Peppermint (2018) Poster

(2018)

User Reviews

Review this title
975 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
7/10
This movie is underrated IMO
jsbear-4-32062312 October 2019
I have seen this movie 3-4 times, and enjoyed it every time. As some have said, the plot has been done many times before, however, not typically with a female vigilante. Garner is great in the role, action sequences are solid, she is believable and brings emotion to the role. Not sure what others were expecting, I'm glad they still make action movies like this.
89 out of 107 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
A movie that deserves a lot more love!
ethanbresnett15 July 2021
At the time of writing this film has only 12% on Rotten Tomatoes.... 12!? I have no idea what film they were watching, but Peppermint deserves so much more than that.

Ok so it doesn't redefine the genre and is a tad derivative in a few aspects, but it's a very fun film to watch. It is well paced, has lots of great action, and then there's the central performance from Garner which is fantastic.

She is a veritable badass in this film! She was fully believable as the loving mother, then the grieving mother, and then the kickass vigilante. I completely bought into her transformation and the emotional journey that she took us on. She fully sold the role and was a great protagonist to root for.

All of the action was pretty nifty and always fun to watch. I would have liked to have seen a little more hand to hand combat. When we did get some it was gritty, gory, brutal and great to watch, so more of that would have been nice. But on the whole the action elements were brilliant.

The plot in these sorts of movies is always kicked to the kerb a little, and this is no exception with Peppermint, but what we did get was good. There's a good emotional set up and a few side plots and twists which were a nice addition.

Sure this movie may not live up to others in the 'one person crusade' genre, films like John Wick, Taken, or Nobody, but it's by no means a dud. A very worthwhile watch which deserves a lot more praise!
22 out of 26 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
For people who love Taken, Death Wish and John Wick. Quality film!!!
benj-208397 September 2018
What a great actioner, if you loved his other movie LONDON HAS FALLEN which i did then you won't be disappointed with this one.

If you look forward to a brutal revenge flicks like DEATH WISH or TAKEN then this is right up your street. A good pace and impressive action choreography.

Forget the overly negative criticism from the parasite critics that have an agenda with this film, its totally unfair what they are saying about this film, just remember that they did exactly the same with TAKEN and look how that turned out. The public are voicing their approval of this one aswel.
176 out of 250 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Not nearly as bad as the critics would have you believe
maclock7 September 2018
Peppermint was entertaining from start to finish. I don't understand why the critics have panned it. Is it a life-changing film? No, it most certainly is not. Is it an enjoyable film and does it compare favourably in its own category? Yes, it most certainly is, and yes, it most certainly does. Perhaps people are just uncomfortable with a tough female lead. I recommend it if you're a fan of revenge flicks.
609 out of 714 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
Garner 8 (Great), Writing/Directing - 5 (Meh)
nancyldraper7 September 2018
Jennifer Garner brought everything you could want from her role, unfortunately the writer and director didn't give her much of a movie. Garner 8 (Great), Writing/Directing - 5 (Meh). Garner gave us a depth between sensitivity and cold justice, proving to us once again that she is worthy of demanding action roles. The production, unfortunately, was flat and monotone, with lots of over the top situations but no substance, which lead to inevitable outcomes without any texture or meaning. It ended up with hype but no WOW. I give this film a 6 (fair) out of 10. One critic mused that it would have benefited from more women behind the camera to give it a more nuanced tone. I tend to think that a correct assessment, substituting a talented female lead for a male action hero does not make a convincing female action story. {Action}
104 out of 144 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Very good action/revenge movie
mjsreg26 November 2018
This film is well worth watching.

There is a strong realistic story together with believable character acting and plenty of action to keep even the most inattentive happy.

Garner is brilliant in the role.

One to put on your watch list for a bit of light yet engaging viewing.
106 out of 155 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
The Vigilante
claudio_carvalho18 May 2020
In Los Angeles, Riley North (Jennifer Garner) and her husband Chris North (Jeff Hephner) go to a carnival to celebrate the birthday of their ten years old daughter Carly North (Cailey Fleming). However, a friend of Chris had invited him to rob the powerful drug lord Diego Garcia (Juan Pablo Raba) and although Chris did not accept the offer, Diego discovers his involvement and orders his men to kill the North family. Chris and Carly are murdered and Riley survives, and Detective Stan Carmichael (John Gallagher Jr.) and Detective Moises Beltran (John Ortiz) arrest the criminals. Riley identifies them but a corrupt judge releases the criminals claiming lack of evidences. Riley vanishes and five years later, the criminals are found dead in the Carnival where Chris and Carly were killed. FBI Agent Lisa Inman (Annie Ilonzeh) goes to Los Angeles and explains that Riley robbed the bank where she worked and moved to Asia, where she became a fighter. Now she has returned to Los Angeles and robbed a gun store and is beginning her vengeance seeking out justice to her family. The police with the support of the FBI and Diego's gang are hunting her down.

