Rated: MA 15+
Directed by: Pierre Morel
Written by: Chad St. John
Produced by: Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi, Richard Wright, Eric Reid
Starring: Jennifer Garner, John Ortiz, John Gallagher, Jr., Juan Pablo Raba, Annie Ilonzeh, Jeff Hephner and Pell James.
Who is Riley North?
She’s a female vigilante who wants justice.
A classic revenge film, Riley North (Jennifer Garner) loses her husband Chris (Jeff Hephner) and her daughter Carly (Cailey Fleming) when Chris even contemplates robbing a drug cartel.
After Riley wakes in hospital from a coma, something has changed. When the guys who killed her family are let off, something breaks.
It’s a rampage of revenge with Riley North becoming an assassin; social media arguing whether she’s a criminal or a hero.
I wasn’t sure what to expect walking into Peppermint, hoping I wasn’t going to see a melodrama of family crisis. And thankfully, the film is more action than drama with Garner holding her own in the believable character of Riley North.
I did however, get struck wondering how this wife and mother, taking her kid out to sell baked goods for the equivalent of the Brownies (for all those Aussies out there who partook in Pow Wows during their Primary School years…) suddenly becomes a killing machine. But the story gets there, sort of. I would have liked more backstory, making the most of filling some of the character with interesting mother-becomes-assassin interest. But in the end, this is an action movie not a drama.
What I found difficult was the timing that felt off at moments, like tough cop talk lines delivered flat: ‘Pro tip’, states Detective Moises Beltran (John Ortiz) to fellow detective Carmichael (John Gallagher Jr.) who likes a shot of booze added to his morning coffee, ‘Wait until you’re dead before you embalm yourself.’
So there were jolts in the narrative.
And it felt like a film I’d seen before with nothing really new; techniques like flash backs as exciting as it gets.
But hey, it works!
And the story evolves with some good action.
What can I say, I like a good crime thriller.
So although not the best I’ve seen, Peppermint served with ‘a double scoop’ is worth a watch.