Movie Breakdown: Peppermint
Pre-Screening Stance:
When was it that Jennifer Garner last kicked actual ass? Alias? Daredevil? Butter? I think it could be fun watching her once again punch and shoot people. Also, I’m into Peppermint being directed by Pierre Morel (District B13, Taken).
Post-Screening Ramble:
I knew I was in for a long ride when Riley North (Jennifer Garner) dropped a box of cookies and it kicked off a flashback that detailed the loss of her husband and child. Apparently, being middle class sucked for them, so her hubby – without Riley’s knowledge or permission – was looking to become a bad boy. However, he ultimately decided that his family was too precious to him, so he bowed out of his first job. At that point though, it was too late, as the guy he wanted to rip off was a local drug lord who didn’t like people even thinking about stealing from him. So, this actual bad dude sent dudes to take out Riley’s good dude, and they got it done. Unfortunately, in the process they also managed to kill their daughter and put one in Riley’s skull. You can’t keep a good woman down though! Riley survives, receives an I’d-like-to-speak-with-a-manager haircut, identifies the murderers, and expects justice to be dealt. Nope! Armed with a good lawyer and a load of cash, the killers totally dodge any sort of punishment. Flashback to now, and Riley is living in an old van and going about seeking revenge on everyone that was responsible for all that aforementioned stuff. That’s it. Outside of the look back at what happened to her family, you don’t get anything else but action scenes. It would have been great to see her training, her whereabouts for the last few years, her vigilante efforts in her homeless neighborhood, her prep to take down the drug lord and his affiliates, but none of it is really shown, only vaguely hinted at. I guess it’s nice that Riley is out Death Wish-ing folks, but without any sort of depth to the character, it’s hard to care about her mission. It also doesn’t help that the action is generally lackluster.
Overall, I think Peppermint is one of dullest action films of the year. Don’t bother with it.
One Last Thought:
The poster (see above) for this movie features Jennifer Garner in front of “bullet wings” that make her look like an angel. I figured this was just part of the marketing, but nope, it’s an image that’s actually in the movie. Thankfully, instead of awkwardly placing Garner with painted wings on a wall behind her, the film instead features a huge mural of her and the bullets have been replaced with full-on guns, which I think is classier.