"Peppermint" is a highly entertaining action film of revenge. The plot is the traditional story of injustice and vengeance, and Jennifer Garner performs a great vigilante. When a viewer watches a film with this storyline, he or she expect to see exactly what "Peppermint" offers. For fans of series, Annie "Emily Foster" Ilonzeh from "Chicago Fire" and Cailey "Judith Grimes" Fleming from "The Walking Dead" are wonderful surprises in a feature. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Justiceira" ("The Vigilante")
19 out of 26 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
Jennifer Garner brings her A game in an action role in a revenge movie that is lacking story and development.
cruise018 September 2018
Peppermint (3 out of 5 stars).

Peppermint is an okay vigilante film. Which is everything you can expect for a revenge story type of movie. Some decent action sequences, Jennifer Garner being a bada** and taking on an action role, and a straightforward revenge plot involving a cartel, corrupt police, and judges. Definitely, one of those flicks were you just go to the theatre to escape and watch Jennifer Garner beat down the bad guys.

The plot follows Riley (Jennifer Garner) who survives a drive by shooting which her husband and daughter were not so lucky. After finding out from detective Carmichael (John Gallagher Jr.) that the suspects are members of a cartel. And after the judges let the bad guys go. Riley takes justice to her own hands. She comes back, tracking down, and hunting every bad guy, corrupt police, and judges that are linked to the cartel.

Director Pierre Morel (who also did the first Taken movie) did deliver a simple basic revenge plot. Sure, it may not be anything new that we have seen differently with revenge movies. A woman loses her family. And she just goes after every bad guy there is. Not really much you can say about the plot. Morel did deliver some entertaining action. Garner taking up arms and shooting up bad guys was entertaining. She takes a beating, gets injured, and gets back up to fight again. Jennifer Garner was great in delivering an action role. It is nice to see her back in the action genre ever since Daredevil. John Ortiz was okay playing a detective that is hot on Riley's trail. John Gallagher Jr. was decent playing the detective as well. Juan Pablo Raba playing the villain was good. But these actors do not really have much to work with.

Peppermint may not be a great worth talking about action film. It is better than Bruce Willis Death Wish film. There are better revenge type movies like 2004 Man on Fire, The Punisher, or even Death Sentence. This film barely had much of a story, just setting up Jennifer Garner going to one bad guys safe house to another. With a set piece of shoot outs and her escaping to another. Plus the action does get a little repetitive and not worth talking about. Especially, when the director uses some close up camera shots were you do not care much about what is going on.

Overall, Peppermint is a fair vigilante film. It could be worse. The action shoot up sequences are decent. Jennifer Garner is at her finest with the role while the rest of the cast are playing undeveloped characters. And a thin story which makes this film forgettable.
62 out of 108 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
I watched this in 2020
koofasa4 December 2020
After watching this movie at the end of 2020 I'd have to call it the feel-good movie of the year.
95 out of 113 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Sydney is back!
shiraudrey25 October 2020
Jennifer Garner is fantastic! Sydney Bristow in "Alias" is back now.
20 out of 32 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
2/10
Cliche ridden and logic deprived
missferret8 September 2018
Warning: Spoilers
A suburban mom becomes an ex-special-forces-krav-maga-mma-trained-shot. They tried to make her into a John Wick kind of character but it just lacked any reason and simply rediculous. She somehow single handedly overcomes the most feared drug cartel in the city, hangs bodies off of giant ferris wheels by herself, magically heals and disappears after being shot. Every thing that happens in this movie is either predictable and cliche or overwhelmingly stupid.
261 out of 509 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Loved it, don't care what the critics say.
btaw-3316313 May 2020
Jennifer Gardner is a complete bad ass! I really liked this movie for the sheer entertainment factor. Love any movie where someone f's up the cartel🤣 Definitely her best role to date. She had to have trained hard for this movie, and it shows.
110 out of 132 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Well-directed actioner
Leofwine_draca3 March 2019
Warning: Spoilers
PEPPERMINT is another superior Hollywood action thriller, heavily influenced by the likes of JOHN WICK and all the better for it. Jennifer Garner - experienced in the genre with the likes of ALIAS and ELECTRA - plays an ordinary housewife and mother whose life is transformed after a family tragedy. After a five-year gap, she returns gunning for revenge to become one of cinema's better heroines in recent years. Although PEPPERMINT doesn't have a wealth of action scenes, the characters and storyline are interesting enough for this to work. There's a level of stark brutality to the movie that gives it a layer of gritty realism, and thankfully Pierre Morel retains the crisp roving cinematography he brought to the likes of TAKEN and THE GUNMAN.
15 out of 23 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
A semi could fall through the plot holes
jendett7 September 2018
Warning: Spoilers
This film gets 5 stars because it is full of action, and I love Jennifer Garner, and on the negative side, it is full of plot holes, implausibilities, and despite being career criminals, the bad guys can't hit anything when they shoot.

