tstudstrup
No wonder, Angelina Jolie no longer gets work in movies. They finally realized that she's as terrible and actress as she is bony and unattractive.The bony tattooed skeleton Angelina Jolie, who couldnt act if her life depended on it, plays a double agent, as both a CIA operative ands as a russian spy. Not only is her acting terrible, but she's completely unbelievable as someone who can kill men twice her size and weight. She should have gone to the gym to make it believable, but then they would have had to cover her nasty tattoos with makeup to show her toned body. I'm glad they didnt do that. Liev Schreiber is also in it. Usually a good actor but here, like the rest of the cast, he just cant deliver here. This bloodless PG13 thriller has a completely ridicoulus plot and some twist at the end. The action itself is boring. And the directors cut version that I watched that lasted 101 minutes, felt more like 150 minutes. Again I cannot believe Brad Pitt left the very attractive curvy Jennifer Aniston for this nasty woman. Not worth watching. You would have more fun watching paint dry.
david-sarkies
I saw this film in the cinemas a while back and didn't really think much of it. However I watched it again recently and was really impressed. In fact I was a little surprised that I hadn't written a review of it them, but that is probably a good thing because it means that I can now return to this film with a fresh mind, and a fresh opinion, and also give it the rating that it deserves.
The film starts off in North Korea where Evelyn Salt, a CIA agent, is being tortured. It appears that she is going to be left for dead, which is to be expected, until a surprising trade comes about and she is released. A little later a Russian diplomat comes into the CIA to offer some information, and suggests that there are a number of Soviet era sleeper agents in the US, and proceeds to finger her as one of them. This is where the fun starts.
Throughout the film you are never quite sure what is what and who is who. In fact you are never really sure whether Salt is working for the Russians or not, and I won't reveal whether she actually is. In fact you never know who is a sleeper agent and who isn't, and there are some very interesting revelations that come out through the movie, leading you right to an action packed ending.
In a way we are seeing a post Cold-War Russia, but the thing is that the old Soviet system has never really gone away. One of the targets in the film is the Russian President, and there is a suggestion that he is actually Boris Yeltsin, and a part of me suspects that there is a group within Russia that wants to return to the Cold War era. While there wasn't anything particularly said about what was going on, there was this idea playing in the background.
The really interesting thing was the suggestion that American diplomats in Russia during the cold war were killed, and their children taken by the Russians and brain washed before being handed back to the United States (or even switched). This was what was insinuated in the opening scene where Salt is speaking with the Diplomat. In reality it is unclear as to how many of these sleeper agents are present, because it seems that the United States government is unaware of how many of these children were brainwashed. Not surprisingly, they made their way into some very influential organisations.
This is one of those movies that could easily be considered one long thrilling ride from beginning to end. In another way, one wonders how it is that the United States is unaware of something odd going on, if the parents of all these children are incidentally killed. I'm sure after a few there would suddenly be some questions being asked. The other thing is that some people turn out to be agents, even though there was no real hint from the get-go - sometimes I feel that maybe there should be some hints so that it doesn't come out hugely unrealistic. Still, this was a great film, and other that kept me at the edge of my seat all the way through.
Richie-67-485852
Ready set get the popcorn! Non-stop action for those that want to veg out and popcorn up and for those reasons it delivers. Jolie pulls it off although if you take the film too seriously it has many flaws so resist the temptation to do so. I don't mind someone being really good at what they do but impossibly good stretches it too thin. Just keep eating your popcorn as the plot unravels and we like to follow it when it does. Great countdown to nuclear war sequence and depending on which version you watch (there are three), it ends satisfyingly, ends with a potential sequel or ends period. This is a movie where you don't mind having your senses ...
