Girl Power, guns & milkshake

Gunpower, Milkshake is a star-studded, ridiculously amazing, neon-themed kill-em-all-action-packed movie featuring an ensemble of some of the greatest women to ever grace the big screen, having made their own marks in Hollywood history.

The story follows Sam, inspired by the badass-ness of Kill Bill, and is played by Karen Gillan (Nebula in Avengers/GOTG & Ruby Roundhouse in Jumanji, yep, her!), a highly-skilled assassin with abandonment issues and a conscience, who gets burned by her employers, known as the Firm after bad intel leads to a series of bad breaks (one of which sees her become a target of a spooky boss villain played by Ralph Ineson). After killing a target accused of stealing from the Firm, Sam unwillingly becomes the adoptive 'mother' of his young daughter, Emily (Chloe Coleman), who ostensibly becomes a reminder of her strained relationship with her mother and a living personification of her conscience. Refusing to leave Emily, knowing abandonment herself, she takes her on a wild ride of humor, car stunts in a vintage Porsche 944, gun-fu, and classic movie puns, until she finally reunites with her mother, Scarlet, played by Lena Heady (Cersei of the famed Game of Thrones) and the Sisterhood of Assassins (The Librarians), with the single desire to show boys how it's done and demonstrate that the only reason for men's presence in this flick is to be killed.

Credit: Gyfcat

The film is director Navot Papushado's English debut, having directed movies such as Hebrew Thriller, Bad Bad Wolves (2013), and Rabies (2010), and brings together a powerhouse of three generations of the greatest female actors in recent history and a bunch of unfortunate chaps who quickly meet their demise.

Karen Gillan takes the lead role, alongside Lena Heady, Carla Gugino (San Andreas, Geralds Game), Angela Basset (Black Panther, Mission Impossible, Olympus has fallen), Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and basically any martial arts movie with a woman wreaking havoc) and of course, Chloe Coleman (My spy, 2020), whose charm and innocence are a riveting balance to Sam's cold-witted demeanor.

Gunpowder Milkshake has many strong qualities, with its music, dark humor, crazy vibrant color palette, and vivid neon-themed color grading being its most noticeable (think Color out of Space 2019). Though highly entertaining, the level of visual spectacle sometimes outshines the cast and the deeper narrative of the story.

Director, Navot Papushado, creates an underworld ecosystem, eerily similar to the continental in John Wick (a diner in this case), albeit not as elaborate as the latter. The continental in John Wick, which functioned as a self-reliant sovereign state, complete with the services of 'region heads', a hospice, doctors, tailors, cartographers, and gun merchants. They have their own currency, legal documents signed in blood, and a respected code of honor. More importantly, they have a roster of highly trained assassins, (some of who gave the renowned baba yaga a run for his money), and this is the most crucial element Gunpowder Milkshake lacks; a stark scarcity of worthy opponents. The fight sequences and choreography is beautiful to watch (with the scene in the bowling alley being the most iconic), although they don't always work and are not on par with other gun-fu movies such as John Wick, The Kingsman, or martial arts hits like The Raid. Sam didn't get a worthy opponent to truly test her prowess, although she did teach a lot of henchmen a lesson as the story progressed. The choice of music is spectacular, with the music subsuming the violence, forcing the audience to pay attention to the color play of blue and red hues (and invariably the battle of the sexes).

It does address several themes (notably motherhood and family) and makes subtle references to classic movies and tropes, like the scene in the garage where she drives a stake through the heart of the thief in a Dracula mask, or when she pushed a large ceramic tooth on the thug she repeatedly called bone-head. Sam for a good part struggles with feelings of abandonment, which influence her decision to take Emily under her wing; an allusion to the inescapable grip of childhood and early trauma.

Situating a 'gun depot' in a Library with guns hidden in books (in plain sight) and where old guns can be exchanged for new ones is quite fascinating, addressing the long-held belief that knowledge is power. In view of the present American political climate, and at the height of fake news, data manipulation, and illegal data collection, which is more powerful; the pen or the gun?

The story at its core symbolizes the roles of men and women and serves as an allegory for feminism and the societal stance of women against the systemic and institutional dominance of men. The firm is comprised of all men (mostly old men I might add), who are obviously calling the shots even though they clearly lack the skills required to maintain such positions of power. Jim McAlester's crew is also male-dominated with a clear hierarchy and chain of command. The firm and the McAlester gang are no match for the Librarians, all of whom are out-maneuvered, out-witted, and out-gunned by the more capable team of women. Ultimately, it's a story about women taking power.

Karen Gillan has proven herself (again) and officially cemented herself as an action star. She will make another appearance in Guardians of The Galaxy 3 in 2023.

By and large, Gunpowder Milkshake is a great film if you are into ass-kicking and thrilling, no holds barred violence. Good for a Netflix and chill Friday!