Garner is out for bloody vengeance in the action-packed ‘Peppermint’

Posted on September 14, 2018

By MARK VIOLA

Back in 2008, director Pierre Morel gave us “Taken,” a film that turned Liam Neeson into an action star and made parents around the world afraid to let their daughters out of their sight.

After a few less successful outings, Morel is now back with “Peppermint,” which replaces Nesson with Jennifer Garner (“Miracles from Heaven”), a missing daughter with a murdered family and Paris, France with a big city in California. Otherwise it is essentially the same movie, in which our main character mows through countless bad guys in brutal, bloody fashion.

While Neeson’s Bryan Mills was searching for his daughter, Garner’s Riley North is simply out for blood, determined to deliver vengeance on not only those she holds responsible for her family’s death, but also those who allowed them to go free. The resulting film, which is steadfastly single-minded in its black-and-white moral landscape, is decent popcorn action despite the script’s numerous problems.

Subscribe to our e-Edition and read the rest of the story. Already a subscriber? Click here to sign in.