Ah man does it feel good to do this again. Sorry it's been so long since I've updated this thing! There just haven't been a ton of great movies out lately and I've been sort of busy (hahahaha just kidding, I don't have a life). I know excuses, excuses but have no fear I've got a few films planned to review coming up. I know you're just shaking with excitement. Anywho today I will be reviewing the new Jennifer Garner action film, Peppermint. Shall we get started? LET'S DO IT.
PLOT:
The North's are your average family, a working mother and father trying to make a steady income to support themselves and their daughter. Nothing out of the ordinary. Riley (Jennifer Garner) works at a bank while Chris (Jeff Hephner) works at an auto shop. One day while at the auto shop an acquaintance of Jeff offers him an opportunity to come into some money. The opportunity? Steal money from a drug cartel. Chris agrees to it at first wanting to be able to provide for his family. That evening while getting ready to celebrate their daughter, Carly's (by the way she spells her name wrong) birthday he changes his mind. He calls his friend and says he's out, that it's too risky. Despite him backing out, the word has already gotten out about his involvement to the cartel.
While out at the fair celebrating Carly's birthday, a group of men from the cartel target the North's and drive by and shoot them killing both Chris and Carly while severely injuring Riley. Once she has recovered enough, the police tell Riley they have the suspects in custody she just needs to identify them. She successfully identifies each member that was involved. However, due to a corrupt legal system, they walk with no punishment.
Riley decides to take things into her own hands. She has nothing to lose and decides to take the lives of those who took her's away.
REVIEW:
I went into this movie not expecting a masterpiece. I knew it was just going to be your typical action movie and I was okay with that. Although this movie utilized almost every action movie cliche it was still enjoyable. It's your typical revenge story. The system is corrupt so the main character decides to take things into their own hands. It has everything you would expect from these types of movies: corrupt cops, Mexican drug cartel, explosions, sarcastic one-liners, etc. The twist towards the end of the movie could be spotted a mile away. It was so predictable there was no way to be shocked. From the get-go you knew what was going to happen.
One thing I was disappointed by was why does the Mexican drug cartel have to be the antagonist in every single action movie? It's so over utilized and becomes dull after a while. It's like they watched every action movie created and just took those ideas and put it into this film. I get it, it's a quick way to get the action going and get your character to have a major antagonist to go after, it's just so common. Also as soon as the cops entered the film, you automatically knew someone was working with the cartel because like I said before, it's in every single action movie.
Despite it's flaws I have to say it was nice to see Jennifer Garner kick some butt. I've never seen Alias but I'm sure if you're a fan of that show, you'll be pretty pleased with her action chops in this one. She has some really great moments where she just gets to show off that she's an action hero. Not to mention her guns (arms) are ripped. She also has some pretty funny one-liners. For example, after shooting up a drug cartel hideout she confronts a guy and holds a knife to his nose. She says, "I need to talk to you. Do you have a minute?" in her most chipper Jennifer Garner voice. I mean come on, that's pretty funny.
Overall I would suggest if you're wanting to see this film to just wait till it's available on digital or Blu-ray. It's not a movie I would rush to see. If you need to scratch the action movie itch just go on Netflix, look for action or revenge movies and you'll find one quite similar to this one. Like I said, although it used all the classic action tropes I did enjoy this movie. It was a fun way to kill some time. You didn't have to think too much, you could just sit back, relax, and watch a tough lady kick some booty.
PARENT'S GUIDE:
This movie has a lot of violence and blood which is expected with this type of movie. There is some cussing with a few usages of the f-word. It is rated R so I wouldn't recommend taking kiddos to this one.
OVERALL RATING:
So this is a new addition I'm going to try. Here is where I will give an overall rating out of 10 so you can see how it compares to other films I've seen or whether or not I think you should see a particular film. So for this particular film I will give it....
Peppermint: 4/10
I gave it this rating due to all the cliches used and it's unoriginality (not sure if this is an actual word but let's pretend it is). It still had fun moments and an awesome female lead but it just could have used some more original content.
CONCLUSION:
Well we've come to the end of this little review. I hope you enjoyed it and were entertained. As always thank you so much for taking the time to read this and make sure to leave me a comment or suggestion. Tell your friends so you can have something to talk about over a nice cup of coffee. Also if you're in the need for a good Jennifer Garner movie might I suggest her greatest masterpiece, 13 Going on 30? Well that's all I have to say so SEE YA!
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