Gunpowder Milkshake is mashup of the movies John Wick & Close, but it's not nearly as good as either

Yesterday I had finished up streaming, and needing something to watch while I enjoyed some dinner. Well, I popped on Netflix and decided to give Gunpowder Milkshake a watch. Now, the only reason I had even heard of this movie is because someone wrote an article saying the movie was so much better than John Wick, and as much as I like Karen Gillan, there was no way that could be true. 

First thing I did after reading that article was check out the trailer for the movie. This all didn't happen yesterday, I'm just giving you some background. Anyway, I watched the trailer and my first thought after watching it was that it was a complete rip of John Wick with the plot line from Close, or even Polar with Mads Mikkelsen and Vanessa Hudgens. 

For anyone who hasn't seen any of those three movies I mentioned, hers a brief synopsis. Someone kills John Wick's dog. John Wick also happens to be a retired hitman who was part a very big network of contract killers. Close is about a personal security guard for a rich girl in the middle east trying to save her from a dangerous kidnap plot. The movies' protagonist is Noomi Rapace. Polar is about a hitman who is about to retire. He moves to the mountains where he meets this neighbor girl, whom he eventually saves and you learn there's more to their story than just being neighbors. 

Alright, so now let's actually talk about Gunpowder Milkshake shall we?-- and before I get to far into this, spoiler alert. 

Gunpowder MilkShake Synopsis

Gunpowder Milkshake stars Karen Gillan who plays Sam. Sam's mother, Scarlet, was an assassin but she didn't start out that way. Scarlet, played by Lena Headey, married a man who was an assassin and after he was murdered, Scarlet and Sam had no place to go, so the Liberians, played by Angela Bassett, Michelle Yeoh, and Carla Gugino, took them in and taught Scarlet the business. 

Scarlet ends up having to leave Sam behind because things have gotten too dangerous. They met what they call "The Diner", much like the Continental in John Wick, where Scarlet takes her chance to say goodbye. 15-years later, Sam finds herself in the same line of work with an organization known only as "The Firm". Sam is sent to kill some men, but finds herself on the wrong end of some information leaving a bloodbath, but what she doesn't know is that one of the men she killed is the son of a very powerful man who also leads a very powerful organization. 

After she returns to Nathan, played by Paul Giamatti, he explains that he has another job for her. Someone has stolen from "The Firm" and they want the money back. She is given an address, and when she arrives she finds a man there with a suitcase full of what look like bearer bonds. The phone rings and the man emerges from the bathroom and notices Sam. He tells her that he has to get the phone, they struggle and Sam shoots him. He slides down the side of the bed to the floor and reaches for the phone. He answers it and puts it on speaker. A distorted voice tells the man to bring the money to the bowling alley or his daughter is dead. 

The man pleads with Sam to save his daughter and she agrees. She calls Nathan and tells him the situation, but Nathan has other plans, so he sends his goons squad after her to talk to her and convince her to just bring the money in. While this is unfolding, "The Firm" becomes aware the Sam killed the son of Jim McAlister, the powerful guy I mentioned earlier, and they want to offer up Sam instead of going to war. 

Sam gets to the bowling alley, meets the men who are holding the little girl hostage, and agrees to follow their instructions to make the exchange. The goons Nathan sent show up and there's a brief fight scene. Sam makes her way to the exchange, completes it, and then when the little girl is safe Sam chases after the kidnappers only to see the money ultimately blown up. She tells Nathan, who has just learned about Jim's son, and tells her there's nothing he can do to protect her. Nathan ends the call with her and gets on the phone with Jim to let him know who is responsible for the death of his son. 

Sam with nowhere to go somehow finds her mother who she said she hadn't seen in 15-years team up to help save Sam and the little girl. They meet up with the Librarians who help them defeat the bad guys and ride off into the sunset saving Sam and the little girl. 

Highs and lows

Alright, so I've given you a rundown of all the movies, and by now you should be able to tell why I say it was a mashup of those movies. Now let's talk about the highs and the lows of the movie. The first thing I did like was the acting-- for the most part. Some of the lines were very cheesy, but overall I thought everyone did a good job, but the acting is also one of my lows. 

As much as I like Karen Gillan and watching her perform, her tough guy schtick was just cheesy. I know she wanted to portray this badass coldblooded killer, but it just came off as a mediocre acting job. One woman that does a really good job of being a badass is Jessica Chastain, and I'm not saying she'd have been a better fit for the role, I'm just saying comparatively, I buy that Jessica Chastain is a badass where as I would say Karen Gillan was faking it. 

Another high for me was the overall story. I liked what they were trying to do, but again, it's a double edged sword. As good as the story was, I thought it could have been a lot better without the added elements that make it feel like a rip of another movie. Even the lighting and color schemes were similar to John Wick and while there was no kid to save in that movie, they added the hero plot which ended up being a little cheesy. 

Last thing, while there was enough action to call it an action movie, it felt super choreographed and almost like they were trying to be funny. Not all the action sequences were bad, but they did feel very choreographed. I know the movie is supposed to be an action comedy, but the only comical part about the movie were the action sequences, in my opinion. One of the first fight scenes you see Sam in is at the bowling alley and in the very beginning of that fight, it looks very choreographed like there dancing.

There's another scene where the doctor injects her with something that makes her lose control of her arms, so she has the little girl tape a knife and a gun to her hand. She then proceeds to shoot and stab three guys without using her fingers, and that just didn't seem like anything more than something funny they were trying to do, but it missed. 

Overall, it wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen, but it's definitely not something I would tell people they have to see. If you want to see some good ones like this there's Extraction, Close, Polar, The Hunter's Prayer, and Ava are all way better movies than Gunpowder Milkshake.