Ever since 1974's Death Wish, the vigilante revenge thriller has become a viable sub-genre. But there's nothing new to see in "Peppermint," which offers Jennifer Garner as an avenging angel Riley North, who survives a gang shooting which takes down her husband and adorable daughter Carly. To insure that the audience knows Riley has valid reasons for going after the people she does, there's a flashback to five years earlier, with Riley bravely identifying the culprits in court only to have the judge throw out the case for lack of evidence, while the defense lawyer smirks and the prosecutor shuffles some papers. She even gets tasered in court for her troubles. It's galling how manipulative the script is at this point: there's a whole host of folk who've got it coming and they certainly deserve it.
Riley spends the next five years traveling the world and learning various useful fighting techniques and the mastery of firearms before coming back to the big city where she holes up in a homeless encampment while plotting and executing her revenge. Director Pierre Morel, who helmed the unexpected box-office hit Taken in 2008, is back in familiar territory and he certainly adds a stylish touch to what is mostly fight scenes with a lot of red paint thrown around. Too bad the script is so cookie-cutter standard with few surprises. Garner, whose career got a kick start when she starred as a super spy in the TV series Alias back in the early 2000s, knows how to do the kick-ass stuff and she's actually pretty engaging in the role. If she manages to do a sequel, she needs to have a better script. If you like action flicks, "Peppermint" is a diverting way to spend an afternoon. If not, skip it.
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