Gunpowder Milkshake

A deliciously campy action-comedy that never took itself too seriously and - most importantly - does not ask its audience to do so too. Director and co-writer Navot Papushado understood that the main mission was to deliver entertaining fun and he accomplished it. Armed with an outstanding cast that seemed to be having fun and a paper thin, generic script that only served as the backbone to hang on the stylish fight sequences choreographed against groovy tunes, long takes and slow-mos, Gunpowder Milkshake was a delightful near 2-hours romp (though it could stand to loose maybe 10 to 15 minutes).

The film was peppered with enough dark self-awareness to be funny but, for better or worse, it never did give itself a chance to develop an emotional core deep enough for us to care. What we cared about was just the undeniable likability of the cast and the chemistry between them. 

Karen Gillan - my, my, how our custard-dipping, fish fingers-eating Amy Pond has grown! - was charismatic enough to lead the ensemble. She has the dramatic chops but unfortunately not much was called of it here. Fortunately, she had an easy chemistry with young Chloe Coleman - talented and a standout - which helped to sell the film's flimsy central conceit. And further, thankfully, she did make for a convincing-enough professional assassin, ably kicking asses and giving sass. The latter definitely helped the film move along. Especially when Lena Headey came into the picture.

Ah...Headey aka Cersei. We wished you had channeled more of Cersei's badassery. She and Gillan made a good pair and their banter felt natural. However, Headey did not have much action sequences to show off other than holding some sort of firearms. If she was just gonna be sauntering and standing around, the writers might as well give her some delicious lines to swish around - or spit out - like fine wine. 

As good as some of the action sequences were and two great ones comes to mind: two early scenes with Gillan at a bowling alley and the doctor's office. What this film really lacked was the visceral hand-to-hand combat that many male-fronted action flicks seemed to have. Other than the aforementioned two scenes, most of the action sequences were mainly gunfights with some interspersed hand combat. But what a waste considering that you have Michelle Yeoh and Carla Gugino in your cast. No disrespect to Angela Bassett, but Yeoh and Gugino have more action creds.

Actually, Yeoh, Gugino and Bassett were ultimately kind of under utilised. Their scenes were standouts and as characters, they were a lot more interesting than Gillan's and Headey's. The Powers That Be ought to consider a prequel about them three a la The King's Man, i.e. The Librarians.

Cinematography was by Michael Seresin and that bowling alley sequence was awesome! As was the final diner one. Music was by Frank Ilfman and his score complemented that the rollicking tunes that punctuated many of the fight scenes.

Gunpowder Milkshake was a campy, fun watch that understood its purpose and gamely delivered on its promise of an entertaining, unserious romp.