Peppermint (2018) [Blu-ray]
Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline: The system failed. She won't.

Peppermint is an action thriller which tells the story of young mother Riley North (Jennifer Garner) who awakens from a coma after her husband and daughter are killed in a brutal attack on the family. When the system frustratingly shields the murderers from justice, Riley sets out to transform herself from citizen to urban guerilla. Channeling her frustration into personal motivation, she spends years in hiding honing her mind, body and spirit to become an unstoppable force -- eluding the underworld, the LAPD and the FBI -- as she methodically delivers her personal brand of justice.

Storyline: Five years after her husband and daughter are killed in a senseless act of violence, a woman comes back from self-imposed exile to seek revenge against those responsible and the system that let them go free.

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, December 11, 2018 The letter of the law does not always spell "justice." One of the most interesting gray lines in cinema, and in society, for that matter, is that which cuts down the middle of justice, when the system and reality do not come to the same conclusion. As Jennifer Garner's Riley North, a widow who lost her husband and daughter to gang violence, takes her fight to the gangs, social media explodes in her favor, evidence that the movie is aware that the rooting interest in her is not because she is the protagonist of the movie played by a familiar face but because she's one of the unfortunate ones for whom justice has failed. Retribution is right in her case, Twitter says. That gray line is a starting point that has been explored in countless other movies about vengeance outside the law, including the classic 1974 picture Death Wish. Peppermint is a lukewarm, overlong, and plodding film with no real good ideas. It brings an appetite for violence and revenge to the screen, as well as a female and motherly perspective, but otherwise does nothing to make a name for itself within the vigilante genre.

Riley North (Jennifer Garner) is a loving mother and wife. She and her husband Chris (Jeff Hephner) are parents to a beautiful little girl named Carly (Cailey Fleming). The family is struggling financially, and Chris considers taking part in a plan to steal from a notorious, and ruthless, drug lord named Diego Garcia (Juan Pablo Raba). Chris ultimately chooses not to participate, but it's too late. Word has leaked out and Garcia sends his men to kill him. While the family is celebrating Carly's birthday at a fair, Carly and Chris are murdered in a drive-by shooting. Riley is shot in the head but survives after a month-long coma. She is able to identify the two gunmen and the driver, but Garcia has deep pockets and has paid off the judge (Jeff Harlan), who releases the defendants on various technicalities. Following an outburst of righteous indignation in the courtroom, Riley is assigned stay at a mental health facility. She escapes, however, and spends five years in seclusion, training herself in the art of violence. Now, she is armed and ready to take the fight to Garcia and his operation, as well as others who wronged her in the past, willing to kill anyone who stands between her and her target.

Peppermint is a grim movie, a picture made to drain the character of her life and draw the audience into a terrible world of unspeakable heartbreak, violence, and retribution. The film follows Garner's Riley from the impact of her physical and emotional wounds on through to her evolution into a capable killer. The picture spares the audience from a look into her training. It's simply assumed with the passage of time and her evolution from humble waitress Sarah Connor to killing machine Sarah Connor. Perhaps "machine" is the wrong word. She's depicted in the movie as capable and willing but still clearly a little fearful and very much human. Her first large-scale assault against the cartel sees her not at all hesitant to pull the trigger but clearly a little rattled by the danger and the realization of what it is she's doing and what she is up against (a parade of heavily armed thugs). That changes as she draws closer to Garcia, grows even more confident in her abilities, and begins to realize that she might just pull off the impossible. But even if she fails, she knows she has nothing left to lose. Her death would bring closure to her life and, if she believes in such things, a reunion with her murdered loved ones. She wants her revenge, but death is also an escape from the emotional scars that have come to define her life.

Garner is quite good in the role. She is believably capable with a weapon and when wounded and, more important, of revealing the character's human side, too, which has been changed since her days as a mother, wife, and bank teller but still there in some form or fashion, driven by a different purpose. She's still an individual with feelings and fears, not just a robot with a gun. But the movie cannot rise, even with Garner's performance driving it. Peppermint is hopelessly slow and repetitive, dull and incapable of growing beyond highly defined genre constraints it uses as limitations, not challenges to overcome. The entire third act, outside of a single revelation, is unnecessary. Riley approaches her target partway through the film but cannot finish the job, leaving the rest a regurgitation of what's already been seen. Peppermint is capably crafted; Director Pierre Morel (Taken) constructs the film competently and balances Garner's character against the violent shoot-outs, stabbings, and other fight scenes but struggles with pace and finding a purpose beyond bloodlust, which is, admittedly, as much the script's problem as it is the director's.

Peppermint plays within genre trope and never ascends above trite, repetitive, and frankly oftentimes dull action and predictable storylines. Garner is good in the role, limited by her script but capably pulling off a very wounded woman who turns to the gun to make things right, to avenge her family's senseless death. It's a decent enough time waster but chances are many will find it far too long in the tooth, particularly a third act that does little to advance the story in any meaningful way, advancing instead only the movie's runtime. Universal's Blu-ray delivers capable video and audio. A commentary and a featurette comprise the supplemental materials. Rental.

[CSW] -3.6- Good action movie. I figured that with the bad reviews and ratings, that it would be a waste of time. If you like revenge movies, this one will keep you entertained. Packed with action and Garner is excellent. She stopped at nothing to avenge the deaths of her family… holding all who was involved accountable... It was satisfying to see her bring down the violent cartel even if you have to suspend belief, but hey, that's what movies are for. She reminded me of a female Equalizer. I hope they make a sequel.
[V4.0-A4.0] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box


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