Every assassin has a story to tell about why they chose to do what they do. Sometimes, it’s simply because they had the necessary skills and needed the money. Other times, as in the case of Sam (Karen Gillan and Freya Allan), her mother Scarlet (Lena Headey), an elite assassin, was cruelly forced to abandon her daughter and go on the run. Scarlet left Sam with Nathan (Paul Giamatti), who works for the Firm, the ruthless crime syndicate for which she also worked. Fifteen years later, Sam has followed in her mother’s footsteps despite their estrangement, using her talents to clean up the Firm’s most dangerous messes.
When a high-risk job goes wrong, resulting in Sam killing the son of rival kingpin Jim McAlester (Ralph Ineson), the Firm wastes no time in throwing Sam under the bus. With the responsibility to protect an innocent eight-year-old girl named Emily (Chloe Coleman) and a target on her back, Sam is led back to her mother and her former lethal associates: Anna May (Angela Bassett), Florence (Michelle Yeoh), and Madeleine (Carla Gugino), who join forces with Sam in an avenging war against those who took everything from them.
The story’s themes center on the mother-daughter relationship and found family. Sam finds herself on familiar emotional ground with Emily only hours after she shot Emily’s father on the Firm’s order: they bond quickly, due to Sam’s guilt and her need to protect Emily, given that they each have one parent who is absent and one who is dead. The reunion between Sam and Scarlet after 15 years is never given a proper moment to breathe; rather, it is wrapped up quite easily due to the life-threatening circumstances they are in. Even Scarlet’s reunion with her former associates, especially Anna May, only gives a glimpse of a story that could have cooked a bit more.
From the opening frame, director Navot Papushado uses every inspiration he has gathered in his cinematic journey. The film’s neon-dipped universe with its electro-synth score and tracksuits clearly shows Papushado’s admiration for Nicolas Winding Refn. The trench coat and hat Sam wears pays homage to film noir. The relationship dynamic between Sam and Emily, especially when Emily says that she is Sam’s apprentice, calls to mind Luc Besson’s Léon: The Professional. The inspiration doesn’t stop there: the appearance and costuming of McAlister’s nephew Virgil (Adam Nagaitis) is clearly inspired by Gary Oldman’s character in Léon.
The world of Gunpowder Milkshake — with the likes of crime syndicate the Firm, which controls everything, and the Librarians, who provide you with firepower and weapons hiding inside books — might remind you of the John Wick universe, but the resemblance stops once the action takes center stage. This is where Papushado tries to do too much at the same time. He tries and fails to go for a balance between being innovative, brutal yet fun, and badass — a balance which Cathy Yan achieved seamlessly in Birds of Prey.
The use of slow-motion breaks the flow of a gunfight in the Library, and the abrupt uses of the soundtrack don’t help. To top that, Papushado pushes the slow-motion further for a diner fight, which only takes you out of any excitement you had for an all-out bullet-flying, blood-splattering finale. The only enjoyable action sequence is when Sam’s hands get paralyzed and she has to ask Emily to tape her hands to a knife and gun as they try to fight their way out of a hospital.
The disappointment doesn’t stop there. Papushado fails to make use of the incredible talents of his ensemble cast, which includes the likes of Headey, Bassett, Yeoh, and Gugino. The lack of depth in their character arcs is what makes you shake your head. There are expectations and excitement to watch these badass women come together in an action movie…to waste them like this is a crime, to be honest. Given that, Gillan and Coleman shine in their characters with their dynamic humor and dramatic scenes.
With an interesting premise and a cast of badass women, Papushado had all the ingredients at his disposal to make an innovative yet familiar milkshake full of enthralling action with women shooting and beating up men. But the lack of character arcs, overuse of slow motion, and a weak villain stop Gunpowder Milkshake from being on par with the likes of high-quality female-led action films like Birds of Prey, Atomic Blonde, or even The Old Guard.
