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SALT Post-Release Thread

post #1 of 40
7/23/10 at 1:14am
Thread Starter 
Heard good things. Then I heard bad things. Now I'm hearing good things again. It's pretty much in the middle for me.

Pros:
- Noyce actually effectively stretches out the mystery for a fair amount of time. It manages to keep releasing information in a way that it could go either way without feeling overly contrived for at least half of the runtime.
- Angelina Jolie is fine in it. I think she looks a bit like a bobblehead early on, but when she dyes her hair black she starts to look more like Angelina Jolie usually looks. I don't know what to say about her performance. It's good, but there's not much meat on this movie.
- Schreiber and Ejiofor are the same story, but I like them well enough, I guess. They give enough. On the other hand, Andre Braugher has one and a half lines in the movie.
- Most of the action is solid. Hard hits and a shocking amount of blood. Definitely the bloodiest PG-13 movie I've ever seen. Someone gets stabbed with a broken bottle and Angelina gets the shit kicked out of her twice. The action is shaky-cam style but it's pulled back some from Greengrass. There was only maybe one time when I was briefly confused about who was where and what had happened and I was back on track in a split second.
- The pacing is cranked all the way up. If you get dragged to it and hate it it won't be long before it's over.

Cons:
- It's goofy. If the gritty, realistic tone of Bourne's your thing, stay home; it's closer to the silly, gadget-filled Mission: Impossible films. Maybe a touch sillier.
- Goofy turns to stupid. Some people I know hated the whole last half, but there was only one moment that REALLY bothered me, taken on the same level as the M:I series. It's really stupid. It happens in an elevator shaft.
- The twists are pretty predictable. If it takes you more than two guesses to figure out who the villain is, my third question will be why you picked Salt for your very first filmgoing experience.
- The action becomes repetitive. It's brutal kicking and punching but after so much of it you just want the movie to get on with it, and as I already said it's a fast movie.
- There's nothing particularly special about it.

Dollar theater if you must. Far better than Knight and Day, IMO, but I guess some people liked that movie?
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post #2 of 40
7/23/10 at 1:37am
I'm not expecting the uber-quality of a BOURNE and I liked KNIGHT & DAY.

And I've had a decade-long crush on Jolie (Jolie as a blonde---not so much). So, yeah, I'm going this weekend.
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post #3 of 40
7/23/10 at 2:10am
sorry comment was really more appropriate in a pre-release thread.
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post #4 of 40
7/23/10 at 2:10am
Thread Starter 
For the record, there are some Sony DVDs (I have no idea which ones) that have a ticket sticker on the front of them for Salt (or Eat Pray Love or The Other Guys), which might offset the cost a bit.
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post #5 of 40
7/24/10 at 4:45pm
Split my friends right down the middle--those who enjoyed it as an action spectacle, and those of us who thought it was a bit too predictable and way too unbelievable with the stunts (for me, all the jumps in the car/truck chase were even worse than the elevator shaft).

Also, initially thought the boyfriend's job was just to add a little D.C. color to the proceedings. But when it becomes obvious early on it's actually going to be a (dumb) major plot point, I just kind of rolled my eyes.

Can't help but think I might have been kinder to this one if I hadn't seen Inception earlier in the week.

[As an aside, wow, what a random movie to get me to finally make my first post.]
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post #6 of 40
7/24/10 at 7:18pm
Ehhhhh.

I think I would have liked it if Jolie was a convincing action hero.
At this point she's just too anorexic and lanky for roles like this. She makes simple things like running (which she does a lot in this movie) look slow and awkward. They also shoot around her with shaky cam and quick cuts whenever there's a hand to hand fight.
It did look like she could handle a gun, though.

Story-wise it was pretty boring at the beginning. When it's revealed that she's actually a Russian super agent, it got a bit interesting. It would have been great if Jolie turned out to be an evil, President-killing Russian spy, but you know a major studio wouldn't allow that.

But the way she kills Liev Shrieber was hilarious and the movie has a decent sequel set-up. "They took everything from me. I'LL KILL EM ALL." I might check the sequel out....
on dvd if it actually happens.
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post #7 of 40
7/24/10 at 7:26pm
Definitely predictable, though the second Liev Schreiber walks in to any movie you know he'll be evil. Jolie obviously reaching for her own Bourne.
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post #8 of 40
7/24/10 at 8:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeShaynePI View Post
Definitely predictable, though the second Liev Schreiber walks in to any movie you know he'll be evil. Jolie obviously reaching for her own Bourne.
Pretty much my thoughts. I liked it, but not nearly as much as Bourne. What an ego on that girl huh? "Like me? None. But like that douchbag? Lots of em." Heh.

