If Salt is the only Salt movie you ever want to see, don't go see Salt.
I love a good spy movie. What can I say? I am my father's son. At my father's side, I've seen every James Bond movie, many of them multiple times. I've enjoyed all of Hitchcock's yearns of mistaken, duplicitous identity. I've even seen the spy movies you've never heard of like The Day of the Jackel and The Odessa File (both highly recommended, by the way).
I used to pour over "spy gear" catalogues. I begged my mom to take me to a spy shop I discovered in the yellow pages. I had a nondescript cardboard box (so that it blended in) in my room when I was a kid full of "gadgets" I had created for the day when it became necessary for me to go undercover to save the world. I would dress in all black and sneak around the house trying my best to not be discovered by "the enemy," also known as my little brother and sister.
(And to this day I will still tell you proudly that the CIA recruits more people from my undergraduate alma mater, Texas A&M University, than from any other non-military institution of higher learning in the nation.)
I love spies, and so for the first 95 minutes of Salt's 100 minute running time, I loved this movie, and then I realized that this movie wasn't going to end.
On the most basic level, Salt is a throwback to the Cold War espionage films of my childhood. There's mystery and intrigue and elaborate world domination plots and evil Russians and secret, training facilities in Siberia and you're never quite sure who's on whose side. If you focus on the basic plot and premise, Salt is fun.
And I think if Salt had been made 40 years ago, it would have been a really neat movie. Unfortunately, it was made today, and so it falls victim to an industrial movie-making machine hungry for franchises. Instead of being a twisty thriller like those of days gone by, Salt tries to be the next Jason Bourne, and she fails to measure up.
The Bourne movies are my favorite film trilogy since the original Star Wars films. Beneath the frantic and fantastic fight and chase scenes of the Bourne movies beats a strong heart of genuine emotion. Jason Bourne's is a compelling story because he is a character on a journey for real redemption, and each film in the trilogy grants him a bit of that redemption. The climax of the third film gives it to him completely.
Eveline Salt wants redemption too, and I don't think I'm ruining your film-going experience by saying that the story keeps it from her, kinda, though there doesn't seem to be any reason to deny her some redemption except to provide an excuse for a sequel. Sigh. I miss the days when they knew how to make movies with endings.
That being said, if you're in the mood for a good almost-throwback, Cold War era espionage thriller with some modern car chases and fight scenes thrown in for good measure, and if you think you might be interested in watching the further exploits of Eveline Salt in the soon to be produced sequel(s), this is the movie for you.
Otherwise, hold a double-feature in your living room with The Day of the Jackel and The Odessa File, and savor sweet story resolution.
Oh! And don't I have anything faith-related to say about this movie? I don't think so. Every movie doesn't require theological reflection. Sometimes a story is just a story, and that can be ok.
As long as the story ends!
I love a good spy movie. What can I say? I am my father's son. By my dad's side, I've seen every James Bond movie, many of them multiple times. I've enjoyed all of Hitchcock's yarns of mistaken, duplicitous identity. I've even seen the spy movies you've never heard of like The Day of the Jackel and The Odessa File (both highly recommended, by the way).
I used to pour over "spy gear" catalogues. I begged my mom to take me to a spy shop I discovered in the yellow pages. I had a nondescript cardboard box (so that it blended in) in my room when I was a kid full of "gadgets" I had created for the day when it became necessary for me to go undercover to save the world. I would dress in all black and sneak around the house trying my best to not be discovered by "the enemy," also known as my little brother and sister.
(And to this day I will still tell you proudly that the CIA recruits more people from my undergraduate alma mater, Texas A&M University, than from any other non-military institution of higher learning in the nation.)
I love spies, and so for the first 95 minutes ofSalt's 100 minute running time, I loved this movie, and then I realized that this movie wasn't going to end.
On the most basic level, Salt is a throwback to the Cold War espionage films of my childhood. There's mystery and intrigue and elaborate world domination plots and evil Russians and secret, training facilities in Siberia and you're never quite sure who's on whose side. If you focus on this basic plot and premise, Salt is fun.
And I think if Salt had been made 40 years ago, it would have been a really neat movie. Unfortunately, it was made today, and so it falls victim to an industrial movie-making machine hungry for franchises. Instead of being a twisty thriller like those of days gone by, Salt tries to be the next Jason Bourne, and she fails to measure up.
The Bourne movies are my favorite film trilogy since the original Star Wars films. Beneath the frantic and fantastic fight and chase scenes of the Bourne movies beats a strong heart of genuine emotion. Jason Bourne's is a compelling story because he is a character on a journey for real redemption, and each film in the trilogy grants him a bit of that redemption. The climax of the third film gives it to him completely.
Eveline Salt (Angelina Jolie) wants redemption too, and I don't think I'm ruining your film-going experience by saying that the story keeps it from her, kinda, though there doesn't seem to be any reason to deny her some redemption except to provide an excuse for a sequel. Sigh. I miss the days when they knew how to make movies with endings.
That being said, if you're in the mood for a good almost-throwback, Cold War era espionage thriller with some modern car chases and fight scenes thrown in for good measure, and if you think you might be interested in watching the further exploits of Eveline Salt in the soon to be produced sequel(s), this is the movie for you.
Otherwise, hold a double-feature in your living room with The Day of the Jackel andThe Odessa File, and savor sweet story resolution.
Oh! And aren't I supposed to have something faith-related to say about this movie? I don't think so. Every movie doesn't require theological reflection. Sometimes a story is just a story, and that can be ok.
As long as the story ends!
(Salt is rated PG-13 for non-bloody violence and one curse word that they included just to make sure they got that PG-13 rating.)
-- Elijah Davidson
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