No matter what the critics say, audiences are proving that they're always up for seeing
Jennifer Garner take down some bad guys.
Peppermint premiered on Netflix on December 1, 2020, and although the film received heavy
criticism upon its release in 2018, subscribers are now diving in to see it for themselves.
Just one day following its release, the thriller ranked in the top 10 U.S. films streaming
on the platform.
In Peppermint, Garner stars as Riley North, a widowed mother seeking revenge against a
cartel that killed her mechanic husband, Chris, and their ten-year-old daughter. Leaving behind
her life as a Los Angeles banker, North spends years in hiding as she prepares to avenge
her family's murder.
"What do I want? I want justice."
From there, Peppermint becomes a pretty standard action-packed revenge story. Critics slammed
the movie for relying on outdated stereotypes, dreary visuals, and what some claimed to be
a direct-to-video feel. Combined with the familiarity of the subject matter, the poor
critical reception may be why Peppermint didn't make a huge splash when it was released. However,
most critics acknowledged Garner's solid performance in the otherwise lackluster film.
Scott Marks of the San Diego Reader openly speculated that Garner must have only taken
the role for the money, saying,
"Why else would she agree to lend her name to what is essentially gun porn?"
Other critics panned the film for perpetuating racist rhetoric. For instance, The New Yorker's
film critic Richard Brody wrote:
"Peppermint is a racist film that reflects the current strain of anti-immigrant politics
and its paranoid focus on MS-13 [...] It would be better for the world at large if this movie
hadn't been made."
But general audiences sometimes have different opinions than critics do. Peppermint scored
a 12 percent on Rotten Tomatoes among registered critics, but holds steady among everyday viewers
with an audience score of 71 percent. Additionally, Peppermint was a modest financial success,
making more money than it cost by landing a worldwide box-office gross of $53.9 million.
Now, two years after its theatrical release, Peppermint has found new life on Netflix,
with Garner proving that audiences will happily watch her kick butt any day of the week. Musing
on the film's streaming success, Forbes critic Scott Mendelson wrote,
"Ironically, the film's muddy visuals makes it look less like a glossy Hollywood flick
and more like a straight-to-VOD action movie, the kind of which are currently doing quite
well by Netflix."
Whatever the reason for Peppermint's renewed popularity, the film's surprise resurgence
could even pave the way for a sequel.
While revenge flicks might seem like the perfect recipe for a one-and-done story, Peppermint
may be the exception to the norm. Back when the film first released in 2018, there was
already some talk that it could follow the road of director Pierre Morel's Taken series.
Shauna Duggins, Jennifer Garner's long-time stunt double, went on the record back when
Peppermint first premiered in theaters with her hopes that the thriller might eventually
earn multiple sequels. Speaking to Variety, Duggins said,
"Don't we all dream that it can be [a franchise]? Absolutely. I mean, look at 'Taken.' It was
phenomenal and then they did two more. Jen can pull it off, obviously."
Garner has, certainly, proven her ability as an action star, but Duggins believes her
appeal goes far beyond her ability to throw punches, saying,
"What makes [Garner] a phenomenal actress is you can see her in these beautiful love
stories and comedies and then she can step right into a revenge movie [like Peppermint].
She’s not just out killing people — you feel every bit of her anguish, her physical
pain and her emotional pain, and that’s why the audience is rooting for her. You want
her to win.”
And while Peppermint struggled with controversy, a sequel could hypothetically take the parts
of the movie that audiences did respond to, and move away from the more troubling aspects.
So far, none of the other cast and crew besides Duggins have opened up about sequel possibilities,
but with the movie returning to the headlines, speculation is growing fast.
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