Angelina Jolie Is Worth Her "Salt"

By KARINA MITCHELL

NEW YORK (CBS) Angelina Jolie is better than Bond in the explosive, adrenalin-pumping, summer spy thriller "Salt" and the Columbia release has affirmed her position as Hollywood's hottest female action star.

Reportedly developed for Tom Cruise a few years ago, the film came about when Jolie expressed an interest in playing Bond. Thus, with some clever re-writing 'Edwin' became Evelyn Salt.

Jolie's Evelyn Salt is a smart cookie. A no-nonsense covert CIA agent in the guise of an employee for a Washington, D.C., based petroleum company, she stands accused of being part of an intricate Russian sleeper cell that has infiltrated the U.S. In an odd twist, news surrounding the recent Russian spy scandal has served to beat down some criticism of the credibility of the film's key concept - U.S.-Soviet tension that harks back to the Cold War.

While getting ready to leave work for the day, Salt and her colleague Ted (Liev Schreiber) are called upon to interrogate a Russian defector (Daniel Olbrychski) who claims to have information on a mole that has infiltrated the CIA - one Evelyn Salt, a sleeper agent activated to kill the visiting Russian president.

Realizing she and her husband, a German arachnologist (August Diehl) are in danger, she escapes from CIA headquarters and becomes a fugitive, hunted down by Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the lead agent charged with capturing her. Agent Salt is not about to go down without a fight and an elaborate chase film ensues. Her motives are really never in doubt, but her end goal makes for exhilarating viewing.

What is realistic, and to a high degree, are Jolie's action scenes. Director Phillip Noyce ("The Saint", "Patriot Games", "Clear and Present Danger") has taken pains to make the stunts and special effects as plausible as possible. For example, when Jolie's character attempts to escape from CIA headquarters, she doesn't use elaborate stunts; she just makes a pipe bomb from common elements she finds around her.

Jolie performed many of the stunts herself and CGI use was kept to a minimum, making the action sequences intense and much more believable than in many other action flicks. Jolie is definitely able to deliver the goods.

Comparisons are sure to be drawn between the plot and action scenes of "Knight and Day" starring Tom Cruise, who (what a coincidence) also plays a rogue CIA agent on the run while trying to clear his name. The kamikaze style stunts in that film only serves to magnify the smart thinking that went into "Salt".

We never really get to delve deeply into Jolie's character and the tagline "Who is Salt?" doesn't really get answered. A missed opportunity to give Salt an added dimension came in choosing not to explore the relationship between her and her on-screen husband, a naïeve man, who was willing to do anything to be with her.

That being said, "Salt" is sure to keep the cash registers ringing all weekend long and into the future.

Oh, and did I mention, Angelina Jolie is hot!