After Salt, Angelina Jolie could be arguably crowned the number one action star in the world. Philip Noyce, whose varied body of work ranges from the Tom Clancy thriller Patriot Games to the searing Michael Caine drama The Quiet American, is a strong director who knows how to do it all. Here, he's crafted the perfect summer blockbuster because it's exciting and full of smarts and style.





Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) is a veteran and highly skilled CIA operative. When a Russian intelligence officer named Orlov (Daniel Olbrychski) strolls into the offices of the front corporation for which she ostensibly works and accuses her of being a longtime double agent who is about to assassinate the Russian president as part of a plot to destabilize the world political scene, Salt tries to convince her boss, Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber), that the charge is preposterous.





Yet another of her colleagues, counterintelligence specialist William Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor), insists on an investigation. So Salt uses her training to escape from custody and goes on the run. Fearing that the situation has endangered her husband, Mike (August Diehl), Salt tries to locate and warn him. But she also makes her way to New York where the Russian president is scheduled to deliver the eulogy at the funeral of the U.S. vice president.





Jolie's Evelyn Salt is so tough. Though Salt is shown to be strongly motivated by marital loyalty, screenwriter Kurt Wimmer has her pursuers express their frustration over her seemingly limitless ability to elude them. When it’s a huge chase movie, Evelyn jumps from truck top to truck top, getting past multiple trained Secret Service, FBI, and CIA guards. But this is Jolie’s movie, all the way. Evelyn Salt is smart, and she knows she’s smarter than most. And she’s determined. Once she gets an idea or goal in mind, nothing will stop her from winning. The part was originally written for a male actor; her male fiance even fills the role most female fiances do. The gender roles are switched, and it does not make a difference. Her visceral frigidity works perfectly in Salt, and from a feminist point of view, it’s refreshing to see a woman leads an action adventure thriller.





The screenplay is packed with action and dialogue that is equally absorbing and inane. Whether she’s creating a bomb out of office furniture or executing some insane stunt that has to be seen to be believed, Jolie acts with abandon and vivacity. There doesn’t seem to be anything too preposterous for the character to do to get herself out of a bind. Watching Salt stage one mayhem after another is exciting in itself.The story is relentless in the way that the new James Bond movies are relentless. The action just never stops, hardly lets up. It is a whole lot of fun, especially if you like the occasional action flick starring a tough, intelligent woman.





Thanks to the velocity of the film’s direction, coupled with the the star’s investment and charisma, Salt emerges as this summer’s best popcorn film. Judging by the open-ended conclusion of the film, this could become another action franchise. I hope there will be a Salt series every summer.