Gunpowder Milkshake

Some films arrive without warning and turn out to be sufficiently jubilant to make us want to stand up and applaud. After two films co-directed with Aharon Keshales (Rabies (2010), Big Bad Wolves (2013), Bloody milkshake (Gunpowder Milkshake) marks Navot Papushado's first solo directorial effort on a script he co-wrote with Ehud Lavski. The result is an action film in the vein of those written by Derek Kolstad (John Wick trilogy (2014-2019) and recently Nobody). This impression is reinforced by the cutting of the film that will remind many of the impression of turning the pages of an excellent comic book that knows how to offer us our permanent adrenaline dose while giving the main characters a real psychology.

When Sam (Karen Gilian) was still a little girl, her mother Scarlet (Lena Headey), a hired killer, was forced to abandon her to protect her.  Time has passed and Sam has followed in her mother's footsteps and has become a top-notch hitwoman herself. She works for the Firm like her mother before. One night, during a high-risk mission, she is faced with a dilemma: remain loyal to the Firm, or save the life of an eight-year-old girl. Deciding to save the girl, she finds herself being chased by an opposing clan of the Firm whose big boss has learned that she killed his son. She will only be able to find help by finding her mother but also by calling on the people who trained her, a trio of librarians Florence (Michelle Yeoh), Anna May (Angela Bassett) and Madeleine (Carla Gugino). An impressive battle ensues...

Certainly those who loved the universe of John Wick will love this efficacious and perfectly calibrated action film that gives Karen Gillian her best role to date (Guardians of the Galaxy 1&2 (2014-2016), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), Jumanji: The Next Level (2019).  Supported by the excellent music of Haim Frank Ilfman the action scenes are spectacular and all successful even if we can in some cases criticize the regular use of slow motion that somehow serves the pace of this film.

However, we have to admit that after the excellent Nobody and Black Widow, we didn't expect to discover an action movie that is perfectly readable and that knows how to play with the nerves of the spectators and not to be satisfied with simply reproducing already seen and seen again action scenes. The open ending could let us believe that a sequel would be in the realm of possibility, for our part we are already ready to reserve our place as Bloody milkshake (Gunpowder Milkshake) is a jubilant success as we would like to see more often.

Gunpowder Milkshake
Directed by Navot Papushado
Produced by Andrew Rona, Alex Heineman
Written by Navot Papushado, Ehud Lavski
Starring Karen Gillan, Lena Headey, Carla Gugino, Chloe Coleman, Michelle Yeoh, Angela Bassett, Paul Giamatti
Music by Haim Frank Ilfman
Cinematography : Michael Seresin
Edited by Nicolas De Toth
Production companies : StudioCanal, The Picture Company
Distributed by Netflix (United States), StudioCanal (France)
Release date : July 14, 2021 (United States), July 21, 2021 (France)
Running time : 114 minutes

Seen on July 7 2021 (press screener)

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