![]() ![]() The contrast makes one wonder: is this supposed to be for adults, like the ones who like John Ortiz and John Gallagher Jr., or for repressed post-adolescents who love revenge porn? Is post-adolescent sweatiness just mainstream now? And they’ve surrounded her with prestige cable character actors like John Ortiz from Togetherness and John Gallagher Jr. These days, weirdly, instead of a gremlin-faced fringe character actor like Charles Bronson, our violence porn for sweaty weirdos is toplined by the same actors who sell us soap, in this case America’s sweetheart, Jennifer Garner. In the past these would’ve been strictly skuzzball affairs, movies made largely by and for smelly, leather-jacketed obsessives - Death Wish being the most well-known, though it almost doesn’t count, since it had a higher budget than its peers, was based on a novel, and, in stark contrast to Peppermint, at least attempted to have some kind of social commentary (even if that commentary was largely limited to “even liberals can become fascists when ethnic thugs kill their family”). John,” who I assume is a porn star, Peppermint is a revenge film cut from the cloth of a long line of grimy grindhouse shoot ’em ups in which Caucasian vigilantes take out the largely brown trash. Directed by Pierre Morel, a sort of Eurotrash Neveldine/Taylor knockoff best known for Taken and District B13, and written by “Chad St. After all, it took no less than five Death Wish movies for Charles Bronson to finally get the job done.Peppermint isn’t a very good movie, which is so plainly obvious from everything about it that it might as well be the tagline, but it’s fascinating for what it says about the state of the film industry. The audience is on her side from the first moments to the ending, which provides the opportunity for Riley to make a return appearance in a sequel. Whether cracking sardonic jokes or showing tenderness toward a child, her character is sympathetic even when committing the most violent atrocities. But unlike so many action stars, she’s equally adept at drama and comedy. Garner, who hasn’t done this sort of thing in quite a while, handles the demanding physical aspects of her role with tremendous skill, demonstrating an admirable commitment to her training regimen. Only the big finale, involving Riley, the criminals and the cops at Skid Row, proves disappointing, with reality, such as it is in a film like this, completely thrown out the window. While the action sequences lack the morbid visual elegance of the John Wick movies, they’re cleanly choreographed, photographed and edited. But not before punching her in the mouth.ĭirector Morel, who also made the Sean Penn starrer The Gunman (are you sensing a pattern?), stages the ultra-violent proceedings for maximum visceral effect. And after being injured during one of her violent encounters, she briefly takes refuge in the house of a soccer mom who made her life miserable in the past. After an encounter with a young boy and his drunken lout of a father on a city bus, she takes matters into her own hands and shows the errant dad the error of his ways by sticking a gun in his mouth. The frustrated Garcia, watching his men slaughtered like pigs in a series of daring raids, is reduced to giving such orders as “Put this bitch in a box before sunset!” and proclaiming, “This shit ends tonight!”Īlong the way, Riley demonstrates that she hasn’t lost her maternal instincts. ![]() She proves remarkably adept in her mission, showing no mercy as the body count lurches toward the triple digits. In any case, she’s back in Los Angeles and immediately begins her vendetta against Garcia and his minions, starting with the three men who murdered her family. John ( London Has Fallen) doesn’t bother to provide any details as to exactly how Riley becomes an expert in hand-to-hand combat and automatic weaponry, among many other talents. When Riley goes berserk and tries to attack the killers, she’s tasered and is on her way to a mental hospital when she manages to escape.Ĭut to five years later, which is apparently the amount of time needed to transform oneself into a lean, mean killing machine. But the deck is clearly stacked against her, with the obviously corrupt judge dismissing the case. Cooperating with the sympathetic detectives (John Ortiz, John Gallagher Jr.) investigating the case, Riley identifies the gunmen (criminals should probably avoid having distinctive facial tattoos) and testifies against them in court, even after receiving a combination bribe offer/threat from the defense attorney. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |