Simply A Masterpiece

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Excellent but underrated film

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

I gotta say, I didn't want to like this movie... but I did! It moves at a fast pace, right from the start, and never really lets up! The plot is okay, but it is hard to believe that someone Jolie's size could beat up so many other people twice her size. Also, her leaping abilities are much too comic book-ish. But there is a bit of suspense about who she really is, and it kept me entertained for the running time, so 7 stars it is! (but I should take away one star, or more, for that actor playing the U.S. President! Was that Keanu's dad? Terrible.)

I saw this film in the cinemas a while back and didn't really think much of it. However I watched it again recently and was really impressed. In fact I was a little surprised that I hadn't written a review of it them, but that is probably a good thing because it means that I can now return to this film with a fresh mind, and a fresh opinion, and also give it the rating that it deserves. The film starts off in North Korea where Evelyn Salt, a CIA agent, is being tortured. It appears that she is going to be left for dead, which is to be expected, until a surprising trade comes about and she is released. A little later a Russian diplomat comes into the CIA to offer some information, and suggests that there are a number of Soviet era sleeper agents in the US, and proceeds to finger her as one of them. This is where the fun starts. Throughout the film you are never quite sure what is what and who is who. In fact you are never really sure whether Salt is working for the Russians or not, and I won't reveal whether she actually is. In fact you never know who is a sleeper agent and who isn't, and there are some very interesting revelations that come out through the movie, leading you right to an action packed ending. In a way we are seeing a post Cold-War Russia, but the thing is that the old Soviet system has never really gone away. One of the targets in the film is the Russian President, and there is a suggestion that he is actually Boris Yeltsin, and a part of me suspects that there is a group within Russia that wants to return to the Cold War era. While there wasn't anything particularly said about what was going on, there was this idea playing in the background. The really interesting thing was the suggestion that American diplomats in Russia during the cold war were killed, and their children taken by the Russians and brain washed before being handed back to the United States (or even switched). This was what was insinuated in the opening scene where Salt is speaking with the Diplomat. In reality it is unclear as to how many of these sleeper agents are present, because it seems that the United States government is unaware of how many of these children were brainwashed. Not surprisingly, they made their way into some very influential organisations. This is one of those movies that could easily be considered one long thrilling ride from beginning to end. In another way, one wonders how it is that the United States is unaware of something odd going on, if the parents of all these children are incidentally killed. I'm sure after a few there would suddenly be some questions being asked. The other thing is that some people turn out to be agents, even though there was no real hint from the get-go - sometimes I feel that maybe there should be some hints so that it doesn't come out hugely unrealistic. Still, this was a great film, and other that kept me at the edge of my seat all the way through.

How that got over 4 stars is beyond me. Jolie, terminally ill cancer patient constitution, goes trough a hole bunch of CIA agents, russians spies, FBI agents, NYPD etc. without breaking a sweat or even trying , as if they were untrained gas attendants. She then manages to save the world. The end. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Fast paced convoluted yet stupid story. Bad dialogues. Decent acting.

When I first saw the rating I passed over it, but finally after looking at it a few more times, I decided to watch it. I'm glad I did. The plot was quite good. Deep and broad themes. The action was also surprisingly good. The moves easy to follow and made sense. A lot of movies nowadays use shaky cam, also well as excessive editing and angles to the point you can't even tell what's going on. It's actually quite annoying and can sometimes turn me off to an entire movie because of it. The action in this movie was the opposite. The end didn't really make sense at first, but the more I thought about it, there is a counter argument. Not enough to outweigh it. Basically the end didn't make much sense, but I can see what they were doing, I mean its pretty obvious. Anyways, good movie throughout, but they could have worked the ending better.In conclusion, its a smart, deep, broad, and exciting movie. I'm glad I got passed the rating on IMDb and gave it a try.