Jennifer Garner is back in fighting form for her latest movie 'Peppermint'

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- In the new movie "Peppermint," Jennifer Garner plays a wife and mother who sees her husband and daughter shot dead in a calculated drive-by shooting.

When the fix is in to protect the really bad guys who did this, she decides to take matters into her own hands.

"This really goes into the rage that can come from being a mom," Garner said. "And it expresses that fully in kind of a vigilante angel lady who's just off the rails - but she's pushed there."

Garner said she worked tirelessly for three solid, very hard months to get back into fighting form.

"It had really been a long time since I had done any action," Garner said. "You know, I had always done action with ballet as my background and this time I did it with action as my background, you know? And so I was using this whole skill set that I hadn't-- that I hadn't taken advantage of in a decade. And I just took it to a different level."

Action, yes. But nothing too bloody or gory!

"This is a female empowerment fantasy R-rated movie and I think, you know, it's important to me that women know that they're safe going to see it," Garner said. "They'll have a good time."

"Peppermint" is in theaters now.