Do not walk, or worse, stop to read reviews, but run instead to the nearest movie theater and watch Salt.

I say don’t read the reviews because a lot of what the movie critics say may deter you from seeing what is truly not only an exciting summer movie but a movie which will surely pave the way for other female actresses to play similar lead action hero roles in the future.

The critics may be right in saying that the plot (like a thousand other action movies before it) has plenty of holes and is filled with one unrealistic chase scene after another. And, they may raise a valid point that a movie about post-cold war Russian villains may be decades too stale.

But, what these critics fail to do is give credit where credit is due. And that is: Angelina Jolie delivers an Oscar-worthy portrayal of CIA Agent, Salt, who may or may not be a Russian spy. You never really know until the end as Jolie keeps you guessing with every twist, turn, kick, shot, explosion, jump, chase, injury, and ass whooping, regardless of whether she is the one giving or receiving the whooping.

Yep, I used the “O” word. I don’t particularly care much for Ms. Jolie generally speaking which makes me even more certain that she deserves the award.  I loved Salt because Jolie made me believe that a 110 pound woman can whip the crap out of 100 men, each two to three times her weight. Actually, she did better than that. She made me forget she is female. I just saw Jolie as a tough-as-nails ass-kicker.

Jolie as Salt had me on the edge-of-my seat nervous. She sent my heart racing the entire time. She made me laugh; she made me cheer; she made me angry. She had me confused as hell as to who she really is. But, best of all, by the end of the movie, she made me find myself holding in my breath for a few seconds and crying a bit because I realized what Jolie has really accomplished with this role.

Jolie has undeniably pulled off a first in history: She more than capably held her own as an action hero lead, a character which was originally written with a man in mind (Tom Cruise). I dare to even say that Salt with Jolie as the lead may fare better at the Box Office than Salt with Cruise would have fared. Why? Without Jolie, Salt would be just another ordinary action-packed movie. Fun, but ordinary. But Jolie adds a few extra layers to the character which Tom may or may not have been able to deliver as well.

At pertinent times, Jolie certainly possesses the requisite coldness and bravado that Tom would have brought to the character. But, when necessary, Jolie also infuses heart, a sense of alluring mystery, charming vulnerability, and woman-scorned vengeance into Salt which makes us fall helplessly in love with that character yet tremendously fear her at the same time. I am not sure Tom or most men could pull that alluring mystery and vulnerability off as well. And what do they say? “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Jolie surely proves that theory correct with her portrayal of Agent Salt.

Call me sexist. Maybe I am. But I loved this movie mostly because a woman was the lead; and because a woman filled the theater to full capacity and had the audience cheering at times and gasping for air at others just like or possibly even better than the Tom Cuises, Matt Damons and Brad Pitts of the world have in the past. Jolie made me a believer. And I know she will make a believer out of movie executives when Salt brings in the ticket sales. And all future female action leads owe Jolie a big thank you for being such a mysterious, vulnerable, charming, money-making, ass-kicking machine.