MOVING PICTURES

‘GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE’ CONFIRMS ACTION LADY SUMMER AT THE MOVIES

BY JOE NOLAN, FILM CRITIC

Netflix released Gunpowder Milkshake on the heels of Black Widow, bringing back the Marvel Cinematic Universe and breaking multiple pandemic screening records. I didn’t know this was going to be Action Lady Summer, but I’m here for it. The Gunpowder Milkshake trailer looked like an all-women action film with promise — like the rather masterful Black Widow which we compared favorably to the definitely masterful Kill Bill saga in our last review.

Gunpowder Milkshake isn’t a film that really makes you believe in lady assassins, but that’s not the point. Gunpowder Milkshake takes on the accoutrements of a gritty crime flick, but it constantly subverts the genre with goofy dark humor and a flair for the fantastic. It’s also full of fun movie and book references, and lots of slowmo for slow-mo’s sake, and go ahead and make some popcorn already.

Sam (Karen Gillian) is an assassin born into a world of underground crime. When money goes missing from The Firm crime syndicate’s coffers they deploy Sam to fix the problem and bring back the dough. She enlists the help of three librarians at a secret archive: Anna May (Angela Bassett), Flora (Michelle Yeoh) and Madeleine (Carla Gugino).

Everything that can go wrong does go wrong, sometimes, in the murderous world of underground crime, and when the smoke clears Sam finds herself with a pint-sized sidekick after rescuing a kidnapped 8-year-old girl named Emily (Chloe Coleman). Sam ends up on the wrong side of her clients and her targets, and she and Emily must go on the run to survive long enough for Sam to get her revenge on The Firm’s head of HR (Paul Giamatti) for throwing them to the wolves.

Israeli Writer/Director Navot Papushado is known for his knack for blending comedy and horror. The auteur’s debut feature, Rabies (2011) won a Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Screenplay, and Big Bad Wolves (2013) won raves from Quentin Tarantino who dubbed the movie “the best film of the year.”

Gunpowder Milkshake borrows its atmosphere from the John Wick films, materializing a subterranean universe of crime complete with its own secret societies, secret arsenals, secret emergency rooms, secret markets and secret wars. But ‘Milkshake shows us this world through the eyes of women, and echoes Kill Bill’s themes of mothers and daughters, and deadly sisterhoods bonded in violence and honor.

Gillian is mostly good here, but there are many moments where her angry daughter, badass gangster and deadly assassin vibes are more affected than embodied. Still, she hits enough true notes that I want to blame the inconsistencies on Papushado, who’s got writing and visual chops, but may still be developing as a director capable of inspiring consistent nuanced performances out of his actors. Luckily, Gillian is surrounded by legendary screen power queens like Yeoh and Bassett, and even Lena Headey — who makes one of the movie’s most memorable entrances as Sam’s mother, Scarlet.

Gunpowder Milkshake might be a one-off, but — like the Kill Bill saga — its last frame trails possible loose ends, and it’s possible that we’ll see another chapter. This movie is a self-conscious collage of bits from other films and ideas from other directors, married to an unabashed celebration of crime genre tropes. But Papushado brings enough of his own sensibility to make it all feel fresh enough to engage and entertain all over again. Maybe you’re as surprised as I am that movies would be fighting their way back out of the pandemic lead by a phalanx of femmes fatales? Happy Action Lady Summer.

Joe Nolan is a critic, columnist and performing singer/songwriter based in East Nashville. Find out more about his projects at www.joenolan.com.