First, the movie name. The only reference to Peppermint in the whole movie was when her daughter ordered that flavor of ice cream right before she dies. Why does that mean the whole movie is named Peppermint?

The lawyer comes to bribe her. A cartel doesn't have anyone else to do that? It has to be the someone who will be in court? I though that was the purpose of underlings?

The cop turns out to be dirty. Then why did he pull her out of the hospital to identify the suspects, against medical advice? Why not just let it go down to "the suspects couldn't be identified". That made no sense at all.

The villain in the movie was inconsistent. He guns down a little girl (in public in front of witnesses) for someone considering robbing him, but he hesitates to kill the homeless kids?

Jennifer Garner goes from incompetent person to ninja in just 5 years? With no formal training? She just gets it from surviving on the streets? Those kind of skills take a lot longer than 5 years to accomplish, and I bet they cost more than $10K/year to acquire.

If you go, have low expectations, and then you will not be disappointed. I thought it would be phenomenal, and when it wasn't, I was let down.
106 out of 202 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
I loved it
0U20 February 2020
Not a new formula, but made with love, passion and emotion. Jennifer Garner plays wonderful and you feel the pain of her character in every scene she is in, but at the same time marvel at her badass fighting skills (that she adapted offscreen, which I like by the way... not everything has to be spelled out, spin your own story). The movie is tight, suspenseful and extremely entertaining, especially since it has a shorter running time than most movies nowadays, which is welcome and takes you back to the 80s and 90s where a movie didn't have to be 150 minutes long.
143 out of 173 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
Very thrilling and violent picture with a sensational Jennifer Garner as a relentless avenger
ma-cortes9 December 2022
This stirring film contains intrigue , thrills , chills, frenetic action, shootouts , long run time pursuits , crashes , explosions and violent fights . Spectacular and moving film starred by a revenger mother called Riley North with plenty of action-packed , thrills , suspense , violence and high body-count . Stars a good mother whose family relationship is tragically cut when they're brutally murdered. Five years after her husband and daughter are killed in a senseless act of violence , this woman (Jennifer Gardner) comes back from self-imposed exile to seek vendetta against those responsible and the system that let them go free. Consumed with rage , she exacts a violent revenge and framed for crimes , she goes on the run to evade the relentless pursuit carried out by two stubborn detectives (John Gallagher Jr. , John Ortiz) . She confronts her nasty enemies in order to carry out a merciless vengeance and she is forced to once again take up violent means to survive . As she faces off crack-shot assassins and a feared villian , a powerful drug dealer named Diego Garcia (Juan Pablo Raba ). Riley takes the law on his own hands and acting as a merciless revenger , acting as judge , jury and executioner. The system failed !. She won't !.

Nail-biting and extremely violent film with impressive fights and breathtaking action, as well as phenomenal Jennifer Garner playing an implacable avenger mummy . From start to finish the noisy action and fast movement are unstopped . Convincing in the physical demands of the titular character Riley North , well performed by Jennifer Garner as loner revenger , she persuades us of her slick and dexterity . Garner is already familiar in this kind of avenging role, as she did previously in similar style "Elektra" , while her role is very likeness to ¨Liam Neeson's Taken¨. This exciting movie displays unstopped action , thrills ride, spectacular fighting, violence and is pretty entertaining . It's an attractive movie with its notably tougher action and violence , but lacks sometimes the utter fun factor and writers fail , at times , in the scrappy construction . Jennifer Garner acting as hard-rock , two-fisted widow is top-notch , doing all his own fight sequences for the movie , she is who must lay his life on the line to take down an army of ominous drug mobsters . When Jennifer Garner learns the true killers and guilty people of the deaths her beloved beings , the screenplay manoeuvres into the lethal orbit , as she takes on of both , crime lord and corrupt officials . Secondary cast is frankly good, such as : John Gallagher Jr. , John Ortiz, Juan Pablo Raba, Annie Ilonzeh , Jeff Hephner and Method Man .

