In much the same way as the revenge thriller John Wick celebrates Keanu Reeves's return to the action genre, Peppermint marks Jennifer Garner's first time behind the barrel of a gun in almost exactly 11 years. Unfortunately, unlike John Wick, Peppermint just seems to be missing something. Revenge movies aren't exactly a new concept; we've seen this a million times in media, as with Max Payne, Payback, and The Punisher.
Peppermint is about a woman, Riley North, who sees her family gunned down by gang members on her daughter's birthday just a few days before Christmas. She picks the thugs out of a line-up and testifies against them in court, but the DA and the judge let them walk free. Riley proceeds to take a page out of Bruce Wayne's playbook and spend the next few years traveling the world and learning the tricks of the vigilante trade before returning home and exacting her own brand of justice on the people who wronged her. Sadly, the movie kinda fast-forwards through the bit where she takes out the people who actually pulled the trigger, which I would have liked to see a lot more of, and instead focuses on the boss who gave the order. The writers also tried to throw in a bit of a twist near the end that I couldn't help but feel was a little out of left field and didn't make a whole lot of sense.
Still, the action is the main reason for the film's existence, and it certainly doesn't disappoint on that front. It's been a long time since Alias happened, but even after a decade of family friendly movies, Jennifer Garner is still as deadly as ever. The plot doesn't have a whole lot going on, but it doesn't really need to when the gunplay is strong enough, and in that, Peppermint mostly delivers. A scene near the halfway mark even hints at the possibility of a sequel. If they can learn from their mistakes in this one, I'd love to see Riley work her way further up the gangsters' ladder.
Don't expect a deep storyline if you go to see Peppermint. Just enjoy the satisfaction of watching a lot of homeless bullets find a warm place to stay.
Review of Peppermint
