Mad with grief and vengeance, Riley goes underground for five years, during which time she goes from a tragic soccer mom to Becky with the Good Guns.
#Peppermint larry laugh trial#
Peppermint plays up the racial element of the conflict to such an extent that when an evil white judge and an even more evil white defense attorney conspire to throw the trial to get the killers back on the street as quickly and efficiently as possible, they’re depicted not just as corrupt villains but also as race traitors who shamefully betray one of their own for the sake of the bloodthirsty Mexican cartel’s dirty, dirty, blood-soaked Mexican money. Yes, white people just can’t get a fair shake in America, at least in Peppermint’s eyes (though, to be fair, it can be hard to see clearly with a hood over your head to conceal your identity) because vicious, sneering Mexican gang members with scary facial tattoos and long rap sheets have the entire legal system in their pocket. She could theoretically take her case to the public by appealing to the press, but when have they're, if anything, even more biased against beautiful, telegenic white people with heartbreaking stories of loss and death at the hands of violent minorities. When the emotionally shattered white lady, who even looks a little like Mollie Tibbetts before grief transforms her into Lady Punisher, tries to get justice for her unimaginable loss she discovers that the American justice system is hopelessly biased against attractive, photogenic white women with heartbreaking personal stories and gorgeous, dead families. Riley just barely survives a drive-by where the killers’ Hispanic heritage is so cynically and exploitatively played up that they might as well be drinking tequila out of a sombrero while waving Mexican flags and singing the Mexican national anthem. Riley’s husband agrees to drive a getaway car for a small-time criminal out to rob a big-time Mexican crime boss and even though he backs out at the last minute, these monsters from south of the border nevertheless execute him, gangland-style, along with his adorable little daughter. You may want to end this whole “feminism" nonsense now that your greatest and most important goal has been realized.
#Peppermint larry laugh movie#
If you’ve ever wondered what a racist, reactionary exploitation movie vehicle for the star of 13 Going on 30 might look and feel like, look no further! Congratulations, ladies! You’ve now achieved full equality now that a woman has proven she’s just as equipped as a man to star in a movie where a revenge-crazed mass murderer grimly executes a sizable army of crudely stereotyped caricatures in righteous vengeance after their family was assassinated. Finally, a blood-splattered, hate-fueled vigilante power fantasy for people who shop at Yankee Candle! That’s equally true of Taken director Pierre Morel’s Peppermint, which is essentially Eli Roth’s Death Wish for soccer moms and Lifetime movie fanatics. That was the case with Eli Roth’s deplorable, achingly dull remake of Death Wish. But it’s also given me an excuse to hate-watch movies I know damn well have no chance of being good, let alone important or essential. The column has afforded me an opportunity to write about big, important new movies that are rocking the box-office and dominating cultural conversations, like Black Panther, The Last Jedi and The Avengers: Infinity War.
It’s the Nathan Rabin’s Happy Cast-fueled column where I write about the latest and greatest in big cinematic releases. Welcome to the latest entry in Scalding Hot Takes.
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