It is clear to anyone watching Salt that there has been a sea change in action movies.
Angelina Jolie, as the indomitable CIA agent Evelyn Salt, spends a lot of screentime running. The most exciting chase sequences in Salt are on foot.
Salt's first reaction, after a Russian spymaster fingers her as a double agent, is to sprint out of CIA headquarters. She proceeds to run across what looks like most of Washington. Sure, she runs into the Metro, but only to elude pursuers. She runs right back out. During the movie's breakneck final action beat, she runs even more.
This is not so unusual these days. Tom Cruise, who Salt was originally intended for, has been doing a lot of running without taking this role. From his first Mission Impossible, this seminal action star has been covering a lot of ground on foot.
Even Daniel Craig, the current James Bond, seems to have forsaken the franchise's beloved gadgets. This new iteration of the Bond franchise opened with a stunning action sequence, with Craig racing furiously to catch an enemy agent -- on foot.
Now, Sean Connery was probably a good runner. (On Roger Moore, the jury is still out.) But audiences never knew either way. Bond chased his target from behind the wheel of a sleek speedboat or an elegant Aston Martin. The hairpin turns were jaw-dropping.
Steve McQueen was also a paradigm action star, cool and brooding. His many fans knew he was in good shape. But for his legendary chase in Bullitt, McQueen was in the coolest of cars -- a Ford Mustang.
Even back in the silent era, the best chases involved cars. Harold Lloyd, who orchestrated the cleverest of chases, knew to use automobiles, motorcycles and streetcars in addition to foot-power. And he was one of cinema's most remarkable athletes.
Real movie action always meant gasoline-fueled transpiration. And, we now know, dangerous hydrocarbons.
So the new high-tech for movie chases does not involve fast cars, or glistening streamlined jets or even chic mini-subs. The new new thing is on foot.
Something has been lost. But something, surely, has also been gained.
Even so, I am hoping the Tesla will change all this.
I think Daniel Craig and Angelina Jolie are two people that the crowds want to see run, rather than sitting behind the wheel of a car, not sure about the rest.
While the show might go green and not have car chases, Angelina is currently on the front page in numerous articles, promoting the movie in Russia (with photos), promoting the movie with her kids in Japan (with photos), etc. and the promotion for the movie is clearly undoing any "green" movement that the lack of car chases seemed to imply. The carbon footprint of hauling that whole family, bodyguards and all entourage around the globe must be astronomical.
So the new high-tech for movie chases does not involve fast cars, or glistening streamlined jets or even chic mini-subs. The new new thing is on foot."
Wow .... reading just a little too much into the tea leaves here. How many Fast & Furious sequels does one have to endure to be aware that the car chase is as alive as ever in Hollywood? The problem is that there just aren't that many John Frankenheimers out there who can direct an *interesting* car chase.