Morel and writer Chad St.John eschew any backstory other than an expository meeting between the Justice Department and the local police force, they barely hint at how this mom could have turned into this ruthless killing machine. She returns on the fifth anniversary of the shooting, turned into a “shoot ‘em in the head” John Wick-like assassin, leaving a trail of Latino blood and brains in her wake (curiously, the only two white people she kills in her rampage –the judge that threw out the case and García’s lawyer– are executed using far more elegant and sophisticated methods). The case is thrown out of court and Riley is ordered by the corrupt judge to be sent to a mental facility. Riley not only manages to survive a bullet to the head but is able to identify the shooters. Father and daughter are gunned down by drug lord Diego García’s (Juan Pablo Raba) henchmen while they are out celebrating Carly’s birthday. Riley works at a local bank, Chris is the owner of an auto shop. Mother Riley (Jennifer Garner), father Chris (Jeff Hephner) and cute and foul-mouthed daughter Carley (Cayley Fleming) are your prototypical white working class family overburdened by debt. And while there is no doubt that Peppermint’s villain du jour, the Mara Salvatruchas, are brutal and violent, the filmmakers unwittingly (and I am here giving them the benefit of the doubt) tap into the current administration’s anti-Latino hysteria, giving Peppermint a relevance it doesn’t deserve. Death Wish gave voice to the anxieties of denizens of a large metropolis –New York, but really, Anywhere, U.S.A. Both tap into their respective era’s political moment: one deliberately, the other by sheer serendipity. Both have as their protagonist a white person who seeks to avenge a brutal attack against their loved ones by, mostly, people of color after the legal system lets them down. You can trace a direct line from Michael Winner’s insidious 1974 vigilante film Death Wish to Peppermint, Philip Morel’s by-the-numbers, and problematic, revenge film. "The filmmakers unwittingly tap into the current administration’s anti-Latino hysteria, giving 'Peppermint' a relevance it doesn’t deserve." Peppermint opened in theaters on September 7, 2018. Hoping to see those kinds of asides be more central in reviews of Morel’s film, we reached out to a handful of Latino critics to get their thoughts on this Jennifer Garner star vehicle. Todd Gilchirst of The Wrap asks whether it’s “a good idea in 2018 for almost every one of the villains in the film to be written as and portrayed by Latino,” concluding “Probably not, but it’s easy.” Lauding Garner’s acting chops and “special set of skills,” reviewers mostly found the action flick lackluster, with some finding fault with its seemingly timely politics. With an abysmal Rotten Tomatoes score, it’s clear critics have not taken kindly to it. From Taken director Pierre Morel, Peppermint follows Riley’s revenge spree all around LA, from piñata stores to Skid Row, leaving few standing bodies in her wake. That means targeting not just the corrupt judge and lawyers that helped the three gang members go free but the drug cartel they belong to. Five years after the tragedy that forever changed her, she returns to Los Angeles as a cut-throat assassin intent on taking out everyone and everything that denied her young girl the justice she deserves. After losing her husband and daughter at the hands of three gang members, Riley North (Garner) sets out to exact revenge on her own. That seems to be the selling point and inspiration for Jennifer Garner’s new film Peppermint.
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