Gunpowder Milkshake wants so very much to be a kick-ass, feminist action movie—and it is, if only by virtue of its squad of formidable woman fighters. Unfortunately, in the process, it forgets to invest in an emotionally logical narrative too. Gender-bending the traditional dynamics of an action noir is a great starting point for something new and different, but it doesn’t make a story. While Gunpowder Milkshake has some fuzzy things to say about parenting, found family, and queer community, it never commits to any of those themes. Because of this, the film’s emotional stakes aren’t as high as they could be, undercutting some of the truly great action in this film. Lucky for Gunpowder Milkshake (and for us), the film has many qualities outside of the thinness of its narrative, most especially its visual style. Director Papushado, who also co-wrote the Gunpowder Milkshake screenplay with Ehud Lavski, creates a color-saturated playground for the gory engagements of the city’s criminal underworld. The kineticism of his cinematography is reminiscent of Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman and the color palette has much in common with David Leitch’s Atomic Blonde, but (unlike the film’s plot) the visual style of Gunpowder Milkshake is too dynamic, rich, and specific to feel derivative. That visual clarity applies to the fight sequences as well, which are as clever as they are decipherable—two adjectives too rarely applied to contemporary Hollywood action filmmaking these days. The film brings together a cast of talented physical performers to deliver on the action, most notably the iconic Michelle Yeoh, who is underutilized in the film’s supporting cast, which also includes Angela Bassett, Carla Gugino, Paul Giamatti, and The Witcher‘s Freya Allan. As fans of The Sarah Connor Chronicles will know, Headey knows her way around a roundhouse kick, and slips back into the badass action mom role as if she never left it. But the brunt of the fight choreography falls to Gillan. The actor-director made famous by Doctor Who first demonstrated her action chops as Nebula in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but her action work there and in the Jumanji franchise is contained to the occasional, climactic fight sequence, and often as part of an ensemble. Here, Gillan is the protagonist leading the action, and she steps up to each unique challenge—from acting multiple scenes without the use of her arms to taking out a gaggle of goons with a panda-shaped rolling suitcase and some bowling balls. Gunpowder Milkshake will be available in the U.S., Canada, and the Nordic countries on Netflix on July 14. It will be released in theaters internationally on July 15.
