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Gunpowder Milkshake
2021's Gunpowder Milkshake is a stylishly thunderous and unapologetically bloody nail biter that doesn't allow the viewer time to sweat small plot points, but provides solid entertainment thanks to sophisticated direction and spectacular production values, including the most memorable use of the art of slow motion that this reviewer has ever seen.
Sam is a second generation professional assassin who hasn't seen her mother, Scarlett, in fifteen years. Sam is commissioned to retrieve a large amount of money from a powerful organization known as The Firm, an assignment that leads Sam to rescuing an 8 year old girl who has been kidnapped, killing the son of another powerful criminal, and finding assistance from three of her mother's former associates, also professional assassins, and just as Sam and the little girl are forced to go on the run, Scarlett comes back into her life right on cue.
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Director and co-screenwriter Navot Papushado has mounted a gargantuan and violent epic that is almost too much for the viewer to take in completely. There is initial yet familiar confusion as it's hard to tell who Sam is working for and who is after her, and the answer to these questions seem to change throughout the running time. But Papushado has provided a terrific tale in this Me too area, populated with strong female characters who spend the majority of the running time kicking serious ass without ever breaking a sweat.
Papushado's approach to presenting this story definitely displays influence from directors like Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie, but brings his own style to the singularly uniquecanvas upon which this story is mounted. Jack Rabbit Slims gets a layer we don't see coming when the diner that opens and closes the film has the hostess making all patrons give up their weapons before being seated. We never expect the library where Sam meets her mother's former partners to have a computerized headquarters upstairs and hundreds of hollowed out books full of weapons and cash. Loved that bowling alley too where Sam dispatches of a trio of thugs she calls the Boneheads and that creepy hospital where our heroine temporarily loses the use of her arms. The relationship that develops between Sam and the little girl kind of reminded me of Sigourney Weaver and Carrie Henn in Aliens. Loved when they were driving the car together.
Papushado puts so much detail into the look of the film, including a flawless use of slow motion that the viewer almost doesn't notice how a lot of the violence on display completely defies logic. The film features incredible art direction/set direction, editing, sound, and music. There are standout performances from Karen Gillan as Sam, Lena Heady as Scarlett, and especially Carla Gugino as Madeline, but this film is, more than anything, a textbook for aspiring directors. LOVE that title too.
2021's Gunpowder Milkshake is a stylishly thunderous and unapologetically bloody nail biter that doesn't allow the viewer time to sweat small plot points, but provides solid entertainment thanks to sophisticated direction and spectacular production values, including the most memorable use of the art of slow motion that this reviewer has ever seen.
Sam is a second generation professional assassin who hasn't seen her mother, Scarlett, in fifteen years. Sam is commissioned to retrieve a large amount of money from a powerful organization known as The Firm, an assignment that leads Sam to rescuing an 8 year old girl who has been kidnapped, killing the son of another powerful criminal, and finding assistance from three of her mother's former associates, also professional assassins, and just as Sam and the little girl are forced to go on the run, Scarlett comes back into her life right on cue.
Director and co-screenwriter Navot Papushado has mounted a gargantuan and violent epic that is almost too much for the viewer to take in completely. There is initial yet familiar confusion as it's hard to tell who Sam is working for and who is after her, and the answer to these questions seem to change throughout the running time. But Papushado has provided a terrific tale in this Me too area, populated with strong female characters who spend the majority of the running time kicking serious ass without ever breaking a sweat.
Papushado's approach to presenting this story definitely displays influence from directors like Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie, but brings his own style to the singularly uniquecanvas upon which this story is mounted. Jack Rabbit Slims gets a layer we don't see coming when the diner that opens and closes the film has the hostess making all patrons give up their weapons before being seated. We never expect the library where Sam meets her mother's former partners to have a computerized headquarters upstairs and hundreds of hollowed out books full of weapons and cash. Loved that bowling alley too where Sam dispatches of a trio of thugs she calls the Boneheads and that creepy hospital where our heroine temporarily loses the use of her arms. The relationship that develops between Sam and the little girl kind of reminded me of Sigourney Weaver and Carrie Henn in Aliens. Loved when they were driving the car together.
Papushado puts so much detail into the look of the film, including a flawless use of slow motion that the viewer almost doesn't notice how a lot of the violence on display completely defies logic. The film features incredible art direction/set direction, editing, sound, and music. There are standout performances from Karen Gillan as Sam, Lena Heady as Scarlett, and especially Carla Gugino as Madeline, but this film is, more than anything, a textbook for aspiring directors. LOVE that title too.