Movie Review: #PeppermintMovie

Peppermint
Director: Pierre Morel
Writers: Chad St. John
Starring:  Jennifer Garner, John Gallagher Jr., John Ortiz
MPAA Rating: R
Official Socials: Site | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | IMDb
Hashtag  #PeppermintMovie

Peppermint is a revenge story centering on a young mother who finds herself with nothing to lose, and is now going to take from her enemies the very life they stole from her.

When I first thought the trailer for this movie, I got very excited to see Jennifer Garner as a badass once more. I got so hyped up because I love seeing a woman take no crap and standing up for what she believes, quite the opposite of how Hollywood represented us just a few decades ago. We were always the helpless, scared, never knew what to do, screaming, fainting idiots men needed to save. Being brought up differently (my father would tell me to never put up with any man's crap...well, he used another word but I can't say it here ;P), I am loving this trend, no, realization of Hollywood movie makers that we women in fact can do everything a man can do, and we don't need any saving.

This movie, as I am sure you've seen in the trailer (and if you haven't, I have provided the link below), you see Riley North (Jennifer Garner) loses her family in shooting ordered by some Latin drug lord. As anyone else who survives the horrific event would, she tries to find justice by identifying the murderers and going to trial to testify. What she didn't expect was to find out just how corrupt the so called "justice system" really is. Well, not the system, but some of the people in it. When she realizes this, she doesn't know who to trust, so she just takes matters into her own hands.

Not going to lie, the movie IS good and I really, really enjoyed it, but the plot is a little predictable and done. I just liked the execution of it. One thing I loved the most about the movie is the way everything was delivered. The movie starts with you seeing Riley (Jennifer Garner) with her daughter and talking to another mom with her daughter. Immediately you get a sense of the type of person each one is, next scene you meet her husband, Chris (Jeff Hephner), and then we get straight to the point. Everything that happens is straight to the point, but you aren't left with any questions or wondering how one thing happened or why someone did what. It's all understood and well done.

There is, however, one down thing to the plot of the movie: there's supposed to be a twist in the end of the movie, but it's a little bit too done and you can see it from a few miles away. But it's not anything that ruins the movie or anything. It's just something that could've been done without. That's as much as I can say without spoiling it.

As for Jennifer Garner. Oh. My. God! I loved her in this movie. Honestly, she barely speaks in the movie, and yet, you don't need her to talk much. Her performance was outstanding, every emotion Riley felt was very well portrayed, and you get to really feel and understand her. Honestly, believe it or not, in her shoes, I probably would've done the same or something similar (I'm not sure I can kill people). She had a very "The Punisher" quality to her and it reminded me a lot of the Netflix show I love. Even from when I saw the trailer I thought that.

In conclusion: go see the movie. It's well done, and nothing is better than a woman kicking every man she encounter's behind. She really did all of us women justice in that movie. Goes to show what happens when you mess with us. What's that old saying? "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorn'd".

Movie Review for #MissionImpossible : Fallout

Mission Impossible: Fallout
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
WritersChristopher McQuarrie, Bruce Geller
Starring:Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, and Henry Cavill
MPAA Rating: R
Official Socials: Site | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | IMDb
Hashtag#MissionImpossible

Ethan Hunt and his IMF team, along with some familiar allies, race against time after a mission gone wrong.

I haven't seen all Mission Impossible movies (I stopped at part 3, and we are at part 6 now) for no particular reason other than I just never got around to it. But, what does this movie have that's special and made me jump on the opportunity to review it for you all? Not going to lie, it was Henry Cavill. Sure the movies are cool and Tom Cruise (who still looks the same he did 10 years ago! How does he do it?!) is an amazing action actor, but my little heart just loves Henry since he was in The Tudors all those years ago. So, I decided to accept to go review this movie and here goes what I think:

The Action. As to be expected, the action in the movie is basically non-stop. It starts, we meet Henry Cavill's character -Walker - and next scene, they're on a plane about to throw themselves off of it and parachute into Paris. Next scene: the infamous bathroom fighting scene that's in the trailer. You have absolutely no time to get bored or let your mind wonder to other things because there's always something going on on the screen. And this girl right here loves these types of movies. I don't do rom-coms or too much drama. Give me fight scenes, car chases, funny one-liners, and explosions all day. This movies satisfied the action-loving girl in me and I loved the motorcycle chase scene (parts of it seen in the trailer). We all know (and probably have seen) Henry is Superman, so those movies also have lots of action, but they're not like it is in this one. I feel he really proved himself to be an awesome action actor as well. The grace and agility with which he moves his incredibly tall and massive (and yummy) frame is just amazing to me.

The Anxiety. As all Tom Cruise action movies are, this movie keeps you on the edge of your seat. I won't lie, I was having anxiety during the motorcycle chase scene because it was just intense. Things are happening here and there and Ethan Hunt in very typical Ethan Hunt style did things his way and unexpectedly and catching everyone by surprise. There were moments in which I thought he was going to follow orders, and then he surprised me with what he actually did and moments in which I didn't know how he was going to get out of the mess he was in, and then he always managed to find a way to do it. I really enjoyed being on the edge of my seat for the duration of the movie because it means it kept my attention (I am diagnosed with ADHD).

The Plot. The plot isn't anything too original in an action movie -of any franchise -but it still was good, I think. There's a lot of trickery and mystery as to whom the real enemy is (because it's never the super obvious ones). I won't spoil it for you guys, but when I watched the trailer there was something (I don't remember what exactly) that gave me the impression that a certain character was the bad guy, so to speak, but then I started to watch the movie, and that wasn't so. Then the movie progresses and it makes you doubt if that's the bad guy or girl, or not. At the end, it was who I thought it was and in the way I thought it was. That part I think was a little predictable and cliche, but the how they caught the person was good, funny, and what happens after was awesome (helicopters, explosions, the whole nine!).

The Storyline. I was able to keep up with the movie and its storyline, except for a few things, but that's not the movie's fault, it's mine for not having seen parts 4 and 5 before watching this (I just didn't think I needed to since each movie is basically standalone with very few things lingering from one movie to the next). I will definitely be re-watching all of them soon though, just to refresh my memory as to some of the things in the story and learn who Simon Pegg's, Ving Rhames's, and Rebecca Ferguson's characters are because they're all vital to the plot and I just love Simon Pegg.

My conclusion is that if you like watching gorgeous men doing lots of action scenes, with little romance here and there, and funny lines, then definitely go see this movie. I can't remember where I saw it or which critic said it (fail, I know), but I agree with what they said: Best Action Movie of 2018, hands down. I enjoyed it a lot and would absolutely re-watch it.