There’s at least one reason to stay away from Gunpowder Milkshake, but so far it doesn’t have anything to do with the actual movie that’s going to be starring Karen Gillam, Angela Bassett, Lena Headey, Carla Cugino, Michelle Yeoh, and Paul Giamatti. Instead, it’s the few words that have been given concerning how various assassin movies have become a ‘boy’s club’ in the past, which brings to mind the idea that there is still a lack of equality in movies. It would appear that some folks have forgotten about Kill Bill, Colombiana, Hanna, Ava, and various other movies featuring female assassins, not to mention Atomic Blonde and a few others. But one very obvious reason to be psyched about seeing this movie would be the cast since every person named is someone that people can’t help but like since they’ve performed in enough high-powered movies that have helped to make their careers something worth following. Gillam will be playing the daughter of a renowned assassin who is left with The Firm, a ruthless organization that ends up raising her to be the same type of killer as her mother, efficient and undeniably dangerous. When she manages to botch a job though one can only imagine how big of a target will be placed on her back since assassins that don’t get the job done aren’t long for this world when it comes to the movies.
As a result of being hunted by The Firm, she’ll turn to The Librarians, of which Yeoh, Bassett, and Cugino are a part of, in order to protect herself and the 8-year old girl that The Firm apparently wants dead. She’ll also be joined by her mother, played by Headey, which means that if anyone is thinking that we’re bound to see something less than impressive they might want to remember that female assassin movies have been packed with quite a bit of action, just as happened with their male counterparts. In fact, there have been times when the action is even more impressive in a female assassin movie simply because people don’t expect as much and are pleasantly blown away when fight sequences are so expertly-performed that they make the eyes widen and the jaw drop. When it comes to an assassin movie one doesn’t need to see Bond-style action and mannerisms at all times, since the role of an assassin isn’t to be seen nearly as much given that this would appear to be counterintuitive to the job. But when the action scenes do come along, a lot of assassin movies tend to be quite impressive or just downright horrible, and so far, considering the actresses that are being used for this movie, it does feel that things will be inherently deadly as well as physical when the need arises.
The role of the female assassin is one that has helped to empower women and enrich the movie experience of many individuals since it’s not just a strike for equality in movies but also a reminder that women can be every bit as effective in a lot of roles when it comes to action movies. The need that some have to claim that action movies are a ‘boy’s club’ is kind of laughable since women have been featured in action/adventure movies for decades and have thankfully been gaining ground with each passing year as they’ve become more and more prominent when taking on bigger roles. Movies such as this are further proof that the action/adventure genre is not entirely male-dominated any longer and that women are being given a bigger voice and in some cases have used that platform to be seriously impressive. There have been movies in which the lead female character has been hyped beyond belief and kind of failed to deliver, but there are also various reasons for this just as there would be for any other movie. From one reason to the next it’s obvious that a movie needs everything to fall in line in order to be a hit, and there are those moments when even the most anticipated movie falls flat. Remember the Scorpion King? Folks thought that would be non-stop entertainment and it fell flat in several areas. Kill Bill was great up until a point and then it slowed down, and then sped up, and then slowed down. Many want to call Quentin Tarantino a genius, but few will ever state that he’s another filmmaker that can make mistakes just as much as anyone else.
Gunpowder Milkshake is bound to have its slow points and at least a few great action sequences judging from the premise alone, but until we get to see what it’s all about, it sounds like a movie that could be extremely interesting and worth a look. It could be worth it.
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