Creative kills in slick but soulless viewing
Female talent line up to kick a**
At one point in the terrifically named Gunpowder Milkshake killers dressed as Frankenstein and Dracula do battle before the latter is vanquished by a wooden mop handle.
Welcome to the weird and wonderful world created by Israeli writer-director Navot Papushado and co-scripter Ehud Lavski.
Papushado makes his Englishlanguage feature debut after helming the fantastic Big Bad Wolves and Rabies.
The threadbare plot – three generations of women fighting back against antagonists trying to take everything from them – is just an excuse to bombard us with increasingly creative kills and kick-a** ladies looking out for each other.
Karen Gillan (Sam) leads the way and the Inverness-born star would give Liam Neeson and Matt Damon a run for their money in the using anything to hand, don’t mess with me assassin stakes.
Although Gillan is no stranger to action thanks to her time with Marvel and in the Jumanji universe, this is unlike anything she’s ever done before – and she rises to the challenge.
Papushado crams his film with outstanding female talent; Angela Bassett (Anna), Lena Headey (Scarlet), Michelle Yeoh (Florence) and Carla Gugino (Madeleine) never let you down and 12-year-old Chloe Coleman (Emily) proves she can hang with her elders.
Men are rather sidelined or presented as boo-hiss baddies, although Paul
Giamatti (Nathan) gives weight to his slender-but-crucial role.
Gunpowder Milkshake works best when its protagonists are laying the smackdown and Papushado revels in the carnage, which includes chains and hammers being wielded and a machine gun laying waste to a library’s basement.
But while his movie has some heart, the violence always takes over and it leaves Gunpowder Milkshake feeling like a rather soulless experience.
What are your thoughts on
Gunpowder Milkshake? Do you have a favourite action movie?
Pop me an email at ian.bunting@ reachplc.com and I will pass on your comments – and any movie or TV show recommendations you have – to your fellow readers.
Katie McShane contacted us to say: “I loved Shadow and Bone on Netflix. My daughter read the books and recommended it and I’m really glad she did. It’s a fantasy world that you get completely swept up in.”