If you’re expecting a taut thriller with a super sexy Angelina Jolie kicking butt, you can let that vision go.  What ‘Salt’ is – is Angelina at her kick ass best and leaving the concept of sexiness in the rear view mirror.  In fact, aside from the sexy split skirt she sports in the opening interrogation scene, there isn’t another single memorable portion of the film that highlights or even accessorizes with her looks.  Therein lies the genius of making a great suspense-thriller; put your best looking offering in the role (which was offered first to Tom Cruise), and let the story and action work for itself.

Angelina Jolie (Gia, Hackers) portrays Evelyn Salt, a sharp-as-a-tack CIA officer who at the end of her shift wants nothing more than to get home to her husband and celebrate their first anniversary when fate, in the form of a covert Russian spy, derails her life and brings her to grips with her true self, her true identity, and more importantly – her purpose for existing.  The Russian spy, Orlov (played very eerily and almost David Koresh cult-like by Daniel Olbrychski), plants the idea to Salt and her CIA colleagues that she is a Russian spy whose mission is to kill the Russian President.  The notion of Salt actually being an enemy of The State should be foreign to her CIA pals, but Orlov’s story echoes elements of truth and is intermixed with tales of a top secret Russian program to create ‘sleepers’ like Salt whose job is to infiltrate the highest ranks of US government and wait for a ‘calling to strike.’  And strike she does!  From her daring escape away from CIA custody (this is a 10 story federal building mind you), to an intricate execution of a bombing to ensnare a target, Salt plays no games and takes no prisoners.  Watching this film, I started to grow resentful of the condition of U.S. anti-terror and national security operations.  Our best and brightest fall like dominoes to a single Russian spy.  Salt manages to get into places and escape from situations that are next to impossible and our government efforts to stop her made us look like ‘monkeys f$cking a football.’  It’s okay to run amok while our operatives chase, but escaping custody and capture every single time..geez.

Salt’s ‘Whodini’ act aside, an impressive standout in this film is Liev Schreiber (Kate & Leopold, X-Men Origins-Wolverine), who portrays Salt’s boss Ted Winter.  Screenwriter Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium) deserves most of the credit for the dialogue, but Liev’s style makes the sharp wit and commanding presence of the character really play well.  Hats off to one of my favorite spy-thriller Director’s, Phillip Noyce (Patriot Games, The Saint).  With Salt, he was given a wider range than just the crisp thriller – this time he got continuous action sequences and performed admirably.  The frame work of Salt’s escape from NYPD’s finest was a real rush.  While on the subject, why would the U.S. government allow the NYPD to cuff and transport one of the wiliest covert operatives?  It doesn’t take an early screening of the film for you to know how that perp ride is going to end.

Still, what makes Salt enjoyable is not just the film being an adrenaline ride; it’s the attention to detail present throughout the movie and even in the characters.  As each character is discovered by the audience, you start to become suspicious of everyone you see.  If the secret Russian program has spies planted in the U.S. from the ages of 3 and up – almost anyone could be a sleeper and not know it.  Every person you meet could be an ally or an adversary and I confess, I was guessing throughout the film and enjoying discovering who was and who wasn’t.  The detail doesn’t stop at characters – it extends to production design.  The scenes involving the White House were some of the most intricate and explorative views I’ve ever witnessed on screen.  At one point you’ll see 3 of the top side levels (with individual rooms) and a sub-level that you’ve only heard about in conspiracy theories.   I questioned how the filmmakers got that level of detail; private access to shoot in the White House (schaa…as if!), or most likely liberties taken from sketches allowed during public tours.

‘Salt’ won’t redefine Jolie’s career, and it won’t be known as one of her sexy thrillers, but it will keep her viable as an action star – and box office willing, will spawn Salt 2 which is clearly a hole left open at the films conclusion.  Go see it to watch a great escape artist and a cunning covert operative work and you’ll be pleasantly satisfied.   After you’ve exhaled from the finale and walk towards the theater exit – ask yourself, what happened to Evelyn’s dog?

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Think of it as ‘The Bourne Locker’. Director Paul Greengrass (United 93) and his action muse Matt Damon have teamed up a third time to bring us The Green Zone, a frenzied, fast-paced war thriller that races through the turbulent streets of Baghdad looking for elusive WMDs.

It’s probably fortunate for Damon and the gang that this is opening in the wake of Bigelow’s Oscar win, because they are going to need that initial interest. Once you’ve seen The Green Zone, you aren’t likely to think much on it either way.

The Green Zone is a fictional adventure based off of the details collected in Imperial Life in the Emerald City, a book by former Washington Post writer Rajiv Chandrasekaran. Chandrasekaran’s book and Greengrass’ film return to the milieu of Iraq in 2003 and casts a long look at the invasion itself and the faulty intel that brought it about.

All these years later, I imagine there are few that will argue that a mistake was made in regards to pinpointing the existence of those weapons in Iraq. Placing exact blame on the factors responsible is harder. What The Green Zone argues is that manipulation and conspiracy exist at the center, and a complex plot is married to typical action clichés to make the story palatable for an audience that goes to the movies to be entertained.

Greengrass understands that last point, and that this is largely the reason previous war films backfired. They were showing up to kick and pull at a wound still fresh in the mind of many Americans, and stab, stab, stab at a subject that not even all are in agreement on. The Hurt Locker worked because of its distance from the political machinations on high and its closeness to the actual soldier down on the ground, ducking and covering.

