to the nation although Peabody does not share his view. Being overly well-trained, Salt manages to elude the CIA in a series of high-octane chase sequences.

Her motives come under question as she carries out the assassination of the Russian president, sparking an international incident. She then returns to Orlov who is revealed as the head of the Spy Kids program. So the questions remain: Who is Salt? Is she really an evil Russian spy? Will she redeem herself? Are those lips real?

The plot of the film borders on the absurd and is riddled with spy-movie cliché and some improbable plot points (apparently, the North Koreans allow you unfettered access if you're a foremost authority on spiders). The double/triple/quadruple-crossing gets a bit ridiculous at some point. The movie is redeemed by the tightly wound action sequences and Jolie's usual ass-kicking action heroine performance which is better than ever here. The chase scenes, explosions, and Salt's stunts make for an enjoyable, if somewhat short action flick.