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Released by: Sony/Columbia Tri-Star
Released on: 12/21/2010
Director: Phillip Noyce
Cast: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber
Year: 2010
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The Movie:
Directed by Phillip Noyce and written by Kurt Wimmer, 2010's Salt begins inside a North Korean prison where an American woman named Evelyn Salt is being exchanged for a North Korean prisoner thanks to the efforts of her husband, Mike Krause (August Diehl), who had been making a bit of a stir and basically forcing the American government to react. Evelyn, you see, is actually a CIA operative, something that her husband was previously unaware of and her co-worker, an agent named Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber), made it pretty clear that protocol dictates that they should have left her there.
Regardless, with Salt back on home turf she's asked to interrogate a Russian defector. During the interrogation he tells her about Russian sleeper operatives that were born in Russia and trained there to blend in with the general American population but set to strike at any time. He tells them that one of these operatives is ready to assassinate the Russian Prime Minister any day now and that this operatives name is… Evelyn Salt. Now, you'd think that she'd blow it off and try to talk to her co-workers and fellow agents about this odd turn of events or at the very least plead her innocence, but no, fearing for her husband's life she goes on a tear in order to try and find him before either the Russians or the Americans do and eventually goes rogue - but the question remains, is she trying to clear her name or is she actually out to assassinate the Russian Prime Minister or even the President of the United States himself?
Fast paced and super slick, Salt hits the ground running and actually manages to be pretty successful in holding your attention throughout. While the film may not be particularly concerned with realism it does manage to keep you guessing as to Evelyn's motivations right up until the ending and Jolie, who can be a little vapid in certain films, actually brings a cool and collected presence to the part that makes it quite a bit more interesting than it would be otherwise. She looks the part, she's got that odd and mysterious look to her that, when coupled with the different disguises she wears in the film, makes her quite a good casting choice here. She also does fine in the action sequences, never seeming out of place or forced into the role but instead slipping into it and turning out to be a pretty convincing choice.
Supporting performances are also strong with Liev Schreiber standing out alongside an interesting cast of bit part players. As the plot starts to thicken and everything is called into question he manages to stay stoic and convincing in his part. His interaction with Jolie's character also fees pretty natural, you get the sense that they really are friendly co-worker types. Salt's interaction with her husband, however, lacks the dynamic to really convince us that she really loved him very much in the first place, but that comes into play later in the film and turns out to be a pretty clever plot device in its own right.
The action scenes are handled well, with very few obvious CGI enhancements sticking out. They're not particularly realistic, not much about this movie really is, but they're impressive none the less and highlighted by a great chase scene that takes place on the Queensboro Bridge in New York City (look for the Silver Cup Studios sign in the background and tell me you don't instantly think Highlander!). The film also makes great use of some interesting locations like St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Staten Island boat graveyard (an unlikely but excellent choice for a bad guy's hideout!). Ultimately it may not be as deep as it tries to be, but it sure is entertaining and slick, a good action/adventure/thriller with some interesting twists and an interesting concept dutifully exploited to its fullest.
Note: The Blu-ray release of Salt contains the theatrical cut and two different extended cuts of the feature. The main difference between the versions, without heading deep into spoiler territory, is a few actions on the part of the Evelyn Salt character that clarify her allegiances and her motivations. There's also a bit more violence in the longer versions than the theatrical cut.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Salt sure does look impressive in this AVC encoded 2.35.1 widescreen 1080p high definition transfer. Detail is outstanding from start to finish and color reproduction looks very natural and never pumped up or oversaturated. Close up shots show off a lot of texture and skin tones look very realistic and natural. Black levels stay strong and deep from start to finish even if they show just a tiny bit of noise now and then. While the film makes us, rather frequently, of a fairly subdued color tone (lots of blacks and browns, grays and darker greens) there's still quite a bit of pop here. There are no problems with compression artifacts or edge enhancement to complain about nor is there any pesky noise reduction to note. All in all, Salt looks fantastic and Sony have done an excellent job here.
Just as impressive as the visuals is the English language DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track. Gun shots and explosions pack all the punch you could want them to while the dialogue remains clean and clear throughout. Levels are well balanced, bass response is nice and strong and there are no problems to report with even the faintest trace of any hiss or distortion. This is a pretty active and aggressive mix and the lossless audio here really brings it home. Also included on the disc is a French Canadian DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track, a Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound track and an English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mix. Optional subtitles are provided in English, English SDH, French and Spanish.
Aside from the three different versions of the film, Sony have delivered quite a good selection of supplements here starting with a commentary track from director Phillip Noyce. Here the seasoned action movie director talks about his influences this time around, what went into staging some of the more impressive set pieces in the picture, working with Jolie and Schreiber and more. He's got quite a bit to say about different themes and ideas, some of which were used and some of which were not, and he manages to keep the discussion well paced and interesting. Robert Grasmere, who handled the effects, and Music Editor Joey Rand also pop up here later on to throw in their two cents.
Moving on, Sony has also included the Spy-Cam Picture-In-Picture mode viewing option here that, when enabled, lets you check out bonus footage and interview clips in a small window that appears periodically throughout the movie in the corner of the screen. This works for the theatrical version only and while there are times when the P-I-P window is too small, some of the material here is interesting enough that fans of the film might want to give it a spin.
From there we move on to a batch of featurettes beginning with The Ultimate Female Action Hero, an eight minute bit that talks about Jolie performance, the physicality of her work in the film, and what makes Evelyn Salt an interesting character. The twelve minute The Real Agents is more interesting as it covers the real life politics behind the movie by way of interviewing some former secret service agents who were employed during the Cold War and who have some interesting stories to share about their work out in the field. Spy Disguise is a five minute piece that takes a look at the different disguises that Jolie's character wears during the movie while The Modern Master Of The Political Thriller is a ten minute piece that looks at Noyce's work and filmogrpahy from throughout the years. False Identity is a ten minute piece that shows how the digital effects were used and integrated alongside the practical effects in the movie (a lot of them you won't even realize are CGI, which is a credit to the filmmakers) while the final featurette, Salt Declassified, is a half hour making of piece that wrangles up most of the cast and crew for some interviews and discussions about the picture along with some behind the scenes footage.
Rounding out the extras on the disc are an audio only radio interview with Noyce conducted by Elvis Mitchell, trailers for a few other Sony properties (though not for the feature itself), a MovieIQ option, animated menus and chapter stops. The disc is also Blu-ray Live enabled if you want to go online and access even more goodies.
The Final Word:
Ignore the fact that there are massive, gaping plot holes and that reality has nothing to do with this picture at all and enjoy Salt for the tense, exciting and well paced action movie that it is. Featuring some good performances and loads of stylish action, it may not be as deep as it thinks it is but it sure is plenty entertaining. Sony's Blu-ray looks and sounds excellent and contains a pretty impressive list of extra features as well. Good stuff.
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