Movie Review - "Salt" (2010) ***

     We watch movies for many different reasons. Sometimes we want to be moved or inspired, to see a film that challenges our thinking. Other times we want to be entertained by being scared or to laugh out loud. There may be times where we want to be educated perhaps. And then there are those times when we just want pure flat-out action, something we don't have to think about a lot. Well, if you fall into this last category I want to introduce you to the Angelina Jolie thriller Salt. Salt is one of those films where if you throw logic out of the window and just go along with the ride, you will find yourself surprisingly entertained at the end.
     The film stars Angelina Jolie as Evelyn Salt, a CIA agent who could be described as the love child of Jack Bauer and Nina Myers (kudos to you who understand that reference). She is bad to the bone and one of the top spies in our country. Her boss is agent Ted Winter played by Liev Schreiber who is probably best known for his role as Cotton Weary in the Scream films. Both of these characters are leaving the office late one day when a Russian spy comes in and provides details of an upcoming assassination attempt of the President of Russia during the funeral of the Vice President of the United States. Agent Salt is performing the interrogation and not believing or interested in the story until the spy speaks one final piece of evidence: that the assassin will be a spy named Evelyn Salt. Her colleagues become wary of her right away because machines show that the witness is telling the truth. When Salt realizes she is about to be detained, she goes on the run......That's where I will stop with the plot of this film. There are many twists and turns in the upcoming story, plenty enough to keep you scratching your head.
     The movie gets bogged down a bit in it's story and by the end I wasn't 100% sure I had kept up with everything along the way, but I got enough out of it. But I still enjoyed the film because I was able to ignore logic for two hours and just enjoy the ride. And what a ride it is. When this movie gets going it doesn't let up and give you opportunities to breathe too often. Agent Salt scales tall buildings, jumps from roof to roof of trucks going down the highway, descends an elevator shaft about as quickly as an elevator cab can, and kicks her fair share of butt along the way. If you go in looking at this film from a logic standpoint you will be rolling your eyes early and often. So my advice would be to just suspend your belief for awhile and enjoy the action. Because if you do, there is a lot to enjoy here. There's nothing spectacular about any of the acting, directing or writing but Jolie does a fine enough job in the title role. She's obviously easy on the eyes and her action scenes don't look awkward in any way. If you want to have a fun time there are worse ways you can blow two hours. I give Salt a light recommendation, just don't go in with your expectations too high.