Salt

After making more of a splash in the tabloids than on the big screen in recent months, Angelina Jolie now shows she can still convince as a tough action heroine in the agent thriller "Salt".

In the thriller from Phillip Noyce ("The Hour of the Patriots"), Jolie plays CIA agent Evelyn Salt, who has proven her absolute loyalty to her country more than once. But now a Russian defector claims that Salt, of all people, is a Russian sleeper agent planning to assassinate the Russian president during his visit to the U.S. for the funeral of the recently deceased U.S. vice president. The agent realizes that even the trust of her partner Ted (Live Schreiber) will do her little good in convincing the CIA that she is not a sleeper agent. And she knows that her husband's (August Diehl) life is in danger with her supposed exposure. And so she makes a spectacular escape attempt, which is followed by a breathless chase for life and death...

"Salt" is a solidly directed action thriller that often feels like a female version of the "Bourne" films. Particularly in the fast-paced chase sequences, Phillip Noyce is obviously trying to model himself on the shaky camera style of Paul Greengrass, which strives for particular realism. However, his mise-en-scène remains rather traditional overall, but that doesn't mean the film feels dated in any way. On the contrary: "Salt" offers high-quality action scenes, as they just belong in a good summer blockbuster. The fact that the story has fallen by the wayside a bit and can't really be called particularly original is also a well-known side effect.

What makes "Salt" a pleasant surprise and a genre contribution worth seeing in the end is, on the one hand, of course, the good actors, who more than hold their own even in the rather flat story. On the other hand, it's also the cleverly used twists, some of which might surprise even crafty genre connoisseurs. And even if you see through the plot at the beginning, the movie still entertains really well until the end. Angelina Jolie is not quite as cool and seductive as she was in "Wanted", but she can still convince without a doubt, especially in the action sequences - especially since she performed many of the daredevil stunts herself.

"Salt" may not be a great head-turner, no groundbreaking action thriller, but as good popcorn entertainment the agent thriller works all the time. And exactly for this reason also applies to all friends of entertaining, first-class staged action: absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp