Peppermint tells the story of a woman named Riley North whose
husband and daughter were killed by cartel gangbangers. When the corrupt system fails to serve justice,
she goes under the radar for five years to develop the skills and plans she
needs in order to take justice in her own hands. In her return, she sets out to wage a one-woman
war against the cartel, while the FBI and police try to apprehend her and the sympathetic
public cheer her on.
By any standard, it’s honestly a cliché-riddled
revenge action thriller film. But what
makes it so special is the fact that it’s headlined by Jennifer Garner.
Alias was a TV series I never became a big fan of. I caught a couple of episodes while channel
browsing back then, but I never really followed it. Nevertheless, that was where I first
encountered Jennifer Garner, and I recognized that she carried herself well as an
action thriller heroine. At that time, I
could totally see her becoming an in-demand female action star in the future. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. After her stint as Elektra Natchios in the
2003 Daredevil movie (which was bad,
but not as terrible as many paint it to be.
It’s not without its merits; I personally enjoyed it) and its 2005 spin-off
Elektra (this one, on the other hand,
is so bland that I only saw it once, and had totally forgotten what happened in
it except for the scene in which Typhoid Mary kissed Elektra), I never saw her
do action anymore. It’s either she wasn’t
given the opportunities or she avoided such roles to prevent herself from being
typecast (or Elektra was so terrible,
it closed that door for her). It’s a
shame.
That’s why I was so thrilled to
see her in Peppermint. For, in a sense, it was a returning-to-her-roots
thing for her. It’s a fantastic
throwback to her days as an up-and-coming action star. That alone is a cause of excitement, but more
than that, her performance in this movie is legitimately terrific.
Furthermore, despite of its unoriginal plotline,
the film is engagingly visceral. Why? First of all, revenge stories, by definition,
already have an inherent attractiveness to them. The concept of vengeance appeals to our primal
human nature. We are creatures who take
great pleasure in seeing offenders get what they deserve, especially at the
hands of those they wronged. An eye for
an eye; a tooth for a tooth. Vigilantism
especially is quite desirable, particularly when the official justice-giving institutions
in place are of no help. But aside from
this facet, solid direction also plays a part in making this film work. Its story beats may have been already done numerous
times before, but they are handled and delivered proficiently that the overall result
is something that doesn’t come off as stale but rather entertaining instead.
It’s like a nicely done cover
song. It may not be original, but it can
still be pleasing.
In short, Peppermint is a generic but pleasing action thriller, mainly thanks
to competent execution and Jennifer Garner’s contribution.
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