SALT

Salt stars Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Directed by Phillip Noyce. Rated PG-13 with a running time of 1 hr. and 39 mins.

As a CIA officer, Evelyn Salt (Jolie) swore an oath to duty, honor and country. Her loyalty will be tested when a defector accuses her of being a Russian spy. Salt goes on the run, using all her skills and years of experience as a covert operative to elude capture. Salt's efforts to prove her innocence only serve to cast doubt on her motives, as the hunt to uncover the truth behind her identity continues and the question remains: Who Is Salt?

Salt has an intriguing story but unfortunately it isn't has spicy as it could have been. First off Angelina Jolie is pretty comfortable playing these action roles like this and her role in Wanted and it shows on screen. She is believable kicking lots of ass in a movie. Salt is probably at its best during these scenes because they are entertaining. The other scenes though are a different story. The whole plot to kill the russian president and bring down the United States was very ludicrous and it didn't seem like the director put much thought into the actual plot. The supporting cast is decent but nothing fantastic. The main problem with the movie was that I just never really felt that Salt was an actual spy. The reason being was that this movie is very predictable and you can see the main twist near the end coming from a mile ahead.

Salt was a worthy effort to try and bring something new to the spy genre but it just didn't have enough flavor. Jolie is good at being a female action hero but this movie just doesn't offer her anything new or anything very exciting. Salt is mediocre.

C

INCEPTION

Inception stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ken Watanabe, Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy and Michael Caine. Directed by Christopher Nolan. Rated PG-13 with a running time of 2 hrs. and 28 mins.

Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) is a master extractor. He can steal thoughts from people while they are sleeping through their dreams. Dom and his partner Arthur (Levitt) are offered a big job by business man Saito (Watanabe). The job is Inception which is to plant an idea in ones mind through dreams. Cobb accepts this difficult job because he is promised a way back to his kids in America. So he and Arthur assemble a team to pull of this last job consisting of Ariadne (Page) and Eames (Hardy). Each member is needed to perform different tasks to pull off the job. During the job Cobb is haunted by his dead wife Mal (Cotillard) in his dreams. Their target is Robert Fischer (Murphy) who is getting his fathers corporation. Saito wants Fischer to disassemble the corporation because it is his biggest rival. Yes the plot is complex at times but Inception is a heartbreaking, entertaining thriller with plenty of action and easily the best movie of the year so far.

Lets start with the man behind it all, Christopher Nolan. Nolan is easily one of the greatest film directors working right now. He knows how to tell a great action adventure story without getting far fetched and there is always the characters emotions that pull us into the story and keep it anchored in reality. This is especially true with Inception. How Nolan thought of all of this just shows he is a true genius. He came up with something totally original and made it translate on screen. He realized how the world of the dream can have this big scope about it and he used that idea to its full potential. He almost seems to top himself with every movie he directs. Starting with Batman Begins and then followed that up with The Dark Knight which is considered to be the best comic book movie ever made which I think it definitely is. If anyone can top something like The Dark Knight Nolan is the man to do it. His next movie will be the follow up to The Dark Knight which is supposed to come out on July 20th 2012. Definitely cannot wait for that. Christopher Nolan is becoming my favorite director because he simply keeps making GREAT movies.

The acting in Inception is absolutely perfect. I would not change one actor in this movie. DiCaprio definitely used to make movies that I had no interest in but ever since The Departed he has been growing on me. 2010 has made me really start believing that DiCaprio is a very good actor especially in Shutter Island and now Inception. Two actors really stood out to me for the first time in this movie; Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy. Gordon-Levitt is very good as Arthur and he has the best scene in the movie which was having a full on fight without gravity. He has been doing a lot of indie movies lately but this movie shows that he can be in big movies and do very well. Tom Hardy was also good and quite funny as Eames. I have never seen Hardy in anything before but he really stood out here and he should definitely keep acting in bigger movies. Also Marion Cotillard gives a scary yet heartbreaking role as Dom's wife. The rest of the supporting cast didn't stand out as much but they were still good.

Inception is not perfect but its very very close. It is one of the best movies I have seen in a while. The story is imaginative, clever and also has this epic feel it it. The characters are fully developed and you really do care for them. Finding out how Dom's wife dies and seeing him try to let go of her is truly heartbreaking and pretty much completes the film. Inception is why I love movies. It really is a mix of a lot of emotions and it has the great action sequences to keep everyone entertained. The action sequences in the snowy mountains were truly unique and looked excellent on the big screen. The only thing keeping it from being perfect is that there are still a few confusing points about the whole world of the dream and its rules. Other than that Inception is a great movie.

A

PREDATORS

Predators stars Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Danny Trejo, Alice Braga, Walton Goggins and Laurence Fishburne. Directed by Nimrod Antal. Rated R with a running time of 1 hr. and 47 Mins. Thankfully this has nothing to do with the alien vs. predator series. It is more a sequel to the 1987 original Predator.

The story is about a group of elite warriors who come to realize they've been brought together on an alien planet as prey. With the exception of a disgraced physician, they are all cold-blooded killers. Mercenaries, Yakuza, convicts, death squad members, human predators that are now being systemically hunted and eliminated by a new breed of alien Predators.

First off I have to admit I have never actually sat down and watched the 1987 Predator starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Nor have I seen one minute of Predator 2. This movie Predators was meant to be a direct sequel to Predator and basically its meant for you to just forget about Predator 2. I feel that Predators is a worthy successor to Predator because it was scary, had some great action and it just purely entertained. It was just something about seeing the Predator for the first time in this movie that creeped me out in good way though. I mean come on they are like at least 6 feet tall and just have big bodies and dread locks!

One thing I didn't get in the movie was Laurence Fishburne's character. I just didn't get what his purpose to the story was. He is playing a man who has been on the Predator planet for 10 seasons. What are seasons exactly? Im not sure because they never really explain it. Anyways he runs into the group of warriors stranded on the planet and shows them where he hides out on some ship looking thing. Adrien Brody's character asks him (his name is Nolan by the way) "How do we kill them" (meaning the Predators) and Nolan replies "However you can". I was sitting there thinking Geeeeee that really helped. Thats all his character pretty much does and to me that part lost focus on the actual story. But luckily Fishburne is only on screen for about 10 minutes and the story gets back on track. Adrien Brody is the main tough guy in the movie and I really bought it. He looked totally comfortable and I liked his performance. The comic relief in the movie is Topher Grace (Eric from That 70's Show). He is funny at times and his character has a little twist but I won't get into that.

Overall Predators is a memorable thrill ride with some scares and laughs and just some cool action. I really enjoyed the ending too because there are so many possible sequels for this movie and of course all of the Predators aren't dead. Definitely hope to see a sequel to this movie and who knows maybe Arnold will be down for acting again since his term of governor ends this November. Imagine a sequel with Arnold in it. That would be pretty cool. But for what it is Predators is a pretty damn good movie!

B+