Warning: if stylised, choreographed violence is not your thing best you walk away now 'cause the majority of this film is one chaotic fight scene after the next.
Add an over-saturation of neon colours and neo-noir production themes, and 'Gunpowder Milkshake' is an explosion for the senses – but that's about it. There's no multi-layered plot stitching together complex character developments to be found anywhere.
However, if high octane violence served in jumbo-sized vats of pure nonsense is your thing buckle in 'cause you're really going to enjoy the ride.
The film follows Sam (Karen Gillan – Nebula from MCU) an elite assassin who works for the nebulous syndicate The Firm; a group of old men in suits who never utter a word who sit around in comfy-looking leather chairs looking glum as the action unfolds. Instead, they let their head of the HR department the conniving Nathan (the always excellent Paul Giamatti) handle proceedings.
Sam was raised by The Firm after her mother Scarlet (Lena Headey), also an elite assassin working for The Firm, abandoned Sam 15 years earlier disappearing into the night after she's attacked by a horde of gangster henchmen.
Fast forward back to the present and Sam has had a bad night; sent on a mission by Nathan it results in her unknowingly killing the son of The Firm's leader, Jim McAlester (Ralph Ineson) who wants vengeance.
Despite having had a fatherly role with Sam's upbringing, Nathan quickly sells out her location to McAlester but not before sending Sam on another mission for The Firm – to retrieve a stack of stolen bonds (worth millions) from an employee who's being blackmailed by another group who have kidnapped his daughter (Chloe Coleman - 'My Spy', 'Big Little Lies').
After a brutal Royal Rumble-like fight scene in a bowling alley Sam manages to rescue the young girl but not before the bonds encounter a grenade.
With the one way to escape the mess she finds herself in with The Firm having blown up, and with a massive target on her back (queue the endless stream of henchmen that follow for the remainder of the film), Sam has only one chance to survive: reunite with her mother and her lethal associates, The Librarians: Michelle Yeoh, Angela Bassett and Carla Gugino (despite only having minor roles, these three were the highlight of the movie).
To be honest, by the mid-point of the movie I was left feeling a little 'meh' as the paper-thin plot was not able to stand up to the onslaught of violence (often portrayed comically) that dominated virtually every scene.
That said, I would love to own the super-sweet-dope jacket Sam wears for the majority of the film – The Rollin Roars Gutterball Champions; hint, hint marketing department.
If you're after some mindless, visually stunning violence and major plot holes don't cause you to tick uncontrollably then you'll thoroughly enjoy 'Gunpowder Milkshake'.
'Gunpowder Milkshake' is currently screening in cinemas nationally.