It packs a colorful though some dark cinematography by cameraman David Lanzenberg and appropriate musical score fitting to action by Simon Franglen. The flick was professionally realized by the habitual cameraman, Pierre Morel whose first first film was¨ Banlieue 13¨ (2004) , the second was the hit¨Taken¨, though Alexandre Aja was originally hired to direct the movie the first . Successful filmmaker Pierre gives the action a dance-like quality and the whole movie took 10 months for production , idea, script, casting, filming, etc. Other nice films he has directed are the following ones : ¨The Gunman¨ , ¨The Clan of the cavern bear¨, ¨Zero Hour¨ , ¨From Paris with Love¨ (2010) and ¨Al Kameen¨ (2021) . Rating : 6/10. Acceptable and passable , but not original because we have already seen this ordinary plot many times before.
3 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
Entertaining but Impossible
Johnny_West2 January 2021
The first thirty minutes are a copy of at least fifty other movies. Garner plays Riley North, and her husband and daughter are gunned down at a drive-by shooting at the carnival. How ridiculous is that? Any carnival has full parking at least a block around the fair grounds, and it is too insanely crowded for anyone to be able to drive by. Additionally, who ever heard of cars driving by the carnival rides? The rest of the story maintains little connection to reality, but the non-stop violence is entertaining.

The killers of Riley's family are evil drug trafficking kingpins who kill people for any slight. The judge and the prosecutors are in on a fix, so the charges against the killers are dismissed. Riley gets upset, and the judge orders her to be put into a mental hospital. Not very realistic. She escapes, and disappears for five years.

Unlike other stories where the victim of a crime is shown training in martial arts to get revenge, this movie just skips to five years later. The original killers are found hanging upside down from a Ferris wheel, at the same park where Riley's family got killed. How did she get three guys hanging fifty feet off the ground?

The rest of the story is equally improbable, but for sheer madcap killing of bad guys, it is fun to watch.
5 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Not the Worst
Dragonborn642 November 2020
Tho this movie has little in way of originality and gender swapping is all the rage atm, Jennifer Garner has a likeable quality that saves the movie. Besides that she is ripped. Everything moves along quickly with the usual assortment of stereotypical good/ bad guys. There are some authentically cool moments in the film in regarding her character who while angry is also good - it's Jennifer Garner! She suffers relentlessly. Worth a watch.
9 out of 14 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Violent
dflynn-650659 September 2018
Lots of violence, more than I expected, but I liked it. I was cheering for her to get all of the bad guys!
32 out of 63 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
If there's a movie that proves some critics suck at their jobs, this is it.
alias_maximus110 September 2018
Wow such an absolutely amazing action flick. So happy JG is back to doing what she does best, action. She can do anything I think Alias proved that, hopefully there's sequels. Loved it.
416 out of 540 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Kick ass
Calicodreamin3 December 2020
Has the suburban parent turned revenge killer plot been done before? Yes. But It's still awesome. Gardner had the perfect mix of bad ass gun skills and a stone cold killer face. Storyline was well developed and decent acting. A nice loose ending to keep us guessing.
7 out of 11 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
4/10
Abandons no cliche
nightwishouge13 September 2018
I'm guessing Peppermint was pitched as "a female Punisher". On paper, that's intriguing. Unfortunately the project never really developed beyond that.

I think director Pierre Morel thought he was making a legitimately important film rather than a mindless potboiler. The movie wastes too much time on by-the-numbers formula, as though it has pretensions of being a gritty character piece. This isn't inherently a bad thing--Tarantino, for example, is a master of fleshing out familiar story lines and making them dynamic and exciting. Peppermint, however, brings nothing new to the table. The screenplay is so derivative you'll be calling out certain lines of dialogue before the characters even say them. Peppermint has potential, but it should have been more streamlined and stylized, a la John Wick.

Jennifer Garner is also miscast. She's a good action heroine, but the story calls for her to be haunted and tormented--a woman with nothing left to lose. Garner can get a sad look on her face, but the darkness never seems to shade her soul. She's just too adorable for such a part, maybe.

