Upcoming "Salt" Release Makes This The Summer of the Lady Spy

The A-Team was a bust. So was The Losers. I didn't even realize Knight and Day had come out, which probably tells you all you need to know about it. (Well, that and its groaner of a title.) So is there any hope for the 2010 action-movie field? It's looking more and more like the last contender is going to be Salt, the upcoming Angelina Jolie film in which she plays a CIA agent accused of being a Russian spy. (Timely! And, interestingly enough, her role was originally intended for Tom Cruise.) Here's the trailer, which makes the film look pretty awesome:

In fact, female spies seem to be having a bit of a moment. In addition to Salt, there is the actual accused female spy, Anna Chapman, who's certainly become the most notorious of the recently apprehended Russian spy ring. Then there is USA's new Covert Affairs, which stars Piper Perabo as a young CIA agent thrust out into the field. It certainly looks like some frothy summer fun, a genre USA seems to have mastered (I'm looking at you, White Collar and Burn Notice.)

And, if that wasn't enough, we have Helen Mirren in RED (which stands for "retired, extremely dangerous"). Sure, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, and John Malkovich in there too, but watch the trailer for this and then try to tell me she is not obviously the most interesting part of the film:

Is this a sign that we're suffering from some kind of male-action-star fatigue? Probably not — after all, Sylvester Stalone is still making action movies twenty-eight years after Rambo. The male action star clearly has a long shelf-life and certified home on the marquee. But what I can say for certain is that lady spies are awesome. So I say, bring 'em on. But what do you guys think? Is this a real trend, or just coincidence?