Back in the mid-2000s, it appeared to be a foregone conclusion that Jennifer Garner would reign for years as one of Hollywood’s premiere action heroines. The actress’ breakthrough role in Alias saw her demonstrate some serious chops when it came to the fight choreography, and that’s without even mentioning her stellar performance across the show’s run which led to a Golden Globe win for Best Actress in a Television Series Drama for the first season, while she picked up a further three consecutive nominations in the same category.
At the height of Alias‘ popularity, Garner starred as Elektra Natchios in the disappointing Daredevil, but the enthusiastic reception to her portrayal of the iconic comic book character led to a solo spinoff, which is where the wheels started to come off. Rob Bowman’s Elektra was panned by critics and bombed hard, leading many to believe that the movie’s poor performance had stopped the leading lady’s rapid ascent up the A-list in its tracks.
Garner is still a recognizable name, of course, but she hasn’t reached the levels of stardom being predicted for her fifteen or so years ago. However, one of her latest action-packed efforts is now gaining a sizeable audience on Netflix. Taken director Pierre Morel helms Peppermint, a vigilante thriller tracing a woman who wakes up from a coma after surviving an attack that killed her husband and daughter, and then trains herself to become an expert fighter with revenge on her mind.
Peppermint raked in just over $50 million at the box office when it hit theaters in September 2018 despite being savaged by critics, and it holds a meager 12% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, continuing a recent trend of forgotten B-level actioners dominating Netflix‘s Top 10 most-watched list, it was the single most popular title in the library with United States subscribers yesterday and has been hovering around the chart for well over a week now, occupying various spots.