What Greengrass misses, however, is that Bigelow was working to tell a unique story with action tools, not cleverly cloud a heated political message with Jason Bourne charging through the Middle-East on a mission of righteous indignation, followed by a camera that appears to be tethered to a tilt-a-whirl.

The movie is not a bad one, however, and it does work as a rather breathless thrill ride, at least for a while. Damon plays Roy Miller, the chief warrant officer in Baghdad after the U.S. occupation. Miller is responsible for tracking down the WMDs and with each new, failed attempt to find anything he’s growing more and more impatient. Much of this has to do with the fact his team is sustaining casualties as they proceed. Miller is getting conflicted information too; bureaucrat Clark Poundstone (Greg Kinnear) is insistent that the intelligence they have is correct while a CIA agent, Mark Brown, tells Roy that they aren’t going to find any WMDs at any of the sites and that the alleged informant ‘Magellan’ is a ruse.

The story that follows is a labyrinthine track through the turbulent world of Iraq after the liberation a jaunt through all kinds of political skullduggery with Damon’s Miller at the very heart of it, plunging in to discover, if he can, where the truth actually lies. Eventually Miller finds himself being shot at by his own men, and when he goes on the run, things heat up. Greengrass has visually designed The Green Zone as less in-your-face and aggressive than his previous two Bourne movies, but it fails to really capture the structure and reality of United 93, his compelling look at the occupants of that fateful flight on 9/11. The camera moves less, but there’s still the shaky, agitated cam movements that are starting to lose any interest or impact they might have had these days. What he does get right is the pacing.

This is a terrifically tense film for almost of all its running time, and regardless of political positions or affiliations, viewers will be drawn in by Miller’s quest and the twists and turns that he encounters. It’s hard to argue with an action movie well done and a charismatic, focused lead. Damon works in this role because he worked as Bourne, and he uses that performance and character as shorthand to get the audience on his side and believe he’s a man of action capable of the things he’s doing in this movie.

What ultimately strands me though is the shifting focus of the film. While it’s approached as a direct indictment of the administration of the time, and as a kind of ‘real life’ conspiracy theory, Greengrass and his screenwriter Brian Helgeland don’t allow the movie to exist as a plausible drama for very long. It devolves quickly into the kinds of action tropes and lazy storytelling short hand you see all the time in would-be adrenaline rush, popcorn thrillers. It just isn’t the right choice for the material. There are two movies here. One is sharp and provocative, although lacking in conviction, and the other is straight forward and boisterous, handing out the action it thinks moviegoers are looking for. It may sound like the protests of a Philistine, but just give me the action movie next time.

The result of this restless combination is that although it’s riveting while you watch it, the very moment Green Zone ends it begins to fade away into the grainy, blurred vortex that the last few Bourne pictures occupy. All these months later I still have the visuals of Bigelow’s bomb unit uncovering a dead Iraqi child with an explosive sewn into his chest. On the ride home, Miller’s Jack Bauer antics had all but vanished from the forefront, leaving little lasting impression.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Full disclosure: against all odds, I have never seen a single entry in the Jason Bourne series, despite great reviews and the fact that they’re way up my alley. I don’t know. Call me crazy.

Now then, Matt Damon revealed to Entertainment Weekly last week that the film was in progress, but did not yet have a script in place, and that Josh Zetumer, the unproven screenwriter behind Peter Berg’s Dune remake, had been hired to craft a “parallel script” alongside the work of George Nolfi’s script. Zetumer’s work is in place to be used while Nolfi is working on and finishing his own project, The Adjustment Bureau, when it is hoped he’ll return to work on Bourne 4.

This is apparently a rare practice in studio politics, drafting two different versions of a script to be simultaneously employed on a set. (Hollywood Reporter theorizes that the travesty of X-Men Origins: Wolverine was due to this strategy, leading to a messy hodge-podge of several writers ideas.)

Let’s hope the result of this gamble is something better than that. From my perspective, I’d probably trust Nolfi’s draft more — he’s a proven screenwriter who apparently crafted what is arguably the best entry in the series, according to my surrounding Bourne fanboys.

Regardless, Bourne 4 will be the first film in the series not based on a Robert Ludlum novel, and will most likely take Bourne to South America as per producer Frank Marshall’s wishes. Hopefully the film gets crafted sooner rather than later — I have a whole series to catch up on in preparation.

Hidden amongst a report from Universal and their future dealings, Variety is reporting that Damon will be back for a fourth installment of Bourne.

From variety: “More recently, Shmuger and Linde landed Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon for a fourth “Bourne” movie, even though the director and star seemed ready to wrap it up after three pics.”

Does this really come as a surprise to anyone? To me, keep going. The third film grossed almost as much if not more than the first two combined. Don’t stop the money machine from working – AS LONG AS – you keep the overall look and feel of the film the same.

I always hated how my beloved “The Neverending Story” became a part of a series of three films of which two of them were made my a 13 year old. (Not really made by a 13 year old, just looked that way) Keep the actors and the staff the same in a winning combination and you have something great – separate any of the above and you could have something horrible on your hands.

And yes I slipped in a reference to Wolfgang Peterson’s greatest work!