There are a few good action sequences that make Peppermint a worthwhile theatrical experience if you have Moviepass, which is the only reason I saw it. Otherwise, wait for it to show up on streaming outlets.
30 out of 62 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
Extremely satisfying vigilante movie - Jennifer Garner rocks!
phd_travel6 September 2018
If you think you have seen enough of these family wiped out vigilante movies with JCVD or whoever well think again. This movie is very exciting and enjoyable, with everything fun to watch in this kind of movie. The bad guys from hit-men to bad judges, to evil soccer moms get their comeupance, there is just enough of a small twist, Jennifer is the super vigilante without being too unrealistic. She is really good at this kind of role - better than in rom-coms and weepies that she has been in recently. It is delightful to anticipate and then witness her meet out punishment and accomplish what the DEA can't.

Don't let the slightly frothy title put you off. A must watch.
456 out of 601 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
It was way better than expected
DunkelheitVZ20 March 2020
After all that criticism I expected an exceptionally bad movie, but it really is a good revenge movie. What did people really expect when they rate this title so low? I especially liked that the "protagonist" was vulnerable and no superhero.

The one thing they could have done better would be to have given her a violent background somehow. A banker won't be able to put up with people that lived their entire life in violence after only 5 years of practice. And I think maybe the first couple of kills should have shown how hard it is to kill for a person that never was violent. I had one idea during that movie: What if that was a "sequel" to Alias, Jennifer Garners badass show, and it was the same main character that aged and has a family now?

Other than that, I enjoyed the movie. It is no Godfather, hell no, but if you just want to relax and let TV run its course, it is good entertainment. Nowhere near that bad as everyone made it out to be.
2 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
4/10
Routine vigilante thriller with a solid lead performance
econ201mark11 September 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I can sum up the positive aspect of this film with two words: Jennifer Garner. In what I am pretty sure is her first major action role since 2007's The Kingdom, Garner shows she is still a convincing action heroine. Within the rather narrow limits of the script, she gives a very solid performance. Anyone who is a fan of hers will not be disappointed with her work here.

The film as a whole, however, is very disappointing, primarily because of the lack of intelligence or plausibility to the script. To take one of many, many examples, consider the courtroom scene which supplies the supposed necessity for Riley North (Garner) to become a vigilante in order to get vengeance for the murders of her husband and daughter. We are shown only a fragment of the scene, where the attorney for the killers ambushes Riley, during cross-examination, with the fact that she allegedly is taking medication that could interfere with her memory. Without allowing Riley to give a genuine response, the judge then immediately rules her identification of the murders inadmissible, and dismisses the charges against them. Meanwhile, the prosecutor sits silently.

Supposedly, this scene shows that "everyone was in on it," forcing Riley to take matters into her own hands. The problem is that the script doesn't even make the tiniest effort to show that this is the case. How does Riley know that the judge or the prosecutor were in on it? We are never shown.

For that matter, how would even a drug dealer with a fair amount of cash sitting around arrange that any case involving his underlings would be dealt with this way? Did Garcia (Juan Pablo Raba) bribe every judge and prosecutor who might conceivably handle cases involving his people. The LA County DA's office alone has about 1000 attorneys. Then there are all of the city attorneys, not to mention prosecuutors in adjacent counties. That's a lot of bribes to spread around. Did they somehow arrange to have every case involving Garcia's organization handled by "their" prosecutors and judges? How?

A further implausibility is the end of the courtroom scene, where after Riley's outburst, the judge immediately orders her confined to a mental hospital. To put it simply, the judge at a preliminary hearing does not have the authority to confine a witness, even an angry one, to a mental institution against her will. Even the most ridiculously bent judge would surely have the common sense not to blatantly exceed his authority like this, if for no other reason than that doing so would call unnecessary attention to him.

This is all just in a single scene, about 2-3 minutes out of the movie's over 100 minute running time. I could go on and on, identifying implausibilities that riddle the script from beginning to end.

The fact that this is a crime thriller does not require it to lack intelligence or plausibility. Plenty of filmmakers make intelligent crime thrillers; Michael Mann, David Ayers and Taylor Sheridan come to mind instantly. You can even have intelligent, believable vigilante thrillers, like The Brave One with Jodie Foster. But Pierre Morel and the rest of the filmmakers behind Peppermint apparently just didn't care.
27 out of 56 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
An error has occured. Please try again.

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed