Women pull the trigger in action flick Gunpowder Milkshake

Gunpowder Milkshake has an impressive cast, headlined by Karen Gillan (Nebula in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero franchise). She’s joined by Lena Headey (Game of Thrones), Michelle Yeoh (Star Trek), Angela Bassett (9-1-1), Carla Gugino (Jett), and Paul Giamatti (Billions).

The story: when Sam (Gillan) was 12 years old, her mother, Scarlet (Headey), an assassin, abandoned her in a diner, never to be seen again. Sam is taken in by Nathan (Giamatti), head of the HR department in The Firm and raises her to become an assassin too. She’s one one of the best in the business. 

When a job goes wrong and Sam kills a bunch of guys, including the son of a  powerful crime boss, Nathan does his best to protect her. He gives her a job – recover money stolen from the firm and kill the man who stole it.

Sam isn’t really in the mood for killing that night but again things go wrong and she finds herself in a situation with an eight-year-old girl, plus the money is gone, and so is Nathan’s power to keep Sam safe. Now The Firm is after her, and so is the nasty crime boss. 

When you’re in that kind of trouble, the best place to go is a library. Librarians are the true keepers of the universe. In this case, it’s not your average library, and the librarians are a sisterhood of assassins (of which Scarlet was a member before she disappeared 15 years earlier).

Carla Gugino plays Madeleine, Angela Bassett plays Anna May, and Michelle Yeoh is Florence. One reviewer wondered why they were dressed like the Powerpuff Girls but I don’t see it. I mean, those cartoon gals are all head and no body.

Anyway. Moving along. No spoilers, exactly, as to what happens after that (and it’s fairly obvious how it will all play out) but it’s pretty much non-stop stunts, action, fights, and graphic violence. Lots of blood and exploding heads. It’s brutal, and relentless.

Several critics have likened this movie to John Wick, but there’s no dog. Visually, it’s insanely neon bright but also dark and moody. Architecture is art deco, the sky when we see it is lurid, and the world in which it’s set is pure fantasy; barely nothing else exists outside of Sam and her aunties, and the child she has made it her business to save to balance her karmic debt.

The Wall Street Journal calls it “stylish mayhem” and The Guardian says it’s a slick thriller that goes down smoothly. If you enjoy movies like Kill Bill, Kingsman: The Secret Service and Birds of Prey, this is right up your alley.