PEPPERMINT (Rated R)

Long ago, Charles Bronson perfected the righteous vigilante in “Death Wish.” In recent times, we have had Liam Neeson in the “Taken” series and Denzel Washington in “The Equalizer” films to pick up the mantle of heroes exacting revenge on stereotyped bad guys.

“Peppermint” brings a new twist to this genre in that a strong female character gets into the action of meting out personal justice. Jennifer Garner, who showed her action chops in the TV show “Alias,” mirrors what Liam Neeson brought to his action hero role in “Taken.”

Garner’s Riley North, a working mother living in a Los Angeles suburb with her husband Chris (Jeff Hephner) and young daughter Carly (Cailey Fleming), has a life that seems fairly typical of the average family.

Chris, who runs an auto repair shop, is looking to get ahead financially on an unfortunate deal that would put him in the crosshairs of a Mexican drug cartel. Backing out of an ill-advised scheme comes too late for him.

Near the Christmas holiday on an outing to a local carnival, Chris is gunned-down in a hail of machine gun fire, while Carly is also caught in the crossfire, all of it happening while Riley witnesses the tragedy.

The justice system fails Riley in epic fashion when her identification of three gang members in court gets tossed by a corrupt judge. Only two LAPD detectives seem to have taken her interest for justice to heart.

Disappearing for five years, Riley returns to Los Angeles as an avenging angel seeking street justice. During her absence she trained in martial arts and all sorts of weaponry to become the female equivalent of Jason Statham.

The three thugs that got off scot-free are found hanging from a Ferris wheel and the corrupt lawyers are also dispatched. It doesn’t take long then for the detectives (John Ortiz and John Gallagher, Jr.) to figure out that Riley North is back in town with a vengeance.

While the crooked judge is confronted to a brutal demise, Riley’s primary focus is going after the cartel operation of Diego Garcia (Juan Pablo Raba), who was responsible for the hit placed on her husband.

To sum up what takes place, suffice to say that Riley goes on a rampage through the cartel’s warehouse and Garcia’s heavily-armed estate with the kind of shootings and explosions that Keanu Reeves employed to take out his adversaries in “John Wick.”

“Peppermint” is almost certain to offend the sensibilities of pretentious critics who object to brainless vigilante violence.

It’s no coincidence that the film is directed by Pierre Morel, the director behind “Taken.” This means that “Peppermint” is designed for the same audience and not for the art-house crowd.

Some people have wondered why the title of the film is “Peppermint,” and my take, for what it’s worth, on this is that the young daughter asks for peppermint ice cream on the fateful night of the shooting. It’s simply symbolic.

Whether “Peppermint” turns out to be your flavor or not depends on how you may have reacted to other films in the same genre. It does check all the boxes for an action-filled revenge fantasy.



‘YOU’ ON LIFETIME

Obsession is nothing new to the type of dramas, whether in movies or series, that are the staple of the Lifetime Channel. “You” delivers a ten-part series that explores the dangers of dating in the social media age.

The basic story is the twisted courtship of a seemingly mild-mannered manager of a Manhattan used bookshop specializing in rare editions and a poetry grad student who happens to be browsing the shelves.

Penn Badgley’s Joe Goldberg, exuding an outgoing charm, finds Elizabeth Lail’s attractive Guinevere Beck looking through the stacks for literature of interest and he is immediately smitten.

His notice piqued by her perky nature, Joe wastes no time checking her out through social media, discovering that she goes by her last name and hangs out with snooty friends at local bars.

In fairly short order, by stalking like a perverted voyeur, he spies on the ground-floor apartment where the large windows allow a peak into Beck’s private life, noticing that her boyfriend appears motivated solely by a booty call.

An interesting facet to the story is that “You” explores the creepy mind of a stalker by allowing Joe to do voice-over narration that sheds light on his on sociopathic mind to save Beck from unworthy suitors.

Things turn disturbing and unnerving very quickly when Joe tricks Beck’s sleazy boyfriend Benji (Lou Taylor Pucci), an obnoxious rich-boy promoting a brand of artisanal soda, into the soundproof basement of the bookstore.

Not having gone deep into the series, I am just wondering what fate awaits the lecherous professor who put the moves on Beck during an after-work meeting to discuss her position as a teaching assistant. Whatever the case, “You” looks to have a lot of surprises in store.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.