Friday, March 15, 2019

Movie review: Peppermint

 
 Following the gang-style murder of her husband and daughter five years ago, suburban housewife Riley finally extracts revenge from those involved.

Jennifer Garner (Riley), John Gallagher Jr. (Det. Carmichael), John Ortiz (Det. Beltran), Juan Raba (Garcia), Annie Ilonzeh (Agent Inman), Jeff Hephner (Chris), Cailey Fleming (Carly), Eddie Shin (Agent Li).

Five years ago, in brutal gang-style, Riley's husband Chris and daughter Carly are gunned down while she is left for dead. Recovering from her physical and emotional wounds, Riley somehow becomes a skilled assassin determined on revenge. The remainder of the film follows Riley hunting down those responsible and delivering the appropriate punishment while law enforcement slowly closes in. What the story doesn't do well is explain how Riley, in the blink of an eye, turns from mild-mannered suburban mom to a skilled killer able to elude police and outsmart machine guns.

Acting from Garner was good, and out of place in this film. While Gallagher brought some mild skills, and Ortiz did fairly well, sadly they were the only interesting actors other than Garner. Much of the cast felt inexperienced, out of place, or both.

Camera work, sets, and backgrounds were mild at best. Action scenes were missing detail due to intentional fast switching. Dialogue was thin, lacking depth and even fit at times. Sound and soundtrack are okay.

Overall Peppermint was a bit disappointing. While Garner has the chops to be a decent action-adventure hero this film did not support her in that goal at all. It truly feels as if the film slaps you with a thin plot which is then ignored in favor of action. There is no emotional engagement with the audience, something even the ending can't overcome.

With violence, gore, and literally nothing else including much of a plot, this should be fine for teens and above.

Released: 2018
Reviewed: 2.17.19
Star rating: 2 out of 5
Genre: Action, Action & Adventure, Action Thriller, Crime Thriller, Indie Action

copyright ©2019 Dave Riedel

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