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!