‘There’s no more standing on the side-lines. We all need to pick a side...’
You don’t get many ensemble all woman action movies. Sure, there are action movie heroines like Ripley and Sarah Connor, but I’m struggling to recall an action movie with a number of different female stars. This could be because as I write this I’m suffering from serious jet lag, but it could also be because there just aren’t that many knocking about. Gunpowder Milkshake is a fine attempt to redress that imbalance…
Sam (Karen Gillan) is the daughter of murderer-for-hire Scarlet (Lena Headey). When Sam follows her mum into the family business, a botched hit and the intervention of a shady cabal of old white men leads to the kidnapping of a precocious 8-year-old (sorry, eight and three quarters) girl named Emily (Chloe Coleman). These three generation of women must team up with a trio of badass librarians (no, really) played by Michelle Yeoh, Carla Gugino and Angela Bassett in order to defeat Jim (Ralph Ineson) – the leader of powerful crime organization.
If that sounds convoluted then it’s a testament to Navot Papushado and Ehud Lavski’s fleet-footed script that Gunpower Milkshake remains coherent and compelling throughout. It helps that Papushado – who also directs – has an eye for the spectacular, with a number of action sequences here matching, and even sometimes surpassing, anything that the John Wick franchise has ever attempted. It is also helpful that the cast really do excel with Gillan more than justifying her status as the leading lady in an action film, and both Heady and particularly Gugino great alongside her.
Without giving too much away, Papushado and his talented cast leave plenty of room for a sequel and I, for one, would very much welcome this being turned into a full blown franchise. Impressive stuff.