My Movie Review on Salt (2010) (Reconstructed & Re-Analyzed)

This is a largely modified version of my review on “Salt (2010)”. It combines what I think of both the theatrical cut & extended versions, but it represents what I think of the movie as a whole. My analysis on the theatrical cut was posted on October 27, 2021, while my critique on the extended version was shared on July 19, 2023.

In the process of making it, I also switched stuff around for smoother flowing, made some new grammatical corrections, and incorporating other kinds of changes for currency purposes. Not very many things needed to be changed beyond that.

Take a look:

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Yo, what's up, Kemosabes?

This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.

Today, for the 7th installment of this year's "Spook Spectacular", I'm gonna give you guys my take of Angelina Jolie's "Salt".

Here's the rundown of this thriller:

Evelyn Salt is a CIA agent who has been living a charming and successful life, particularly thanks to marrying German arachnologist Mike Krause.

However, when a Russian defector named Oleg Vassily Orlov visits the police station, he claims that a Russian sleeper agent, who is part of a secret organization made to destroy the United States, will attempt to assassinate Russia's president while he visits America. As if that isn't baffling enough, he claims that Evelyn Salt herself is a Russian sleeper agent.

After being framed by Orlov and discovering that her husband was kidnapped, Evelyn goes on the run from the CIA to find her husband and somehow put an end to the organization of sleeper agents once and for all.

In all honesty, "Salt" wasn't something I had in my personal collection nor saw very often. But, I was interested in seeing the movie based on it starring Angelina Jolie in the title role, having been a fan of much of her work in various movies. Other elements that peaked my interest in the film came from the involvements of Liev Schreiber and Chiwetel Ejiofor, mainly since I'm a fan of their work in some other movies too.

A couple of times, I watched the theatrical version of "Salt" via Hulu. In preparation for reviewing it, though, I watched it a third time by buying it on Apple TV since my previous experiences with it were positive enough for doing so. It wasn't available for free on any of the usual streaming services, so that's why I ultimately did that.

Later on, I acquired the deluxe-unrated DVD edition of “Salt”. This edition notably contained three different versions of the movie: The theatrical cut, the alternate extended cut, and the alternate director’s cut. After doing some research, I found out that each of the film's three versions were incredibly different from each other, and the extended version was apparently the most unique of the three.

After seeing "Salt" again for analysis purposes, I'd like to admit that I didn't think the movie was perfect. It's mainly because the beginning of the film, which featured Evelyn Salt getting tortured in a North Korean prison by soldiers, was a little too intense and risqué for a PG-13 movie. The scene even featured Evelyn in her under garments, which I believe isn't appropriate for teen viewing. That, and I disliked the cussing it contained, particularly its usage of the Lord's name in vain.

Outside of these nitpicks, though...

I really must say that this is one of the best thrillers I ever watched!

For instance, the direction by Phillip Noyce, and the story by Kurt Wimmer and (uncreditably) Brian Heldgeland, were fantastic!

When I saw the trailers, I thought that the story was going to be something like "The Fugitive" because of it being about a protagonist on the run from the CIA. But, while that is the case in some ways, the plot proved to be something completely its own thanks the the difference in scenarios.

What stood out to me the most about the story was that it managed to be surprising and unexpected in the best way! The twists and turns "Salt" had helped it not fall into certain cliches that were done numerous times in other films. It doesn't make itself as predictable as people would think it'd be, and it takes a great talent to make a movie that's beyond what the summary states. Each time I've watched the film, I've also noted that everything became clearer as the movie progressed and managed to come full-circle once the climax came. The flashback sequences were likewise very well-done, in large part because they successfully gave a greater understanding of who Evelyn is and provided more insight on her relationships with Mike, Ted, and Orlov; they weren't out of place either.

Plus, there were snippets of wit to help ease the tension, the action sequences were a blast to watch, and the dramatic on and emotional sides of the film were well-played to the point of being genuine. The cinematography of the film was also very beautiful to look at.

The music by James Newton Howard was magnificent as well.

As with most of the other movies I've watched where he was the composer, Howard created a score that entrancing in every way. His material fit the overall tone and concept, of course. It was the way his music captured the emotions of the characters was what really caught my attention, along with it reflecting the character development.

Finally, the acting, characters, and character development were amazing.

