Although it seems like she gets more attention for her off-camera life than her movie career, Angelina Jolie has managed to secure her place at the top when it comes to female movie stars.  Not even Julia Roberts or Sandra Bullock can match her ability to bounce between blockbuster and award-bait.  She’s already been called the female Indiana Jones thanks to the Tomb Raider movies, but she has said that she wants to be James Bond and her latest film, Salt, may make her just that.

Jolie plays Evelyn Salt, an agent for the CIA who focuses her attention on the former Soviet Union, a country that apparently still poses a threat.  When a former cold war operative comes in claiming a desire to defect, he reveals a plot to kill the Russian president and he names none other than Salt as the assassin.  Now wanted for questioning, but fearing for her husband’s life, Salt must escape her own office.  Fortunately, she’s a highly trained operative.  The question is: who trained her?

Unlike The Fugitive’s Richard Kimble, who sets out on a mission to prove his innocence, Salt seems intent on proving her guilt.  Free of her CIA pursuers, she follows the exact assassination plot laid out by the Russian defector. Even the extra security added to the funeral where the Russian president is an honorary pallbearer can’t keep Salt away.

To give away any more of the plot would spoil too much of a fun, if somewhat far-fetched, action movie that kept me guessing right up until the end.  Put it this way, the assassination attempt that may have been the conclusion of many action flicks is merely the midpoint of Salt.  From there, the movie makes a series of twists and turns that had me often wondering if there were even any good guys to get behind.

In a summer that—The A-Team aside—has been somewhat lacking in blockbuster action movies, Salt proves to be a ride that is definitely worth taking.  The action scenes are all top-notch, edge-of-your-seat thrills.  Jolie reportedly did most of her own stunts and the hard work is apparent.  Sure, some of the stunts—okay, most of the stunts—are implausible, but a lack of realism has never gotten in the way of a good action movie.

Director Philip Noyce is an action-thriller veteran having directed Harrison Ford in both Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger and he shows a steady hand with Salt.  Instead of drawn-out exposition sequences, the required backstory is dished out in bits and pieces through flashbacks and never distracts from the action.  Also, even though the movie definitely has elements of the Bourne series, Noyce avoids getting carried away with rapid editing and a handheld camera, keeping the action relatively easy to follow.

This movie was originally intended to have a male lead—Tom Cruise was offered the part—but I am convinced rewriting it for a woman and casting Jolie is the decision that ends up making the movie.  Jolie is as much a presence as any of Hollywood’s male stars—her husband included—and is very easy to root for, even when it is unclear if she’s playing the good gal or the bad gal.

Various plot holes and question marks will likely make Salt less enjoyable upon repeated viewings, but that shouldn’t stop anyone from checking it out in the theaters.  Even if you get stuck in the plot holes, the action is good enough to bring you out of it.  The end of Salt sets up a sequel and it’s a sequel that I am already looking forward to seeing.

Salt is rated PG-13 for “intense sequences of violence and action.”  That pretty much says it all.  The language was light, but there are a couple of mildly gruesome kills.

Courtesy of a local publicist, Jeff attended a promotional screening of Salt.