I couldn't recall particularly liking Angelina Jolie in any previous films, but had heard this one wasn't a total dud. So with an open mind I selected 'Directors Cut' from the menu screen, who knows, the theatrical version may have been butchered by the studio and now the true genius of Salt could finally be experienced...and maybe there would be some boobs!
Sadly there were no boobs...and also, even by action movie standards, there was a surprising lack of dialogue too. Something I was thankful for after trying to understand what the heck the Russian defector was crowing on about at the start. Salt is one moody, brooding, uber-spy - trained her whole life in the art of the poker face and serious business, she may let a solitary tear well up in her eye as she sacrifices her world for her cause, but she can suck it back in before it betrays here. Her character is kept mysterious by not giving her any lines of any real note, a bit of a blank slate, which puts a lot of pressure on the visual story telling and fight/chase scenes to do all the leg work. I really enjoyed the flashbacks, though they felt like glimpses into a more enjoyable and imaginative film. The action not so much, aside from the rare balls out scenes (such as Salt victoriously choking her enemy to death by hanging from The White House balcony) the gun play was weak and the hand-to-hand felt rather unconvincing.
Still, some nice twists and turns, decent pace and cheeky story left me feeling that now Salt had been set in motion I actually wanted more. With some added weight to the punches, less stone faced self importance and more of the fun comic humour suggested in the origin story flashbacks a sequel could be good.