I thought for a second they were gonna pull a Rob Roy with the way she killed Liev, but no joy.
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post #9 of 40
7/25/10 at 2:09am
Now THIS is how you deliver wall-to-wall action. LOVED it. Every spankin' minute of it. There's an old-school flavor and style about the entire production that reminded me of the adrenaline-fueled gems from the late '80s and early '90s.

Thought Jolie couldn't have done a better job in the role. Her physicality was impressive and otherworldly, to say the least. She's still quite the vamp.

Like I said before, I enjoyed KNIGHT & DAY, but knowing that Cruise was originally attached to SALT makes me glad that Jolie got the role instead. Her screen presence and approach no doubt changed the whole dynamic of the film, and for the better.

In my book, best pure action flick since THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM. Did I just say that? Yeah, I did. But BOURNE remains in a class of its own.
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post #10 of 40
7/25/10 at 3:54am
there was like a 30-45 minute stretch where Jolie didn't say a fucking word. Just moved from one action set piece to the next. Normally, I wouldn't have a problem with that, if I were watching Rambo, where gookers get their shit popped for 20 minutes straight and I had a boner the whole time. But the problem is, we don't love Salt the way we love John Rambo. She's a total unknown, so when you see this bitch traipsing atop a moving cargo truck, then hops from one truck to the other with the grace of Spider-Man...instead of feeling excitement, an audible yawn is all I can muster, instead.

I called the twist from the first 5 minutes. I know, I know, I win the prize. But I'll admit, the climax is pretty cool, and for a brainless Saturday matinee flick, you could do a whole lot worse than Salt. I may check out the sequel. But for real, fuck PG-13 action movies. Go hard or go home.
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post #11 of 40
7/25/10 at 4:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Overlord View Post
there was like a 30-45 minute stretch where Jolie didn't say a fucking word. Just moved from one action set piece to the next. Normally, I wouldn't have a problem with that, if I were watching Rambo, where gookers get their shit popped for 20 minutes straight and I had a boner the whole time. But the problem is, we don't love Salt the way we love John Rambo. She's a total unknown, so when you see this bitch traipsing atop a moving cargo truck, then hops from one truck to the other with the grace of Spider-Man...instead of feeling excitement, an audible yawn is all I can muster, instead.
Speak for yourself. My boner while watching Jolie jump and run and kick and shoot was paramount. Her throwing grenades pushed my boner into overdrive. It's all about the finesse of her technique.
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post #12 of 40
7/25/10 at 4:17am
I heard that this movie sucked but I saw it anyway and it wasn't bad. I ain't gonna lie, Angelina Jolie is hot and that's the only reason I saw it. Maybe I'm not the brightest crayon in the box but I didn't see the twist coming but I wasn't looking for it either. It was a fun way to spend the afternoon, she was hot, and all I can say is it would have sucked if Tom Cruise had been in it.
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post #13 of 40
7/25/10 at 4:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray Abed View Post
Speak for yourself. My boner while watching Jolie jump and run and kick and shoot was paramount. Her throwing grenades pushed my boner into overdrive. It's all about the finesse of her technique.
Yeah, I liked the truck scenes, and she didn't seem like Spider-Man to me when she did it either. I knew she wouldn't fall, but she wasn't that graceful about it. The scene where she killed her "father" and "brothers" was pretty good too. I thought a pretty cringeworthy line was "Go get em".
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post #14 of 40
7/25/10 at 4:30am
I mean, the way she landed on the truck(s)...she'd drop 10 or more feet, hit the roof, stay down for a couple seconds, then hop right back to her feet. It was just too outlandish, and to stand out like that in a movie that is based on outlandish premises really speaks volumes.

The elevator shit elicited a "what the FUCK?" by my cousin followed by a nice hearty laugh from the both of us.

like I said, I've seen much, much worse this summer. I wouldn't go see it again, but it was a decent way to kill a couple of hours, not a total waste of money. Not like Clash Of The Titans.
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post #15 of 40
7/25/10 at 4:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Overlord View Post
I mean, the way she landed on the truck(s)...she'd drop 10 or more feet, hit the roof, stay down for a couple seconds, then hop right back to her feet. It was just too outlandish, and to stand out like that in a movie that is based on outlandish premises really speaks volumes.

