1. It comes across as the most dated action movie in the past few years, too. Russians as the bad guys ... in 2010 ... really? And the pointless plot twists galore. And did I mention the ending that was without closure?

 

But back to the "Jason Bourne with a vagina" quote, you may write Cracked.com off as a cynical humor site, but there is often truth in jest, and they are 100% correct here. What were the Bourne movies? Black Ops agent is betrayed by his government agency because they think he has gone rouge, amazing car chases and fighting sequences ensue. What was Salt? Govenment spy is bretayed by her agency because they think she is a double agent, amazing car chases and fighting sequences ensue. Read any book about screenwriting, they will tell you point blank that most blockbusters are sold to studios on the pitch of "high concept meets other high concept", ie. "Cowboys and Aliens" (the western meets science fiction), or "successful, establish franchise ... with a twist". I bet you all of my life savings that at one point of the pitching of, or production of "Salt", someone uttered the phrase "Think Jason Bourne ... if he were a woman". It's impossible to be in denial over such a transparent issue.

 

2. Well, that's what it was! In fact, that movie was probably sold on the pitch of "Jason Bourne ... if he were a teenage girl!", just as "Salt" was probably sold on the pitch of "Jason Bourne ... if he had a vagina!".

 

That's the sequel. . . .

Chris Nolan for life!

 

 

 

Action suits her like a split skirt - and this may be her best-fitting role to date. Total Film

 

And the actress finds enough emotional depth to keep Salt from being a mere action decathlon. The National

 

And Jolie is up for the challenge. She scales buildings barefoot, jumps from bridges onto moving vehicles, and blows up buildings in New York and D.C. Eat your heart out, Matt Damon. Salt is Jason Bourne without amnesia. Rolling Stone

 

A lot of the usual-suspect character actors are on hand (...), and they give Jolie able support, but this is really her show. At least she's always fascinating to watch, whether she's kicking ass or merely figuring out how to kicks ass. The Boston Phoenix

 

Sony Pictures should send Tom Cruise a helicopter as a token of thanks for deciding not to do Salt. It's hard to imagine this fading icon could have done half a good job as Angelina Jolie, who should emerge as Hollywood's top female star for her stunning performance (...). New York Post

 

I didn't know that Cruise was offered the lead in Salt and chose to do Knight and Day instead (!?!?). He must be regretting it. So far, Salt has received better reviews than Knight and Day, and though I don't think Salt's OW will top Inception this weekend, I guess it's very likely that Jolie's movie will do much better than Knight and Day did on OW ($20 mil).

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100721/REVIEWS/100729997  

Yeah. Is Will Smith's charisma that powerful that it casts a spell on critics, too? I guess critics broke from the spell and that's why they ripped "Hancock" apart ... although I can't blame them, considering the movie didn't explain much of the backstory.