The lead of Gunpowder Milkshake is Karen Gillan. Most people are probably like who the HELL is Karen Gillian. Well, I’m here to remind you that Gillian has been delivering BIG, BIG entertainment for your for years now. She’s Ruby Roundhouse in the Jumanji reboots, and she is the delightfully sardonic complicated, very blue Nebula from Guardians/The Avengers movies. So the least we could do is give her a badass action movie on Netflix, and as expected, Gillan rises to the challenge again, delivering bonafide entertainment, this time of the R rated variety.
Gillan plays Sam, the best hitwoman for hire working for Jim McAlister’s (Ralph Ineson) “firm” whose HR is run by Paul Giamatti’s Nathan. Abandoned by her mother (Lena Headey) at an early age, Sam makes ends meet following in mommy’s footsteps, doing violent jobs, getting paid, lather, rinse repeat. One night, Sam gets called in to apprehend/disarm a robber of The Firm, but a series of misfortunes leads Sam to care for Emily (Chloe Coleman), a young girl caught in the crosshairs of this criminal organization.
I’m pretty sure Gunpowder Milkshake cheated off John Wick’s test in movie school. The movie is almost exactly same: greatest living assassin lives in a stylized world run and defined by criminal organizations. But hey, at least they cheated off the cool smart kid in school; who doesn’t want more stylized John Wick like movies? This milkshake steals the key Wick ingredient: an underworld turning real world locales into havens for criminal organizations. In Gunpowder’s case, libraries, bowling alleys, and dentist offices, all have delightful and sometimes grotesque ulterior motives. Each location is unique and staged in an impressive stylized way to deliver maximum impact when the fighting begins. The plot is simple, revolving around revenge, conspiracies, and families lost and found again, obviously through glorious excessive violence. And you have a host of fascinating supporting characters, led by the triad of “Librarians” played by perennially underrated Carla Gugino, respect commanding Angela Bassett, and martial arts matriarch Michelle Yeoh. When amazing actors like that take supporting roles in your movie, you know there’s a high floor of competence and entertainment that Gunpowder Milkshake is going to provide.
But the big key to a movie named Gunpowder Milkshake is the action better be as good as the title. And for the most part, it delivers on that titular promise of mayhem. The way the movie goes about it for a while is by combining John Wick and Jason Bourne action together. Karen Gillan uses that lanky frame of hers and whatever item is near her to inflict as much pain as possible on her targets. The first fight Gillan uses bowling balls and suitcases. The most inspired one takes place in the dentist’s office, where all the participants in the fight are hamstrung by an ailment, making the fight creative and totally silly at the same time, perfect for the tone of the movie, followed by a car chase that also is totally ludicrous and fun. The big finale fight uses all sorts of sets to cater to each fighter’s skillset, with Yeoh flying around with her num-chuk like chains, and Gillian and Lena Headey letting the bullets fly fast and often for example. You might roll your eyes at the plagiarism but your eyes will also bulge a little at the commitment to the insanity Gunpowder Milkshake goes for.
I know I’ve been pushing the plagiarism button hard on Gunpowder Milkshake. But the movie is directed by Navot Papushado, and Israeli director. Maybe John Wick didn’t make it to Israel yet, and this is his totally original idea? If that’s the case, I apologize Mr. Papushado, and I look forward to Karen Gillian and Keanu Reeves joining forces in a criminal underground action fest for the ages. Baba Yaga meets the Gunpowder Milkshaker!