The elevator shit elicited a "what the FUCK?" by my cousin followed by a nice hearty laugh from the both of us.

like I said, I've seen much, much worse this summer. I wouldn't go see it again, but it was a decent way to kill a couple of hours, not a total waste of money. Not like Clash Of The Titans.
Super spies need to be at least a little "super". It's supposed to be a bit outlandish don't you think?

I was hoping for more Bourne than Bourne-lite, but I still really liked it. I thought Angie looked pretty good too.
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post #16 of 40
7/25/10 at 4:41am
Yeah, the film's outlandishness is one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much. There's a fine line you can cross when bringing this sort of super heroics to your action star, and SALT made me want to invest in the premise and story all the way. It also depends on what kind of mentality you're walking in with, too.
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post #17 of 40
7/25/10 at 10:15am
Thread Starter 
Reportedly they reshot a good chunk of the ending and Schreiber was unhappy. I wonder what originally happened.
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post #18 of 40
7/26/10 at 1:06am
So, so pedestrian. It kind of lost me around the multiple truck jumps which would have been ridiculous even in a Michael Bay film. The only interesting thing I took from this film was that Jolie in male drag looked like Joaquim Phoenix.
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post #19 of 40
7/26/10 at 6:25am
The whole plan by the Russians was so outlandishly ridiculous, and male Jolie looked like a bad gag from a cheap comedy flick. I didn't outright hate it, but the movie was a bit embarrassing if anything.
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post #20 of 40
7/28/10 at 3:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyler Foster View Post
Reportedly they reshot a good chunk of the ending and Schreiber was unhappy. I wonder what originally happened.
That's interesting. I can see why he'd be upset, there was really no need to have him as the mole when it would have been fine with Salt just becoming a defector of sorts for having her husband killed by Orlav.

Overall, it was an enjoyable and fun summer popcorn flick. Jolie is soooo easy on the eyes so I'll watch anything that she's in, though it would have been slightly less outrageous if she put some weight/muscle on and didn't look so emaciated.
And I agree with an early post that said Tom Cruise would certainly have been a major downgrade.
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post #21 of 40
7/29/10 at 11:55pm
Saw this last night. I really enjoyed it, despite it being fairly predictable and highly unoriginal. I was pretty shocked it was PG-13; TDK garnered a lot of comments in these parts about really pushing the ratings boundary, but IMNSHO, Salt puts on a homidical grin and walks right over the line. It's violent film, and Salt kills a lot of people with no remorse or second thoughts at all.

I think Tyler Foster's post pretty much nailed it, though I don't think it's dollar theater material. I didn't feel like it was time wasted; I'm fine with formula films if they're done smartly and enthusiastically, and this felt like both.

Haven't seen anyone mention the score yet, but James Newton Howard's score was like Powell's Bourne scores but with a really angering hangover: propulsive, energetic, and almost another character in the film. I plan on getting it if/when it's released.

One thing did really bug me: the President saw Schreiber's character waste everyone in the room, and yet afterwards when he (the Prez) was awake and moving around, Winter (Schreiber) was treated as if he was still a good guy. That kind of plotting oversight is really distracting.
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post #22 of 40
7/30/10 at 4:55pm
Michael, that bothered me too. Salt was acting like there was no hope for her at the end, but the President was going to wake up at some point and tell everyone Shreiber was a bad guy, so she could have waited twenty or so minutes for things to get cleared up.
Jumping out of a helicopter when someone can back up some of your story just seems foolish.
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post #23 of 40
7/30/10 at 5:58pm
I have the option to either watch this or the other good guys.

I love Angelina Jolie, but from what i have seen the other good guys looks like a better movie.
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post #24 of 40
7/30/10 at 6:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaka View Post
I have the option to either watch this or the other good guys.

I love Angelina Jolie, but from what i have seen the other good guys looks like a better movie.
Really depends on what you're wanting. SALT is a good, solid action/thriller (my lone plot objection notwithstanding). It's engaging, entertaining, and rarely pulls any punches (literally and metaphorically!). But it's also fairly dark/unrelenting. THE OTHER GUYS is obviously a comedy first and foremost. Go see that if you feel like laughing. See SALT if you feel like getting on a roller coaster with a lot of steep tunnels.
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post #25 of 40
7/31/10 at 2:15am
Poor Major Hellstrom!!!

This movie so desperately wanted to go BAWEEEEEEM, BAWEEEEEEM (Extreme Ways) as Jolie jumps out of the chopper. Bourne wanna-be indeed. She did look pretty silly running. Almost as if she was jogging loosely in place.

