History Film / Peppermint

** same can be said of Diego García, whom didn't even know who Riley was up until one of his flunkies brought the deaths of his men and a couple of courtroom stooges from five years ago to his attention. Being the [[SuicidalOverconfidence pompous bully he is]], the mobster thinks assigning her a bounty will solve all his problems. [[spoiler: He is sorely mistaken]].

* FriendNobodyLikes: Not even the guys he works for like Garcia all that much, his own employer spiting him as just another "little dog" before leaving.

* InsaneTrollLogic: Not from a legal standpoint, but the police chief's incarcerating Riley on the grounds that she committed a crime against mobsters just sounds like an incompetent [[TheNeidermier ass]] braying complaints of accomplishing what he and his donut munchers lacked the incentive of doing. Despite it being their jobs.

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: What the sentiment shared by detective Moises and others on the force after all that Riley did, which was more helpful to local law enforcement and the neighborhood community as a whole than [[BadCopIncompetentCop a fat, sweaty no account]] on a podium seen on stupid local news said it had been, was towards Mrs. North while checking in on her at the hospital. Hence his secretly facilitating her escape.

** same can be said of Diego García, whom didn't even know who Riley was up until one of his flunkies brought the deaths of his men and a couple of courtroom stooges from five years ago to his attention. Being the [[SuicidalOverconfidence pompous bully he is]], the mobster thinks assigning her a bounty will solve all his problems. [[spoiler: He is sorely mistaken]].

* HowWeGotHere: The film begins with Riley confronting and killing a thug, before a flashback five years to the fateful day of the murders, the trial where the judge ruled against her instead of the killers, and her subsequent escape. The first thing we see upon returning to the present from all this? The bodies of all three killers hanging from a ferris wheel, at the very park they murdered her husband and daughter.

* YourInsane: Riley gets this so often from people, both direct and indirectly, that she cannot help but give a [[TheStoic lowkey wry chuckle]] every now and then when hearing it.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: [[spoiler:Riley's final showdown with García consists of this. Upon confronting García, she goads him into fighting her, despite being seriously wounded, and suffers a brief but brutal NoHoldsBarredBeatdown from him, but manages to stall him long enough [[BigDamnHeroes for the police to arrive]]. She then chases down García and manages to shoot him in the head in front of the police before escaping.]]

** same can be said of Diego García, whom didn't even know who Riley was up until one of his flunkies brought the deaths of his men and a couple of PoliticallyIncorrect stooges from five years ago to his attention. Being the [[SuicidalOverconfidence pompous bully he is]], the mobster thinks assigning her a bounty will solve all his problems. [[spoiler: He is sorely mistaken]].

* RageAgainstTheLegalSystem: The corrupt judge and cops who were complicit in the MiscarriageOfJustice years ago are not spared Riley's wrath, needless to say.

* AssholeVictim: Pretty much every victim that Riley kills, but particularly the judge and the three people that killed her husband and daughter. [[spoiler:Diego Garcia also ends up as this at the end.]]

* BadBoss: Garcia's irateness isn't just limited to his rent-a-girlfriends. He's also prone to treating his men like TheChewToy whenever they [[YouHaveFailedMe fail him]] or he jumps to [[ImproperlyParanoid wrong conclusions]].

* BigBad: Diego Garcia is the son of a [[TheCartel Cartel]] chief, responsible for much of the LA drug trade. He directly ordered the hit on North's husband, and drives the villainous manhunt against North.

** same can be said of Diego Garcia

* TheCartel: Diego Garcia heads up the local branch of a powerful Latin American drug-trafficking syndicate in LA. They are the main antagonists as Riley, a woman whose family their thugs murdered, goes after them.

* DirtyCop: Several times there are warnings by characters of cops in the LA Police Department who are on the take of [[BigBad Diego Garcia]], but one isn't actually seen until towards the end of the film, [[spoiler:when the audience finds out that Detective Stan Carmichael is working for Garcia]].

* HateSink: Amongst a select few, Diego Garcia stands out as a particularly unlikable piece of crap. A family murderer, a system corruptor, a girlfriend basher and an out and out violent gangster; whom would even rig fixed fights by holding orphan kids hostage against his enemies. Needless to say, no tears were shed when the vigilante widower [[BoomHeadShot fulfilled her promise in the end]].

* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler:During the climax, Detective Stan Carmichael, a DirtyCop secretly on Diego Garcia's payroll and who recently executed Agent Inman by gunshot, resorts to flashing his badge and revealing his identity to the cops who were led to Riley's location by the latter using the deceased Agent's phone. Sure enough, Garcia is now convinced that Carmichael sold him out and shoots him to death in retaliation.]]

** Her daughter's death in the attack drives her to seek revenge, having visions of her little girl at various points. Riley's protective streak is used against her towards the end of the film to lure her out of hiding, [[spoiler:when Garcia threatens to kill a homeless girl if Riley doesn't come forward]].

