Salt - The Movie (Spoilers?)

[DMark]

We went to see the new Angelina Jolie film, SALT yesterday.

It was way over the top with action stunts; the plot had some major twists that make you go, "hmm", and characters changed sides faster than you can blink an eye.

Still, if you check your reality meter in the cloakroom at the door, it is a fun action film.

[Flying Saucer]

I didn't understand:

SPOILER:

Why Salt was even needed for the White House attack. Tomas made sure the President was taken to the bunker and Winter made sure he launched the missiles. Salt poking around just seemed like a distraction.

Did I miss something?

[DMark]

Originally Posted by Flying Saucer

I didn't understand:

SPOILER:

Why Salt was even needed for the White House attack. Tomas made sure the President was taken to the bunker and Winter made sure he launched the missiles. Salt poking around just seemed like a distraction.

Did I miss something?

My understanding:

SPOILER:

I believe bad guy at the end stated that she was just going to be the "fall guy" so to speak, and blame everything on her. That is why she was brought there.

[jrepka]

The plot twists were unexpected and, compared to more recent films in this genre, the action sequences were pretty easy to follow which made it more interesting. Jolie was very good in the role, though you could tell it was originally written for Cruise.

I realize it's all fantasy, but I had some "suspension of disbelief" issues:

1.
When Jason Bourne drives a car off of a parking structure and falls 30+ feet, they show him bracing himself and he at least looks a bit haggard as he exits the vehicle... Are we to expect that Salt could survive this fall while handcuffed and leaning over the back seat, and jump up and walk away without a scratch?

2.

SPOILER:

I have to say that the concept of training a bunch of pre-pubescent kids to be moles and then placing them in a foreign culture to go through their cultural and social maturation years, expecting that any of them will be focused on, or care one whit, the goals they were "programmed" for as small children? Gimme a break...

and finally,

SPOILER:

In the end, it seems that there's no point in convincing Peabody of her intentions: her side of the story becomes a lot more credible when the President regains consciousness. Though he had no reason to believe that she was a good guy, he would certainly testify that Ted Winter was the one who killed everyone in the bunker.

[MovieMogul]

Originally Posted by jrepka

2.

SPOILER:

I have to say that the concept of training a bunch of pre-pubescent kids to be moles and then placing them in a foreign culture to go through their cultural and social maturation years, expecting that any of them will be focused on, or care one whit, the goals they were "programmed" for as small children? Gimme a break...

My wife and I just saw it, and we were talking about how, in real life

SPOILER:

it'd be more like the Russian spies they found recently, who embedded into American life but didn't really do much of jack squat while they were here, perhaps getting soft and comfy living in the US. "Day X? But my kids have soccer practice!"

But we liked it a lot--lots of good (and relative to most anything else this summer) credible action, a fun story that kept you on your toes, and some well-executed setpieces. Though

SPOILER:

Liev Schreiber was a pretty early giveaway as a probable mole

.

[alphaboi867]

I thought Peabody would also turn out to be a plant; wasn't there a black kid in the background during the spy school/orphanage shots? I was also suprised that the Russian President turned up alive and the end. I don't think that was necessary. Given that Russia's current president is basically a puppet for Vladimir Putin I have an easier time buying that who ever's running Russia from behind the scenes is willing to simply sacrifice a figurehead than them taking a chance that Salt would on her own decide to use a spider venom to fake his death.

[MovieMogul]

Originally Posted by alphaboi867

Given that Russia's current president is basically a puppet for Vladimir Putin I have an easier time buying that who ever's running Russia from behind the scenes is willing to simply sacrifice a figurehead than them taking a chance that Salt would on her own decide to use a spider venom to fake his death.

They were willing to sacrifice a figurehead. Salt was supposed to kill him as part of the plot. It never occurred to them that she would be anything other than a good little comrade.

[jrepka]

Originally Posted by alphaboi867

I was also suprised that the Russian President turned up alive and the end. I don't think that was necessary...

Of course it was necessary:

SPOILER:

She's not the good guy if she actually follows through and kills the guy. Note that she isn't actually shown killing anyone, except for the other Russian bad guys.

She beats the crap out of everyone she encounters, and outside of the movies most of those car crashes aren't survivable. She's got the drop on Peabody but he's got a gun. She gives herself up b/c she doesn't have the option of knocking him out from 10-20 feet away.

[MovieMogul]

Originally Posted by jrepka

She beats the crap out of everyone she encounters*, and outside of the movies most of those car crashes aren't survivable. She's got the drop on Peabody but he's got a gun. She gives herself up b/c she doesn't have the option of knocking him out from 10-20 feet away.

*except for Poor Bastard Cop, aka the most tazered-man in movie history. After a while, that just got funny in an OTT way.

[alphaboi867]

Originally Posted by ArchiveGuy

...They were willing to sacrifice a figurehead. Salt was supposed to kill him as part of the plot. It never occurred to them that she would be anything other than a good little comrade.

Damnit! You're right of course.

Yeah, the studio is clearly hoping for a female spy franchise. Maybe I'm a nihilist, but I think it'd been more interesting for the missles to Mecca & Tehran to have actually been launched at the last minute. Granted it would lead to a very different sequel than anything planned for this.

[Tangent]

Just got back from seeing this. Fun movie. I agree with the above comments--it's not very realistic how much she survives without injury, but once you accept that this is going to be that kind of movie, you can sit back and enjoy the ride.

I especially enjoyed the scene where she

SPOILER:

strangles Winter by leaping over the railing.

None of the "twists" surprised me that much, but I actually appreciated that it was a fairly straightforward action/thriller.

I'd pay to see a sequel.

[Khadaji]

Yeah, I didn't hate it. As you say, not too much surprised me, but it was a summer action flick.

