Parents' Guide to

Peppermint

By Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Garner deserves better than grisly, tone-deaf revenge film.

Movie R 2018 102 minutes
Peppermint Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 16+

Based on 11 parent reviews

SpookyZ
SpookyZ Adult
September 15, 2019
age 18+

Great Action Movie

Amazing movie with revenge in mind, but lands up taking down a full drug problem & bad people who are paid off. Wish we had someone like this in SA. Never give up or forget your family.

This title has:

Great role models
Too much violence
1 person found this helpful.
tifftoe
tifftoe Parent of 9 and 11-year-old
February 8, 2019
age 15+

Garner kicks

What I love about this movie is that it is not realistic. It does however play on the realistic desires of ppl to see justice prevail and the bad guys wiped off the face of the earth. Ppl reviewing badly below obviously think other action films involving male actors are realistic but let’s be honest here, all action movies are just that, movies. But I just want to add, my 130lb mother-in-law’s beat the tar out of grown men, and if she can do it at 60 yrs old then so can a 30-something who’s in incredible shape and very determined. As far as cinematic quality...lots of great action effects, super realistic flesh wounds and gun shots, explosions and fight scenes. Garner shows up with buffed arms and speedy skills she’s acquired over the past 5 years, after she’s robed a bank to fund her worldwide journey to make make like a ghost and turn her body into a lethal machine. If you can’t imagine what that entails, grow a brain. Her acting is impeccable and her expressions believable and empathetic. Is it dark? Well, if your family was shot down and you were left with nothing but a failed justice system, do you think you’d be in a happy sunny place? No. The cartel is not light, it is dark. It murders without remorse, it drugs up the lost and abuses women and children. And of course, they use a lot of foul language...that IS realistic. On that note, what do you expect? Girlfriend’s got to get dark to carry out the task of avenging her family. As a parent and teacher, I appreciate the aspect of her seeing her child in the faces of the children she encounters. The feeling of wanting to make things right for all kids who may be affected by horrible gang violence, drugs, homelessness and abuse. This movie rocks! It’s potent and in your face...literally....she shoots a lot of ppl in the face. Bloody yes. The bloodiest, no. If you’re looking for a great action flick that’s on the Die Hard level and very empowering then this movie is for you. If I could say something positive about it? There’s no female nudity. Hooray! Imagine that, an entertaining film without nudity. Not an extreme amount of foul or vulgar language. No sex. Message? Don’t join the cartel. Don’t kill people’s families, and you won’t get killed. Eye for an eye. Live by the gun, die by the gun. I think a lot of “Christians” like to read these reviews on common sense media so I’ll say this to you. Do you read the Bible? Is there a story in there that isn’t somehow dark and twisted? Well, I read it, and I can’t think of one. There’s some pretty messed up folks and situations in there. It wouldn’t be interesting and have a message if there wasn’t. Peppermint, which is named so bc of the daughters ice cream choice in a moment of familial exctasy moments before the tragedy (another detail missed by another reviewer), leaves room for a sequel....awesome!!! Plot holes? What hero movie doesn’t have them? It’s rated R so I’m not sure why you’d let your kids watch it anyway. I only gave it 4 stars bc some of the other actors are subpar and lack character development, and the soundtrack could be better. Entertaining film worthy of 4 stars and the home library.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
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What's the Story?

PEPPERMINT stars Jennifer Garner as Riley North, a middle-class Los Angeles wife and mom who witnesses her husband and young daughter getting gunned down in public after he's tangentially involved in a plan to steal from a local drug kingpin. Although Riley survives the shooting that wipes out her family and is able to identify the gunmen, bribed officials ensure that the men are never prosecuted or convicted. Five years after the murders, Riley returns to L.A. with a new set of skills and one sole purpose: to kill every man she holds responsible for her family's deaths.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (11):
Kids say (9):

What could have been an interesting gender twist on tried-and-true revenge fantasies devolves into a tone-deaf, uninteresting rip-off of much more compelling films. It should have been a delight to see Garner step out of her many interchangeable suburban mom roles into a part that showcases the action skills she honed as the fierce, fit star of Alias. So it's particularly disappointing that Peppermint, with its gut-wrenching premise, wastes her talent with its clunky script, problematic depictions, and ridiculous plot. One example? Unlike revenge movies starring men (John Wick, Taken), there's little to explain how Riley acquired the necessary expertise in assassination, robbery, and covert global transportation required to become a one-woman killing machine.

Working from a script by Chad St. John, director Pierre Morel portrays the movie's villains as cartoonishly evil (the gunmen even laugh in the courtroom) -- and nearly universally people of color. Sure, there's also John Ortiz as a homicide cop, but he's under suspicion for most of the movie as being the drug dealer's inside man on the force. The optics of a white vigilante being an angel of righteous vengeance while every brown person in the story is a bloodthirsty drug dealer, henchman, or criminal isn't believable or laudable. The criminal underworld, especially in Los Angeles, isn't solely the domain of Mexican or Korean Americans. But even if you set all of the sociopolitical undertones aside, the story is much less entertaining than a revenge thriller should be to work. Garner, and moviegoers, deserve better.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Peppermint's violence. Was any of it interesting or exciting to watch? How did the movie achieve these effects? What's the impact of media violence on kids?

  • With barely any exception, all of the movie's "bad guys" are people of color -- particularly Americans of Mexican descent. What message does that choice send?

  • What does the movie have to say about law vs. justice? What's the difference between the two? Do you think justice was served?

  • Do you consider Riley a role model? Why do you think she's considered an "angel" by the people of Skid Row?

Movie Details

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