Peppermint

A disappointing misfire, Peppermint follows Jennifer Garner’s Riley as she embarks on a campaign of revenge after her husband and young daughter are brutally murdered by vicious drug dealers. Filmmaker Pierre Morel kicks off Peppermint with a fairly promising in-media-res opening that seems to be setting the stage for a gritty, hard-edged thriller, yet the movie almost immediately segues into a tedious and distressingly meandering midsection almost entirely devoid of compelling interludes (ie the first action sequence doesn’t arrive until the 45 minute mark!) It doesn’t help that scripter Chad St. John places a continuing (and entirely needless) emphasis on several cops and their efforts at stopping Garner’s vigilante, while, in a far more problematic development, the screenwriter eschews scenes of Riley getting revenge on key figures in favor of the aforementioned police’s investigation of said crimes. (There’s one especially infuriating example early on as Riley’s execution of the three men directly responsible for her family’s deaths is left entirely off screen.) The film’s less-than-involving atmosphere is especially disappointing given Garner’s strong work as the seemingly unstoppable protagonist, as the actress sheds her maternal image and returns to her Alias roots to convincingly become this determined, go-for-broke ass-kicker. And while the picture’s second half does contain a small handful of engrossing sequences (eg Riley storms a house occupied by gun-toting villains), Peppermint climaxes with a hopelessly drawn-out finale that ensures the whole thing ends on a seriously underwhelming note – which effectively (and ultimately) confirms the movie’s place as a missed opportunity of major proportions.

** out of ****