I'm pretty bad about seeing things coming, but I did see Schrieber being the villain later in the movie.

It was enjoyable as a matinee.
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post #26 of 40
7/31/10 at 5:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelM View Post
Really depends on what you're wanting. SALT is a good, solid action/thriller (my lone plot objection notwithstanding). It's engaging, entertaining, and rarely pulls any punches (literally and metaphorically!). But it's also fairly dark/unrelenting. THE OTHER GUYS is obviously a comedy first and foremost. Go see that if you feel like laughing. See SALT if you feel like getting on a roller coaster with a lot of steep tunnels.
this movie reminds me alot of Wanted, good movie, but it's once of those movie i only watch once and never again, i much rather not watch movies like that in theaters.
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post #27 of 40
8/1/10 at 1:18pm
I don't know... I didn't *like* Wanted, but thought that the visuals really elevated it. Salt, on the other hand... has nothing. It's a completely generic film: bland visuals, little character exploration. The slapstick-style action may have worked in its favor if the lead actors weren't playing things so straight-faced, though... it creates a strange dichotomy between serious and silly that's so uneven, that I found it easier to appreciate for its separate sequences, rather than as a whole. It seemed to suggest two or three half-formed films, all of which were more interesting than the final product.

The highlight of the film was the multi-level highway pursuit. Second, the Liev Schreiber kill. Besides that, nothing stuck in my head.
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post #28 of 40
8/1/10 at 1:30pm
The best part of the highway pursuit was Salt using the tazer to make the driver convulse into stepping on the gas. It made me laugh how many times she kept doing it. Poor guy. He was probably thinking, "Please just kill me like the others!!"
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post #29 of 40
8/5/10 at 3:27am
http://chud.com/articles/articles/24...ALT/Page1.html
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post #30 of 40
8/5/10 at 3:49am
I opened your review in a new tab and didn't look at it right away. I remember that I opened a new tab and go, "Oh, I forgot to read Nick's review."

(click)

CHORTLE!
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post #31 of 40
8/5/10 at 4:11am
That was a spectacular achievement in film criticism. Seriously.
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post #32 of 40
8/5/10 at 4:21am
That sounds worse than a 'Fuck you out of 10'.
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post #33 of 40
8/5/10 at 4:28am
Two words: shit sandwich.
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post #34 of 40
8/6/10 at 1:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick Nunziata View Post
Sometimes I am disappointed that CHUD tends to take longer to post new reviews than other sites that have them posted on the day of a movie's release, or even a few days before the release. However, if waiting a little longer means getting reviews of this quality, I will gladly wait.
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post #35 of 40
8/16/10 at 12:13am
More shaky-cam bullshit, but at least they cast Andre Braugher as the Secretary of State. I fucking love Andre Braugher.
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post #36 of 40
8/16/10 at 10:59am
This movie was neither here or there. It's like they couldn't decide between somber CIA movie with jumpy action or a explosion background highway mayhem flick. Angelina was good for the most part, look at the way she acts in the first third of the movie and the rest of the movie. Liked that (narrow) bit of range. The best part of the movie was the short-cropped, bloodied faced, chain flip choke-out. If there were more of THAT, then we would have had a good movie on our hands. Plus, I can totally buy Jolie being some kind of freakish murder-elf.
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post #37 of 40
9/26/10 at 4:27am
When she runs the police vehicle off a bridge and she just walks away with people surrounding the vehicle. Bullshit. I know this is a movie but she was being pursued by the NYPD and the CIA, at least have her run into hiding or something.
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post #38 of 40
4/11/11 at 4:34am

 

Quote:
Jumping out of a helicopter when someone can back up some of your story just seems foolish.

 

 

Quote:
This movie so desperately wanted to go BAWEEEEEEM, BAWEEEEEEM (Extreme Ways) as Jolie jumps out of the chopper.

 

 

Hm? Helicopter? Jolie jumps out of it?

 

I swear, there was no such sequence in the movie i just saw!

 

Are there different versions or something?

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post #39 of 40
4/11/11 at 1:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Pretzel View Post

Hm? Helicopter? Jolie jumps out of it?

 

I swear, there was no such sequence in the movie i just saw!

 

Are there different versions or something?


I'm not sure what DVD release they went with, but, yeah, there is a vastly different director's cut that changes the ending. I was under the impression the Blu-Ray has three separate versions of the movie that differ wildly in the third act, and the most sequel-friendly one hit theaters.

 

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post #40 of 40
4/19/11 at 9:00am

Thanks.

 

Thought i was going crazy again.

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