"Salt" Review

It's a movie we didn't really cover much on AtD, and what a shame it is. The movie is Salt, and stars the always lovely Angelina Jolie in a not-so-lovely role. A bit of history for you: the movie was not intended for Jolie. Fact is, it was never intended for a woman, period. The movie was written with a male lead, (rumor was Tom Cruise was set to star). Producers talked to Jolie, fell in love with the idea of converting the lead to a female and here we are today reviewing the movie. Let's go.


What I liked about the movie:
Angelina Jolie

This may come as an obvious positive in my review, but let me tell you why it's not so obvious. There aren't very many movies with female leads. There are even less action movies with female leads. So Jolie had to make it count, and boy does she make it count. Without giving anything way, we spend the entire movie trying to figure out, is Salt who she says she is? Or is she a spy, the way she's accused in the trailer?

Where does Jolie succeed the most? When she's acting alone. Anyone will tell you this is extremely difficult. To carry a scene without dialogue, alone, is a difficult feat. Similar to Tom Hanks in Cast Away, Jolie must command the audience's attention without much to work with. She pulls it off. Her expressions, her thought process, everything came through in the performance.

The Action

It's hard to fool fans these days. I've been watching movies on a daily basis for 25 years, I'm bound to see repeat stunts in action films. But Salt has stuff we've never seen before, at least not like this. The stunts are practical, which means they were actually performed, not added by a computer later. There is one particular scene where Salt has to jump from car to car on the freeway. The scenario itself may not be new to us, but the execution is. The cameraman actually takes the leap WITH Salt during one of the jumps. Awesome! The rest of the action is great hand-to-hand combat reminiscent of the Bourne trilogy. Good stuff.

The Story/Writing
This was a pleasant surprise. Usually this genre just pumps out the same ol' story lines time and time again. Salt does a good job of keeping the spy storyline fresh and different from movies in the past. The surprise twist at the end got me, and I've seen literally hundreds of action movies; I didn't see that one coming.


What I didn't like about the movie:
Sub-Plot
This is actually been a problem in several movies I've seen lately. Sub-plots are a tricky thing to deal with. They can't take over the entire movie, but have to be interesting enough to matter. I don't feel as though the sub-plot worked in the movie. It deals with the Salt character and her husband; how they met, how they fell in love, etc. This is all done through flashbacks. Once we reach the end of the film, we quickly learn none of the sub-plot matter. Don't worry, no spoiler was just given to you.

Overacting

I hate to put this in the review, but I had to. I know it's an action movie and "tough" cops are important and all, but damn you, Chiwetel Ejiofor, if you weren't trying too hard. He should have taken note from his co-star, the AWESOME Liev Schreiber. Schreiber had plenty of opportunities to over-act as Salt's best friend in the movie, but he doesn't! Sorry, I had to say something because I like Ejiofor in his other work.


Believe me, there wasn't much else I didn't like about the film. It was a solid summer action flick that satisfied the senses. My wife isn't much of an action buff, or a Jolie fan, and left smiling from ear to ear after the movie. This WILL be a franchise and I love where it's headed. The story is set up for a nice arc and I can't wait to see it play out. Salt was a great surprise and we here at AtD owe it an apology for not covering it more closely.

"Devil" Poster, Spooky!

joblo has just posted this new poster for Devil. It of course is the Phone Booth style movie that takes place in an elevator. The power is out, you're stuck, who among you is the Devil? M. Night Shyamalan produced the film.

"Little Fockers" Poster

Hey, some people are still excited about seeing the third movie in the Meet the Parents franchise. Little Fockers is going to continue the tradition of the first two films with Robert DeNiro and Ben Stiller going head to head. I'm sure the script is going to include a lot of physical comedy and uncomfortable moments just like its predecessors. You interested in a third film?

First Look at Amanda Seyfried and Gary Oldman in "Red Riding Hood"

These are the first pictures of Amanda Seyfried and Gary Oldman on the set of Red Riding Hood. Pictures are popping up all over the web, but these are courtesy of AS, if you'd like to see the rest of their pics, click here. The site has shots of almost the entire cast as well.

Remember the film is a 'gothic' retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood story. Leonardo DiCaprio's production company, Appian Way, is bringing the story to life. Director of the first Twilight film, Catherine Hardwicke, is running the show. The movie is due out March 11, 2011. Your thoughts?

Robert Rodriguez Inching Closer to Directing "Deadpool"

The rumors are not new by any means, but it's still an interesting one. About two months ago I posted something about this. Robert Rodriguez is reportedly really close to signing on to direct Deadpool. He is just about to start filming Spy Kids 89 and is in post-production on Machete, so I'm not sure what the time frame is on this movie anymore.

