Movie Review – Peppermint

Peppermint was a tough film to grade. It doesn’t suck. But it’s also not that great. Ultimately, if you want to see it, I’d suggest waiting for the DVD, or a streaming option. [pullquote]It’s a ‘heart warming revenge tale’ along the lines of many stories we’ve seen in this genre before. The only thing making this different is the avenging angel is female.[/pullquote]

I’ve never seen a movie before where I rooted for the protagonist to die. I know grief, and I wanted Riley’s grieving to end. It would make more sense for the narrative to end that way, and it’s kind of insane that a scrawny protagonist can go up against 20 or so burly bad guys at a time and survive. So…go with it. Apparently, it only takes five years to pick up the deadly skills required to take on a massive drug ring and prevail. I would have liked to see her learning these skills. We don’t.

There are decent moments in Peppermint, and a few genuine surprises here and there. That doesn’t make it good. [pullquote position=”right”]Jennifer Garner gave it her all, even if she wasn’t really believable in the role.[/pullquote] When someone like The Arnold does this, I buy it. Plus, he’s got great one-liners to prop up the narrative. Garner, well…a lot of luck plays into her survival, and it’s so consistently depressing that I mentally checked out a few times. Don’t expect much humor, or interesting/unusual set-pieces. Bang, bang, bang. That’s what we get here.

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Ultimately, it’s yet another movie setting itself up for a possible franchise. I’m tired of seeing this happen. If a movie is a success, then GREAT! Make a sequel. But don’t put the horse before the cart at the very end of a ho-hum story, making viewers feel they spent their money to set up a series that may or may not happen. That’s cheating.

This film came out in the late summer doldrums, which goes to show the studios didn’t have much faith in the story. The longer I review films for RunPee, the more I see this kind of thing. Oh well. Next!

Movie grade: C

About the Peetimes:  Peppermint has a ton of shoot-up action, to the point that getting a quiet Peetime was almost impossible. I had to find Peetimes, though, so it really doesn’t matter which you choose — all have action moments. I’ve summarized what you will miss in the synopsis in each one, so pick whichever time you need to run and pee, based on your bladder.