Review: Gunpowder Milkshake

A stone-faced assassin (Karen Gillan) gets a case of the feels when taking a young girl under her wing after having assassinated her father. Gillan, in turn was abandoned as a child by her stone-cold assassin mother (Lena Headey) who has been in hiding ever since. Now, as events see an assassin gang war starting up, Gillan and the kid have to seek refuge with Headey and her assassin associates Carla Gugino, Angela Bassett, and Michelle Yeoh. Paul Giamatti plays the shifty HR guy from the assassin’s firm that employs Gillan.

 

Girl-powered 2021 action flick from director Navot Papushado (“Big Bad Wolves”) and debut co-writer Ehud Lavski is plagued by a rather dull leading lady and a screenplay and visual style that apes “John Wick” and “Sucker Punch”, respectively but with a 50s “Happy Days”-esque aesthetic at times. Personally I think the maligned “Sucker Punch” is much the better film, and certainly the “John Wick” franchise is superior to both.

 

As soon as Carla Gugino turns up as a ‘librarian’ all you can think of is Lance Riddick’s concierge in the “John Wick” films. And what a waste of her talent, along with the talents of Michelle Yeoh and Angela Bassett. The latter in particular has been slumming it for far too long for someone with such gifts and charisma. Her underwhelming post-Tina career is one of the most baffling things in all of cinematic history. By comparison to them, leading lady Karen Gillan is utterly forgettable and gives off anti-charm as a not very ingratiating protagonist. She seems to have facial paralysis throughout. But then, even the usually terrific Paul Giamatti isn’t terribly memorable here, either.

 

The action, which could’ve potentially made this film bearable is completely boring. Mainly because you don’t care if our surly, robotic heroine lives or dies. Nice neon colour design, but the whole thing is unoriginal and leading lady Karen Gillan unpersuasive in her attempts to seem stoic and bad arse. She, and the film itself are boring. Girl power or not, this just won’t do.

 

Rating: D+

 

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