Peppermint (2018)

Director: Pierre Morel

Starring: Jennifer Garner, John Gallagher Jr., John Ortiz

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.

I generally enjoy revenge movies (just not John Wick, please!!), but they have to be done right. ‘Peppermint’ started off with the right recipe, but as it progressed they added way too many ingredients, stirring it much too vigorously.

Jennifer Garner is excellent in a very demanding role as Riley North. She was equally good at portraying affection and hatred. Her role was also very physical, and she excelled every step of the way. Sadly, though, the script isn’t that great, with too many flaws. There’s eventually also way too much killing – similar to the John Wick films. This makes me beg the question: is she really a heroin or did she become a ruthless mass murderer? All the killings goes beyond vengeance.

There’s a scene where she goes after the guys who blew up the lab, but she never saw them, so how did she know it was them? The audience knows it, but how did she? When she takes their car, she casually goes to the boss (Diego)’s residence. How did she know where he stays and that everyone there were indeed bad guys who deserved to die – since she randomly kills everyone at the house? It would have made sense if she’s been watching him, but this should have been shown if it was the case. Much of this, I believe, was for effect only, but in the process disregarded credibility and made me question her actions.

Also, when she was injured, why did she go to Peg’s house? To bitch her about a childish quarrel from five years ago? This served no purpose whatsoever and was ridiculous, to say the least. It made absolutely no sense.

I enjoyed the film’s first half, and the final act, which dished up some twists and surprises. Why is the film called ‘Peppermint’, though? It has no significance and the only relevance to the film, is that it was the last thing Riley’s daughter had before she was killed (peppermint flavored ice cream). It is never mentioned, so it doesn’t make sense calling the film ‘Peppermint’. It would have made far more sense calling the film ‘Angel’, as the people in the ghetto refer to her as.

Would I watch it again? No.