Jolie fantastic in ‘Salt’

Director: Phillip Noyce

Cast: Angelina Jolie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Live Schriber

Cert: 12

Poor old Daniel Craig, who needs him now, who needs James 007 Bond?

We have Jolie in one of the year’s knock-out action thrillers outdoing anything tired old JB ever did in a movie that zings along from one frantic bit of business to the next, and in some style.

Jolie plays the title role – CIA agent Evelyn Salt, admired and respected by all her colleagues – in what is a good, old-fashioned film that knows what it wants to deliver and goes ahead and delivers.

OK, so there are holes in the plot, a plot that actually takes us back to the Cold War, but everything else overcomes such shortfalls.

A defecting Russian spy sets the plot in motion when he names Salt as the potential assassin of the visiting Russian President.

She goes on the run to sort things out, the while supported by her boss Ted Winter (Schriber) … and on the run Salt gets involved in one incident after another, using a number of disguises (even that of a man).

Jolie does magnificent action, but here she also retains a vulnerability and sexiness that makes her human.

Interestingly, the script was written initially for a male lead – Tom Cruise was mooted at one time – but Jolie makes it her own, and then some.

Star Rating: 5/5