Went and saw SALT a couple of days ago. At the risk of sounding like a nerd, I have just two words, FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!!!
We all know how good Angelina Jolie is at action but Lara Croft can’t beat Evelyn Salt in utter kick-ass-ness (I think I need to invent a word just for Evelyn Salt). Angelina Jolie’s Evelyn Salt is tough, smart, edgy and nuanced. The character is absolutely moulded perfectly by Angelina Jolie in that you can’t help but want to know what else would happen next.
The next part, which happens to be my favourite scene in the movie, should be skipped for people who doesn’t like spoilers.
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You’ll want to sympathise with her when her husband is killed right in front of her but as you see her eyes taking note of each and every one of the people who is involved in killing him, you’ll know Evelyn is going to kill each of them … painfully. Her acting mettle is proven once again as you see her reining in her grief and shock as she looked on while her husband is killed, with a barely noticable trembling of her lips. It is reminiscent of Tony Leung’s character in Infernal Affairs (the original Hong Kong movie that The Departed was based on) as he saw the body of his boss and the only one who knows that he is a mole being thrown off the building and falling right in front of him. The brief shadow of grief as both these characters had to mask immediately as they cannot risk to be unveiled as a mole is an excellent show of control and a perfectly executed scene by a terrific actor.
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The supporting cast, Liev Schrieber is excellent as usual, and Chiwetel Ejiofor’s character has actually quite minimal appearances in this movie but the character seems set for a more important role should there be a sequel. The only gripe I have in part of casting is the awfully acted part of the President by Hunt Block whose character is reduced into a rather bland performance that can probably be acted by anyone. His character does not exude any of the power that a President should have and all the lines are delivered in a way that makes me feel that this guy is sorely miscasted. He could probably play the janitor better.
The movie is edited to weave each twist and turn into a tightly woven ball of action that springs from one sequence to the next like the way Angelina jumps from vehicle to vehicle. There is no time to dwell on anything and it’s probably the best way to approach a summer action movie. But I did wish that there are a little more details that could be added to beef up the characters more and I think if there’s a director’s cut, it’ll probably be even better than the theatrical release.
Another gripe was the North Korean military at the opening sequence when Salt was being tortured. The language the actors was speaking was obviously with a South Korean accent so I was rather miffed that the director paid no heed to that. I suppose being Western, they saw no importance in that or didn’t even register the difference in doing so? And also as Salt was being released, the background blares of the speakers as per the norm of North Korea was curiously a delivery of Kim Jong-il’s propaganda, nothing wrong there BUT it was in ENGLISH! North Koreans are taught to loath anything Western (except whiskeys and cigars for Kim Jong-il) and now they’re listening to their Dear Leader’s pearls of wisdom in English? Details will take you a long way, Phillip Noyce…
My session was quite well attended, with the cinema about 70% full on an afternoon of a work day so I think it bodes well for the ticket sales in Hong Kong. A lot of youngsters and 20 somethings, a smattering of middle aged couples too, so the demographics looks promising.
But the movie is absolutely carried by Angelina and I can’t even imagine Tom Cruise in a role like this. I don’t hate him but I think he is probably better off doing half assed movies like Knight and Day (saw the trailer a few weeks back, thought it looked stupid). Angie is in every action sequence and the camera fixed firmly on her as she pulled off stunt after stunt. I don’t even think there’s any action star that comes close to her abilities in Hollywood.
I can probably write another 1000 words on the movie, dissecting scenes and costumes but you guys would not be interested. But this one is absolutely enjoyable, a good action flick without being thin on plot. Next up for me will be Inception, opening in Hong Kong next week. Hope it’ll be as good as the trailer looks.
