To most people, family means just about everything. We live our lives while taking so much for granted, not stopping often enough to appreciate all that we have. For one very unfortunate mother, everything that she holds near and dear to her is about to be ripped away in an instant. People are capable of so much more, some good and some bad, when they are pushed beyond their breaking points. For one mother in question, what rises from the ashes of despair, is a force that no one expected and no man can control. Peppermint looks to knock your socks off in a brutal story of revenge.

Riley (Jennifer Garner) lives a pretty unassuming life. She works at a bank, her husband is an auto mechanic and they have a lovely young daughter together. Tragically, the life that she once knew would soon become a distant memory that is to be replaced with heartache and an uncontrollable desire to make those responsible pay for what was taken from her. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Riley aims to put a holy beat down on a group of thugs and no one is going to stop her, not the ones in her crosshairs and not the police. The day of reckoning is upon them and Riley will have her revenge.

It’s been a minute since we’ve seen Jennifer Garner kicking ass and taking names. In Peppermint, she reminds us of all of her days as Sidney Bristow in ABC’s Alias and that’s definitely a good thing. Her character is one that most people can relate to and can get behind. She wears the veil of vigilantism very well. Unfortunately, Garner is the lone bright spot from an acting standpoint. Her co-stars include John Gallagher Jr., John Ortiz, Annie Ilonzeh and Juan Pablo Raba. Their stories were not compelling in the least, so their performances do not feel like they really matter.

Director Pierre Morel makes Peppermint strongly singular with respect to Jennifer Garner. She is all that matters and everything else is just a filler. There is no attachment to anyone else’s story, making the plot shallow and lacking that emotional anchor. It’s great to see these baddies get what’s coming to them in the most violent way possible, but it would have also been nice to get more substance throughout. This will be a fun movie to enjoy in the moment, but the overall feel gives more of a “wait to watch it at home” vibe which is what I recommend doing. In theaters everywhere now.