At one point, I read that in the film's early stages Evelyn Salt was originally going to be a male character named Edwin A. Salt, with Tom Cruise set to play the part. But, Cruise ultimately decided to not take on the role due to feeling that it'd be too similar to his work as Ethan Hunt in the Mission Impossible movies. Brian Heldgeland would later come in and change the character from a male to a female, with Jolie being offered the part and taking on the role.

Personally, I think the change turned out to be incredibly beneficial for the film.

Angelina Jolie was awesome in the role of Evelyn Salt! She incorporated an emotionality that helped her character be incredibly human and three-dimensional, and there was an unpredictable nature to her performance that didn't make Evelyn someone to read right out of the blue. She gave Evelyn a great witty side to reflect her own sense of humor too. When it came to making sure Evelyn had personality through her portrayal, Jolie definitely didn't mess around. The way she took on the action sequences and physically-demanding scenes was likewise nothing short of admirable, because it all came with a willingness to take risks. Evelyn herself had dynamic development, and everything about her growth was brilliantly handled. She also proved to be an enrapturing focus capable of carrying her own story, and she certainly wasn't without personality.

The rest of the cast members were remarkable as well.

If I had to pick which supporting players gave the best performances, it'd be Liev Schreiber as Theodore "Ted" Winter, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Darryl Peabody, and Daniel Olbrychski as Orlov. No matter how much screen time they had, each of the three cast members practically commanded the screen by delivering powerful performances. The three aforementioned characters also stood out to me because of their dynamic personalities and developments.

Before I conclude this post, there’s one more thing regarding the film I’d like to come clean about:

I later saw the film’s extended version a couple times, and I thought it was significantly better than the theatrical cut. The extended version generally provided the same kind of experience, but there were things regarding it that I found to be more enjoyable than the theatrical cut!

Most of the scenes that were added in the E.V. were flashback sequences that further delve into Evelyn Salt's origins, her CIA background, and her history and romance with Mike. These additions weren’t exactly long, but they gave Evelyn a greater amount of depth.

Outside of this, the significant thing about the E.V. is that some scenes from the T.C. were switched out in exchange for others. The switches in question further improved the overall narrative, helping things to seem less convoluted and nonsensical, and giving a sense of something fulfilling.

Here’s one of the most notable examples of this:

• In the T.C., Mike is killed by a quick gunshot right when Evelyn sees him.

In the E.V., though, Mike slowly dies by being drowned, with Salt unable to help him and slowly looking on with heartbreaking sadness.

To me, this alternate death scene adds a greater sense of drama, emotion, and impact on the matter. Along with the added flashback scenes between him and Evelyn, it also helped Mike not come across as an afterthought of sorts in the long run.

But, the biggest difference is the following:

• In the T.C., Evelyn kills Orlov while she's with him on the barge, before killing every other agent there. The story itself would later end with her escaping custody in order to find and destroy the remnants of Orlov's assassin division.

  
  

In contrast, the E.V. doesn't feature Evelyn killing Orlov and the other agents on the barge. It is removed in exchange for a different ending where Evelyn is in custody at a hospital, and while there, she's told by Darryl Peabody that the U.S. president explained what really happened in the bunker and that Evelyn has been cleared of her charges. Afterwards, Evelyn escapes to Russia, where she locates and kills Orlov by drowning him. All before she destroys his entire division.

In my opinion, the removal of the barge massacre helped the narrative be much more smooth-flowing, and the E.V.'s ending provided a greater sense of closure for Evelyn's character arc compared to the T.C.'s ending.

All this being said, I'm classifying the E.V. as the officially canon version of the film. Considering how unlikely a sequel to “Salt” is by this point, I feel that the E.V. will provide ample compensation on the matter. Although, if Columbia does decide to follow-up with a sequel, I think it should follow the E.V.'s continuity.

As for whether I'll review the "Director's Cut" of "Salt", that'd be a 'no'. I took a sneak peek at it using the DVD and fast forwarded throughout to see whether there was anything significantly different about it. When I did, I found that it's basically the theatrical cut and extended version of the movie combined together with little difference.

In conclusion, though, "Salt (2010)" isn't 100% flawless. But, it’s an accomplished action-thriller that also manages to be one. Everything about the film makes it perhaps one of the most overlooked in cinema.

So, I rate "Salt (2010)" 4½ out of 5 stars.

Note: Both the theatrical cut & extended version share in the rating, but the latter is still the superior of the two.