Premise: An assassin navigates the criminal underworld while trying to keep herself and a little girl she finds alive.
Gunpowder Milkshake definitely belongs in a growing subgenre of highly stylized shoot em' ups. This genre goes back a long way. Smokin' Aces or Guy Ritchie's early movies fit the mold, but John Wick really set off this latest iteration. Since then, there's been a series of movies that all seem like they belong in the same world. Hotel Artemis, Terminal, Atomic Blond and now Gunpowder Milkshake all come to mind. In fact, it's surprising that Gunpowder Milkshake doesn't share a single writer, director, or producer with Hotel Artemis, Terminal, Atomic Blond, or any John Wick movie. Terminal is the most surprising to me, since they even have similar color palettes and settings. I'm fine with the movies all being alike. I've seen them all, so clearly I'm a fan.
When assessing Gunpowder Milkshake though I end up judging it more by the ingredients that the final product*, since I know from those other movies that I'm a fan of the final product. That's fine, because I did see this movie for the cast. For being such a big star, Karen Gillan does carry that many of her movies. She's part of ensembles normally. Gunpowder Milkshake though is her show, and she's pretty great front and center. Simply put, she kicks ass well and has picked up some comic tricks over the years. Even though she's only in her early 30s, she's good at playing the weariness of an old pro who knows her abilities. Between this and my spy, Chloe Coleman is quickly becoming my new favorite movie kid. She's good playing off adults in a way that's not too precocious. And I love how writer/director Navot Papushado rounds out the cast with a lot of old pros. I'm always in favor of seeing Lena Heady, Michelle Yeoh, Angela Bassett, and Carla Gugino beat people up. Hell. That's the core of an Expendables sequel I'd happily watch. Paul Giamatti works as criminal underworld middle-management. Best of all, I don't know who any of the henchmen are, so I don't have to feel bad when they get plowed down throughout the movie.
*Instead of deciding whether I prefer an Old Fashion or a Manhattan, I'm judging Manhattans by the kind of whiskey, vermouth, and bitters they use.
The movie is perhaps a little too aware of its Hot Topic potential*. There's no part of me that believes the filmmakers hadn't seen all the movies I mentioned earlier before making this. I'm a little mixed on the action too. Some of it is really clever and funny. I love how they pull off Gillan's paralyzed arm fight. There are other times though - the bowling alley fight, for example - where it felt choreographed; like I could hear them counting off the steps of the fight. It's pretty minor in the scheme of things.
*Hot Topic is still a thing, right?
Overall, I liked the movie plenty. I was bothered by the number of times I got to a scene thinking "Oh, that's a lot like [insert movie here]." I'd like to see more of these though. The cast is great. The world is interesting, just under-explored in this installment. It's much less disposable than a lot of Netflix's other action movies.
Verdict: Weakly Recommend
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