Peppermint | Film Review

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: a well-intentioned member of society loses everything to savage violence (in this case, her husband, daughter, and home). After some time to reflect on the corrupt system’s abysmal handling of events where the criminals walk free, said person determines the only one apt enough to right these wrongs is themselves. With a hefty chunk of bullet-ballet and carnage. The only difference with Peppermint: their lone anti-hero is portrayed by the versatile Jennifer Garner, an actor capable of both sadism and compassion in equal footing.

The film kicks off in the present day, as Riley North (Jennifer Garner) has already begun ravaging the cartel who destroyed her life. After our introduction, Peppermint flashes back to happier times, as Riley and her husband engage in a joyful trip to a carnival for their daughter’s birthday. Though he rejected the offer, Riley’s husband is discovered as part of a plan to rip off a Mexican cartel, and a hit is immediately ordered on the North family. Guns light up the carnival, killing Riley’s family instantly and leaving her wounded. This all happens directly after getting their ice cream, which is about as sadistic as an act of violence can get.

Only Riley survives and soon discovers the system is so bent it’s broken, as she turns down a bribe shortly before the killers walk and she’s deemed mentally unstable on the stand in retaliation for her testimony. She escapes, disappears for 5 years, and returns a relentless killing machine. With a heart, of course. As the authorities close in, the community begins to sympathize with her plight, deeming her an angel in disguise.

Director Pierre Morel is no stranger to the vigilante game, as his film Taken created a new brand of action hero in Liam Neeson. Here, he is gifted an actress who famously worked the world of action-dramas from her own five-year stint on Alias. Placing the two together should have created a blistering franchise to play over the next several years. Unfortunately, a clunky script from Chad St. John keeps getting in everyone’s way.

Films like Peppermint do not need deep contextual musings, nor do they need to ponder philosophical conclusions. All that’s truly warranted for a good ole’ fashioned revenge shoot-em-up are some dastardly sons-of-bitches for our hero to obliterate, and a sensible way to bring everyone together. Neither are present here.

And as she exacts her killing spree, St. John’s script keeps skipping over the portions that fans most want to see, Riley’s revenge. Numerous despicable parties are dispatched out of sight, with only a mention of their passing, or their retribution is quickly glossed over under Morel’s fairly rudimentary direction. When a script teases you with horrible corruption, and revenge is its primary solution, to skip the meal and jump to dessert proves woefully unfulfilling. Furthermore, as the violence amps up, the revenge is little more than mundane and trite, typically consisting of a well-executed head shot. By the 30th cranium spill, you begin to wonder if you left the stove on.

On the second point, the villains here are straight out of the “Mexican Cartel Playbook”, a hearty collection of stereotypes and clichés that would make even Michael Bay blush. Not a single character without the name of Riley has an ounce of believability or credibility as masters of a criminal enterprise. Sure, we all want them to pay their dues before the final credits, but mostly for wasting Jennifer Garner’s precious time.

If you’re ever wondering how long it takes to train to become The Bride or Batman, it is approximately 5 years. That’s the number continuously bandied about as Riley’s absence, and when she returns, she is the bitter opposite of the person who initially fled. Tough, hardened, sleek, lethal. All things the super mom was lacking previously. For all of the film’s issues, Peppermint is thankfully graced with Jennifer Garner steering the ship, locked and loaded with an intense desire for wanton destruction, weighed down by her ever-present humanity. However hard it is to swallow this insane premise, her sheer gravitas generally casts doubt to the wind. Whatever comes from the success or failure of this particular film, it should – at the very least – serve as a notice that Hollywood needs to get better at casting Garner in roles deserving of her talents.

Peppermint concludes exactly as you expect, with Riley North deemed an angel for the underprivileged and a potential franchise at-the-ready should this film click with audiences the way the Taken series once did. Though the film is unlikely to achieve that film’s success, it has cemented our need for future heroic dramatics from Jennifer Garner. The lady is deadly with a headshot. A whole lot of headshots.