“Peppermint” Movie Review

By: Tosin Faseemo

“Peppermint” stars Jennifer Garner as Riley North: a hard-working banker, mother, and wife struggling to balance her work and family life. Early in the film, she witnesses her husband and daughter brutally gunned down. Following an unjust trial in which her family’s murderers are declared innocent, she resolves to seek vengeance by any means necessary.

The plot essentially stops there. For the next sixty minutes, audiences are subjected to numerous scenes of gratuitous violence ranging from shootouts to knife fights and everything in between. Dialogue between the characters acts as the only interruption to the bloodbaths that make up much of the movie.

Illustration by Morgan Wittmers-Graves

Additionally, the words exchanged between characters fail to carry significant weight, as they are typically spoken during cliché scenes, like the moment in which a cop’s allegiance is tested, and he shows his true colors. Predictability is a guiding force for the film. Each and every “plot twist” can be spotted from a mile away. This contributes to the dullness of “Peppermint,” which could easily be told in a movie half its length.

More flaws can be found in the protagonist. Riley is initially a sympathetic character, driven mad by the stunningly quick loss of her family. However, as the film progresses, it becomes unclear as to whether she is driven by vengeance or pure bloodlust.

It is obvious that “Peppermint” seeks to be an exciting action film for those who believe in the power of justice. Unfortunately, its attempts to capture any positive attention fall flat.