[Clark K]

SPOILER:

Has Liev Schreiber ever played anyone but a villain?

I couldn't get into the movie very much because I just knew that person would turn out to be a bad guy.

I found the whole White House sequence to be so over the top that I couldn't suspend my disbelief. Lots of eye-rolling during what I assume was supposed to be an intense climax.

[AClockworkMelon]

I hated when she

SPOILER:

used the taser to control the driver of the car. Come on. Being shocked makes you stomp your foot down?

[Mauvaise]

I think the biggest moment of disbelief for me was

SPOILER:

she jumped from the helicopter into the Potomac (right?) and didn't get hypothermia and drown. I mean there was snow on the ground, the water had to be freezing, and she was in it for a long enough time as she had to make it to shore.

But I had gone in expecting little except to be entertained and it did that, so good job.

[zamboniracer]

I'll admit to be easily confused by movies nowadays, so would someone please explain to me how come

SPOILER:

Peabody let Salt escape at the end.

[AClockworkMelon]

Originally Posted by zamboniracer

I'll admit to be easily confused by movies nowadays, so would someone please explain to me how come

SPOILER:

Peabody let Salt escape at the end.

SPOILER:

Because he realized she had saved the world and that by letting her go she'd continue to hunt down remaining members of the organization that killed her husband.

[kath94]

My husband & I saw it Saturday night & it pretty much kept us quiet for an hour-and-a-half. As had been said here, it was a fun action movie if you can suspend disbelief.

Now, I want to know if Sasha & Malia have asked Dad if they can have a slumber party in the White House bunker. How fun would THAT be?

[An Arky]

So, does AJ get nekkid or anything in this flick? That's the only possible potentially interesting thing about it. (I saw them doing some filming one day at L'Enfant Plaza, and no she wasn't nekkid).

[AClockworkMelon]

No, she doesn't get nekkid.

[mhendo]

The missus dragged me to this today, and i must say that, despite my reservations, it was a pretty fun afternoon. No great expectations on my part, so no great disappointments. It was basically a Bourne movie with a different lead. Good, fun popcorn movie.

[alphaboi867]

Originally Posted by AClockworkMelon

No, she doesn't get nekkid.

But she does pretend to be a man at one point.

[Onomatopoeia]

I just saw the movie and, I must say, I was unexpectedly entertained. Of course, I knew in the first five minutes

SPOILER:

that Liev Schreiber was going to end up being the bad guy.

Angelina Jolie was actually good in this.

Not a great movie by a long shot, but definitely watchable, and not bad for a Summer movie, especially if you check any expectation of reality you may have at the door.

[Bryan Ekers]

Without having read any of the thread or seen the film, and based solely on Liev Schreiber's recent appearance on The Daily Show:

SPOILER:

Does his character turn out to be the real spy? I got the impression he'd hinted at this accidentally, spoiling the film at least partly, though he tried to recover.

I will now read the tread and see if my guess is correct...

Yep, looks like.

[AClockworkMelon]

Originally Posted by Bryan Ekers

Yep, looks like.

SPOILER:

They're ALL spies.

[jrepka]

In Salt II we learn that

SPOILER:

Every single person in the U.S. is either a Soviet agent, a member of a terrorist sleeper cell, or an illegal immigrant drug smuggler.

[Superhal]

I just saw it...I think this is the third or fourth film in the past year with car-surfing. Pathetic.

[The Controvert]

Finally a movie about the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty that isn't boring!

I don't really think the criticisms against Salt regarding Evelyn Salt's abilities are all that valid. Sure, it's fun to criticize and I don't mean to take away that pleasure, but I think a decent counter argument can be made. (At this point, I think open spoilers are warranted, because it says spoiler in the title and the movie has been out a while)

She survived and walked away from a car crash where airbags deployed. Lucky, sure. But hardly superhuman. The car dropped 20 feet onto other cars and crumple zone deformation will absorb most of the energy. The onramp from which the car jumped was exactly at roof-level with a one-story building so I'm estimating 20 feet and less if you subtract the height of the taxi they landed on.

She jumped from a helicopter into a cold river and swam to shore. She has skydiving experience on her resume. Some people have a superior resistance to cold. I saw a man survive an hour immersed in ice water on TV and people regularly swim in freezing lakes (i.e. Polar Bear plunge). So, if she has the right preparation and training, I think this is plausible. She was handcuffed, but there was a pretty long and loose chain on the cuffs.

She "surfed" on the roof of several trucks, leaping across moving traffic. Yes, this is a difficult and scary skill, but Agent Salt is a highly-trained operative who does not scare easily.

Thinking from the other side, how enjoyable would the movie be if we have out of shape protagonists of average to poor skill getting captured and killed in the first 5 minutes of the movie? We have to accept that Salt is an above-average human, like Batman, although not superhuman like Superman, Wolverine, or The Hulk.

In that case, I think with her extensive training, skill sets, and feats (i.e. advanced clothing pilfering from the Winona Ryder school of shoplifting), the movie is not outrageously implausible. I think even the disguise that got her into the White House was plausible.

[GHO57]

Originally Posted by Mauvaise

I think the biggest moment of disbelief for me was

SPOILER:

she jumped from the helicopter into the Potomac (right?) and didn't get hypothermia and drown. I mean there was snow on the ground, the water had to be freezing, and she was in it for a long enough time as she had to make it to shore.

Seriously? I've always wondered about movies where the opposite happens... it's just not believable to me (must be a north/south thing)

[Binarydrone]

I found this to be a pretty fun popcorn type flick, the only issue that I really had was that

SPOILER:

all they would have had to do to clear the whole thing up is ask the president what happened. He saw what's his face kill everyone in the bunker and then take control of the nukes. They he pistol whipped the president. I'm just saying that might be a little factiod that would get out.