* NoHoldsBarredBeatDown: Near the climax of the movies, Riley handed local [[SlimeBall scumbag Garcia]] a particularly satisfying throttling before shooting him in the face like she said she would.

* OffWithHisHead: Just before the attack on North's family, Garcia is shown taking a kukri to lop off the head of a would-be thief. The actual decapitation isn't depicted, [[GoryDiscretionShot just a big splash of blood on a nearby statue]] after showing the start of Garcia's swing.

* VigilanteExecution: Courtesy of Riley, who does this to anyone deemed responsible for the miscarriage of justice at the trial five years ago, and the Cartel, especially the killers and [[BigBad the cartel leader himself, Diego Garcia]].
* VigilanteWoman: Failed by a legal system made ineffective by corruption, Riley North takes matters into her own hands and takes on the criminals responsible for her family's death.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: [[spoiler:Riley's final showdown with Garcia consists of this. Upon confronting Garcia, she goads him into fighting her, despite being seriously wounded, and suffers a brief but brutal NoHoldsBarredBeatdown from him, but manages to stall him long enough [[BigDamnHeroes for the police to arrive]]. She then chases down Garcia and manages to shoot him in the head in front of the police before escaping.]]

** Diego Garcia doesn't show any hesitation or remorse about threatening to kill a homeless child to lure Riley out of hiding.

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: There is no way in hell that the judiciary committee would allow the case to stand. The judge would be in hot water once word got out that he left a clearly distraught woman out to dry despite their being ample evidence and numerous witnesses that could be called (the attack clearly happened out in the open). Child murder is a deadly serious crime in most jurisdictions that warrants the death penalty. At no point does the judge entertain the possibility that just maybe, he might be out of line. The prosecution is given free rein to attack the victim without so much as an objection from the defense. The questioning doesn't even have anything to do with the attack. The case is establishing a motive for the murder, not reviewing the victim's sanity. The case should've been appealed, and the judge, attorney's and others sacked for their stupidity. If this happened IRL, there'd be no end to the repercussions that the Judge and attorneys would suffer. Judicial misconduct is a grave mistake, and the consequences are severe. Thankfully this is a work of fiction (hopefully). The Judge also sentences her to a mental health treatment center, without permission from psychiatrists or other qualified health professionals. The only result from this clusterfuck would be a swift and immediate firing followed by an appeal. Granted she did attack them but that's only because the judge and attorney were being utter dicks for no reason. The writers clearly never studied law.

* FolkHero: To many of the citizens [[OneHundredPercentAdorationRating and everyone in the shantytown where she lives]], she's considered a hero for her actions, especially considering the reduction in crime in said area.

* ArtisticLicense-Law: There is no way in hell that the judiciary committee would allow the case to stand. The judge would be in hot water once word got out that he left a clearly distraught woman out to dry despite their being ample evidence and numerous witnesses that could be called (the attack clearly happened out in the open). Child murder is a deadly serious crime in most jurisdictions that warrants the death penalty. At no point does the judge entertain the possibility that just maybe, he might be out of line. The prosecution is given free rein to attack the victim without so much as an objection from the defense. The questioning doesn't even have anything to do with the attack. The case is establishing a motive for the murder, not reviewing the victim's sanity. The case should've been appealed, and the judge, attorney's and others sacked for their stupidity. If this happened IRL, there'd be no end to the repercussions that the Judge and attorneys would suffer. Judicial misconduct is a grave mistake, and the consequences are severe. Thankfully this is a work of fiction (hopefully). The Judge also sentences her to a mental health treatment center, without permission from psychiatrists or other qualified health professionals. The only result from this clusterfuck would be a swift and immediate firing followed by an appeal. Granted she did attack them but that's only because the judge and attorney were being utter dicks for no reason. The writers clearly never studied law.

* ArtisticLicense:Law: There is no way in hell that the judiciary committee would allow the case to stand. The judge would be in hot water once word got out that he left a clearly distraught woman out to dry despite their being ample evidence and numerous witnesses that could be called (the attack clearly happened out in the open). Child murder is a deadly serious crime in most jurisdictions that warrants the death penalty. At no point does the judge entertain the possibility that just maybe, he might be out of line. The prosecution is given free rein to attack the victim without so much as an objection from the defense. The questioning doesn't even have anything to do with the attack. The case is establishing a motive for the murder, not reviewing the victim's sanity. The case should've been appealed, and the judge, attorney's and others sacked for their stupidity. If this happened IRL, there'd be no end to the repercussions that the Judge and attorneys would suffer. Judicial misconduct is a grave mistake, and the consequences are severe. Thankfully this is a work of fiction (hopefully). The Judge also sentences her to a mental health treatment center, without permission from psychiatrists or other qualified health professionals. The only result from this clusterfuck would be a swift and immediate firing followed by an appeal. Granted she did attack them but that's only because the judge and attorney were being utter dicks for no reason. The writers clearly never studied law.