Angelina Jolie Stars in “Salt” (Movie Review)

Throw in one female megastar and ‘salt’ to taste. Reaching number two at the box office after its opening weekend, Salt makes more of a statement about gender roles within the action genre than it does to entertain—which is perhaps why it remained behind Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece Inception. Angelina Jolie, whose star power has been cemented as both Oscar-worthy and action-worthy, picked up the mantle that Tom Cruise put down when taking the role as Evelyn Salt.  Think The Manchurian Candidate meets Die Hard but with a lady lead and you pretty much have the plot, which would no doubt flourish at the height of the Red Scare in either the 60s or the 80s, when each film respectively debuted. Both of these films have been remade several times, however, and we’re quick to grasp the premise as an audience, left only to see how everything will be played-out. Miraculously, the sultry A-lister who’s been known as much for her physical charms as her own acting ability, keeps her clothes on the entire time—and, despite our own boyish desires, the movie and it’s viewers are better for it. However, if you’re gonna remove the sex appeal, then you’ll need to do a better job captivating our minds.

Let it be known that we at Broham are easily entertained and rarely skeptical of a summer blockbuster that merely tries to kick ass. That being said, Jolie looked too frail to pull off the physical feats of her super-spy character. She looks increasingly gaunt throughout the film. One can’t help recollecting the tabloids of the past several years and, as evidenced by her appearance, the emotional toil it has to have taken. We couldn’t help wishing she incurred at least some of her workout regimen from the Lara Croft: Tombraider days, or Wanted or even Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Still, we were happy to see Jolie return to the silver screen in an action flick and look forward to the impending sequel. We just hope it will have a little more script development and mandatory Tai-Bo for Miss Jolie. The basic take-away, “Girls can kick ass too!” Or, perhaps better stated, “Girls kick ass… period.” No doubt. Show us in an even better sequel!