Gunpowder Milkshake
Netflix | Release Date (Streaming): July 14, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
47
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
14
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJul 13, 2021
Please leave all logic and reality at the door as you settle in for a violent slice of Netflix original movie entertainment featuring an outstanding cast of first-rate actors clearly having a great time shooting up the joint. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubCaroline SiedeJul 13, 2021
Gunpowder Milkshake comes alive in its darkly comic action sequences, which prioritize creativity as much as brutality, with an uncommon focus on props, locations, and wide compositions. Read full review
71
CNETRussell HollyOct 8, 2021
Gunpowder Milkshake is fast, direct, and honestly more fun than I expected it was going to be. Read full review
70
Screen RantMae AbdulbakiJul 14, 2021
The film makes up for some of the missed storytelling opportunities with its stylish, exciting action sequences, and its swift pacing, all of which combined make for a fun, overall enthralling time. Read full review
70
CNNBrian LowryJul 14, 2021
Offering a weird mix of over-the-top violence and dark humor, Gunpowder Milkshake weds the spaghetti western with the colorful visuals of anime, enhancing that with an inordinately good cast for such a silly movie. The net result provides considerable fun. Read full review
70
PolygonRoxana HadadiJul 14, 2021
The film’s intermittent delights are momentarily satisfying, but then numbness sets in, like the brain freeze that blooms after you slurp on the film’s titular ice-cream treat. Read full review
67
The Film StageGlenn Heath Jr.Jul 13, 2021
When Papushado’s film finds the right tonal balance, meshing noir bleakness with pops of art deco color, there are fireworks to behold. Read full review
67
IndieWireKate ErblandJul 13, 2021
This first entry could stand to be a bit more satisfying on its own, but the sugar rush that accompanies “Gunpowder Milkshake” is more than sweet enough to prove its place in a fast-growing sub-genre, with a cherry on top. Read full review
66
Paste MagazineShayna Maci WarnerJul 13, 2021
It’s a bloody feast for the eyes, and if you’re looking for a movie sprung solely from the iconography of other neo-shoot ‘em ups, it’s got some fun in store—you just might have to leap over the plot holes and massive tonal shifts while wielding customized mini-bayonets to enjoy the good stuff. Read full review
60
VarietyOwen GleibermanJul 15, 2021
Men have been gorging on righteous, blood-splattering pulp action rides like this one for decades, and if women are now looking for the equivalent, Gunpowder Milkshake fits the bill. Its message is that there are a lot of Bills to kill. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonJul 14, 2021
The film is much too long—the first couple of acts feel like an overture to the reunion of Sam, Scarlet and the lethal librarians. It is also, occasionally, hilarious. Read full review
60
The GuardianBenjamin LeeJul 14, 2021
The graphic novel-inspired world of Gunpowder Milkshake isn’t unique, but it’s admirably committed and Papushado edges his film away from the danger of pastiche thanks to an equally committed cast. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comMonica CastilloJul 14, 2021
[Papushado] creates a world that’s so strange, in both a visually striking sense and one that doesn't always work, that even when a performance sputters out or a line of dialogue rings false, it doesn’t tank the movie. However, that level of spectacle through eye-catching production design and visual style means that sometimes the movie’s vivid colors and bullets outshine the star-studded cast. Read full review
50
IGNMatt FowlerJul 13, 2021
Gunpowder Milkshake does its formidable cast dirty with a bland script, recycled story, and an empty comic book style that does little but shine up a stale outing. Read full review
50
The PlaylistAndrew CrumpJul 13, 2021
Headey’s in her element. Gillan is capable. But Papushado’s excesses hold them back from performing at their best. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreJul 13, 2021
If Israeli B-movie maker Navot Papushado (“Rabies,” “Big Bad Wolves”) had kept this thing on its feet and sprinting — fewer pauses for motherly pathos, Spaghetti Western face-offs, etc. — “Milkshake” would have gone down easier, no matter how much gunpowder was used. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeJul 13, 2021
Though not without its moments, the film offers too little of interest for its leading ladies to do, and feels throughout like an adaptation of a comic book that was written for the sole purpose of being sold to an IP-hungry film studio. Read full review
40
The TelegraphTim RobeySep 30, 2021
Shallowness permeates all the characterisations, giving it a bland, marshmallowy centre. Read full review
40
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeSep 23, 2021
Tiresome stuff. Read full review
40
EmpireTerri WhiteSep 14, 2021
Occasionally dynamic action and an incredible cast can’t ultimately save this muddled, derivative film. And please don’t call it ‘Jane Wick’. Read full review
40
The New York TimesCalum MarshJul 14, 2021
Papushado’s flamboyance feels cocky and indiscriminate, as if he’s simply trying really hard to make every image seem cool. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerJul 13, 2021
As much as Gillan, Headey, and the three Librarians (Bassett, Gugino, and Yeoh) of the gunplay apocalypse embrace the visual stylization and harshly annunciated dialogue, Gunpower Milkshake is immemorable. Like a decent milkshake, it's fine while you're consuming it, but chances are you won't remember it after the last slurp. Read full review
40
SlashfilmJosh SpiegelJul 13, 2021
There’s a lot of flash and style, and all in service of an empty story with unmemorable gunplay. Read full review
32
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzJul 13, 2021
This is regurgitated shoot-’em-up nothingness fetishistically dressed in the cosplay of equality. The women are not characters to care about, but props to kill and be killed. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleJul 14, 2021
It’s more of an action gallery, not a blood-pumping story accelerated by its flights of fury. Read full review
30
TheWrapElizabeth WeitzmanJul 13, 2021
Overall, the whole project feels weirdly empty and off-puttingly self-congratulatory, as though the very idea of turning women into action heroes is revolutionary. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineDerek SmithJul 13, 2021
The fundamental ineptness of Gunpowder Milkshake appears to be a consequence of the exponentially swelling glut of streaming options. Read full review
20
New York Magazine (Vulture)Angelica Jade BastienJul 15, 2021
The film’s humorlessness is off-putting; it is slick to the point of lacking texture. But the underlying problem is more fundamental. Gunpowder Milkshake is led by someone without the star power to carry it, surrounded as she might be by actresses far more interesting. Read full review
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