There’s an escapist aura about Salt, a movie billed as a blockbuster though following Inception and Toy Story 3 and even Iron Man 2 feels devilishly small. What comes as a surprise is how slick the cast is and visceral action sequences are. You could rank it up against other flicks of its craft (a la Bourne) though Salt is an extreme case of take-it-or-leave-it. Take it for the fact it’s a movie centered on a female badass, which is surprisingly slim, worthy entry or not. It pits a lot against each other, marking fantastic stand-outs (Angelina Jolie, for one) with some of the year’s worst and most careless writing.

Salt was somewhat controversial (wouldn’t think too much, exactly) due to its trailer showcasing the film’s biggest twist: that CIA officer Evelyn Salt (Jolie) was in fact a Russian spy. So walking into this I couldn’t help but prepare myself for something I’d have to force myself to watch (and some of the writing, again, made that an unbearable task.) The real twist isn’t found in the trailers, and maybe not even something that was purely intentional. Salt is hardly based on story, and though tactic directed by Phillip Noyce (Patriot Games) comes into play with good reason, it’s a cheesy delight that seems to be in on the joke. You can take Salt for its predictability and desire for blockbuster fun, or this could be seen as a downside. Maybe I was looking at all of the good things the movie has, which also turns out to be some of the worst parts about action movies. Is it a spoof, or is it blissfully ignorant?

Salt is Angelina Jolie, who here kicks more ass than she did in Wanted and Lara Croft. Because she too is pitted against the downfalls of the script and even camera talents of Noyce, she breezes along destroying everything standing in her way. Salt isn’t even too good let alone being considered as great, so maybe I’m blinded by the sight of a woman acting like James Bond in a movie people will hopefully pay to see. Even the movie’s runtime of under 90 minutes seems to work to its every advantage, because again this isn’t something built upon much of any certain plot detail or synopsis in mind. It’s an excuse for things to blow up in what’s a notably confined space. Salt feels small for what it’s trying to be, though stylish in slow-motion effects and big-budget bangs I don’t feel guilt for saying I enjoyed.

Overall though, it’s not as smart as any of the Bourne flicks, nor as innovative as the aforementioned Wanted. The CIA’s mission to catch Evelyn Salt seems always to be sidetracked by action set-piece to action set-piece until finally it reaches its conclusion, where it simply stops. The action never dies down, nor does Jolie ever bite the bullet and show any moment of weakness. Throwaway thriller it may be, everything that shouldn’t work in Salt does with rampant pacing (edging it along is James Newton Howard’s score, coming off the atrocious Last Airbender). The plot is dimmed down for a modern level, though never degrading toward its audience. You could fault Salt for many things, or awe in the one-note rampage it’s created out of seemingly nothing except for Jolie, who rides the movie to the end. It’s not Noyce’s flick or Kurt Wimmer’s script that’s in control, it’s her. That’s why this thing is such a thrill. It’ll get ’cha.

SEE IT.