Deadpool is set to star Ryan Reynolds, reprising his role from X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Reynolds is wrapping up his other comic-book gig, Green Lantern. Sooo when is this movie ever supposed to be made? Next year? 2012? I don't know if the studio wants to wait that long before Reynolds jumps ship.

I like Rodiguez, and hope he does the movie. It will make fanboys across the country go goo-goo over it. Some are hoping for a "cult" feel and tone to the movie. I say, make it an R-Rated Kick-Ass style action-comedy. It would really work for the character and Reynolds could easily pull it off. Either way, we have to wait and see.

The "Inception" Train Keeps On Rolling, #1 at the Box Office 3 Weeks in a Row!

The title of the post pretty much explains it all. But I wanted to just take a second and comment on why this is a big deal.

Inception is #1 at the box office for the 3rd week in a row leading into August. That's a huge accomplishment. Summer movies usually get a week, maybe 2 at the top before a competitor comes along to take the top spot.

The percentage drop from one week to the next is much lower than other summer films. Usually you get a 60% drop off in business from opening number 1 to the following week. Inception is only dropping at a 35% rate, amazing. This is largely in part due to people going multiple times to see the film, as well as great word-of-mouth.

Lastly, the movie is an original! No comic-book, no sequel, prequel or reboot. This is a big deal. Rarely do we see original material last this long at number one. Similar to Avatar's longevity at the theater, Inception keeps rolling.

July 30th was director Christopher Nolan's 40th birthday, and what a way to celebrate. #1 Movie in America as well as single handidly showing Hollywood that audiences are yearning for original mater; just give it to us!

"Charlie St. Cloud" Review

The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud is a novel from 2004 written by former news journalist Ben Sherwood. Universal Studios won the film rights in a bidding war with 2 other studios, and this movie was finally made.
Charlie St. Cloud differs in many ways from the book, which is understandable considering some written aspects can't be properly conveyed visually. But it seems like the changes made here were totally unnecessary.

The story involves a young man, Charlie (Zac Efron), who has the ability to see and interact with his younger brother, Sam (Charlie Tahan), who is killed in a car accident early in the film. It is understood that Charlie gained the sixth sense after he himself had to be resuscitated on the ambulance after the accident by a paramedic played by Ray Liotta. The siblings have a pact to play catch everyday at sunset near the cemetery where Sam is buried, which is where Charlie starts working after Sam's death. Later on in the film, Charlie starts a relationship with a beauty named Tess (Amanda Crew), and has to make a tough decision about whether or not to let go of his brother and move on with his life. But there is a "twist" ending.

Sounds cliche, right?
Well that's because it is... VERY cliche.
Less than 10 minutes into the film I wanted to walk out.
I'm going to use Tonedog's review style for this one. My likes and dislikes, coming up...


What I liked about the movie:

The Acting
Now I'm not saying that the acting was extraordinary, I'm just saying I liked it. It worked well for this type of film. This is only the second Zac Efron film I've seen, (the first is the hilarious 17 Again, which I really recommend), and he did a really good job. The boy isn't just all good looks. He can act, too.
The young Charlie Tahan did a great job, too. I was really surprised at how well the little kid could act and really made me feel for him as the younger brother with a tight relationship with Charlie.

The Visuals
This movie looks really good. It helps that it was filmed in very beautiful locations around beaches. The filming took place in Vancouver, British Columbia in place of Washington state, where the story is set.
It also helps that the actors are gorgeous. Amanda Crew is growing up to be a Hollywood beauty, not to mention that Zac Efron is such a hottie himself, haha.

What I Didn't Like:

The Story
The story is such a boring one, and is told in such a boring way, too. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't expecting an action movie or anything, but it just didn't reach out to me at all. I liked most of the acting, but it wasn't nearly enough to keep me interested. The film is filled with all kinds of stupid cheesy cliches, and it really hurts it.
There were also a few plot holes here and there that are either ignored, or given a half-assed explanation. What really got on my nerves was the "twist" ending they try to spring on the audience. It doesn't work. And I don't mean that they didn't do a good job at it, I mean that it doesn't even make any sense. It doesn't follow the rules that the movie has applied to itself, and it falls flat on its face.

The Score
The music in this film must have been either really bad, or really cheesy, because I don't remember any of it.

Wasted Talent
I really don't see the point of casting Ray Liotta or Kim Basinger in a film if you're not even going to put them in it for more than 5 minutes. I was really excited to see Liotta for the first time on screen, as I didn't know he was in this. Then he basically disappears for the entire thing except for just one more short scene. Ridiculous.

Overall, this movie was not very good. I don't recommend it, unless you want to see a lot of close-ups on Efron's face, plus a few scenes when he's soaked wet in a white tee or with his shirt off completely. It's super cliche and has a predictable ending, even though it doesn't make much sense.

Did you watch this movie? What are your thoughts? Remember, it's okay to Agree to Disagree...