Review | explosive cocktail

Inspired by the John Wick franchise, feature film surprises with a good fight female cast

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Another production that combines women and a lot of action arrived to provoke the public with its notorious reference to the franchise John Wick and its neon garb. we are talking about explosive cocktail (Gunpowder Milkshake) which brings Karen Gillan like an assassin for hire who fails on a mission and must deal with the consequences of her choices. There are those who turn up their noses at the production, but the script is interesting, the direction is bold and the cast is amazing. Too bad the dialogues are a little weak. But it has potential and shows service in the GIRL POWER category.

A curious point is that the film has a very evident gender division and to disregard this would be like denying the entire structure of the script. We can see that all men are the villains, they are the bad guys and women are the (anti) heroines. The formula here is simple and repeats itself as in any movie of the genre: heroes against villains. However, we see the goal of the director and his co-writer Ehud Lavski who deliver a male-led society being taken over by capable, brave and fighting women. The violent and the subversive are the essence of the plot from beginning to end. And Karen Gillan comes in a badass vibe to command the pace of a bloody and very electrifying narrative.

There is a group of men called The Firm. They've been running things for a long, long time. When they need someone to clean up the mess, they send it to me. – Sam

The main character is Sam/Samantha, played by Karen Gillan, who went to work as an assassin for hire after her mother, Scarlet, disappeared (Lena Headey), who was also an assassin for hire. When Sam accidentally kills the son of a powerful organized crime boss and walks away from his initial task to save the life of an innocent little girl (we see a resemblance to the film Katestarring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, from Netflix), the organization she works for starts hunting her as if she were the target. Soon, she needs help and turn to old friends of her mother, Madeleine (Carla Gugino), Florence (Michelle Yeoh) and Anna May (Angela Bassett), for help.

Foto de Coquetel Explosivo - Foto 14 - AdoroCinema
Nathan and Sam talk about a possible error in her mission / Play Amazon Prime Video

The problem situation is the female characters who do not fit into this rigid structure controlled by men and within this universe, they are forced to remain in positions that give little value to them as people. Here we see who is easily dismissed and who is important to people in power. If the film were starred by a man following this logic, it would be impossible to have the same result. It is important to have roles in which the character's gender is indifferent and the fact of a long bet on this alternative, we are sure that in the future we will have more and more women leading long actions like this result in the breaking of universes in which they live rigidly , marginalized and violent.

explosive cocktail is not exactly a feminist feature, as this would impact many variants and the fact that it lacked subtlety in transmitting the message would generate a deeper discussion about what feminism is, but despite that, the feature represents the misogyny of the universe it built to tell the story of Sam and the other characters who are pushed aside for male benefit. But it is an interesting thing to have been raised by a feature film directed by a man.

Coquetel Explosivo - Amazon Prime Vídeo | FINAL EXPLICADO - Elas fugiram?  [SPOILER] morreu? - Cinestera
Chloe Coleman and Carla Gugino are Emily and Madeleine in Explosive Cocktail / Reproduction

The character Sam is cool and objective. But he has a shred of conscience and from the moment he discovers that there is an innocent, smart Emily, she lets go of her indifference. We see that she becomes fond of little Emily (Chloe Coleman) who soon becomes a kind of “learner”. The return of Sam's mother is as if we see an extension of her daughter and, despite the problems she had in the past, she tries to reconnect with the daughter and the friends she had to leave.

Actresses Gugino, Bassett and Yeoh deliver good characters and the strength of each one of them helps in the development of the film and a certain balance that masks the technical stumbling blocks that emerge throughout the film. They are versatile and work super well on screen as if the trio were parts of a big engine and the way they behave helping, creating plans and guiding each other no longer allows for betrayal. The dynamics of the three strengthen the script, which in itself is interesting because it presents some details that are not very common, such as the fact that we see books written by women as hiding places for weapons and other objects, but despite this mentioned detail, the script doesn't invent much.

Gunpowder Milkshake: trailer para o filme de ação no feminino - C7nema.net
Carla Gugino, Michelle Yeoh and Angela Bassett make up the trio of good fight librarians / Reproduction

The film has an incredible color palette and always intensely placed, the directing style bets on an edition noir combining neon, well-designed sets, well-choreographed fight scenes (with amateur moments) and slow motion, and all of this added to the iconic soundtrack that distances itself from the cruel and violent reality, recreating it in a fun way and giving a sarcastic tone to production. We also noticed an oriental influence that is similar to the feature Kate from Netflix. Another thing we see is the bet on nostalgic and elegant visuals in the plot. Something very interesting that would go unnoticed is the cafeteria that works as an alternative to the Hotel Continental in the saga starring Keanu Reeves, where weapons are removed so that there is no confrontation.

In explosive cocktail, we have an exaggerated characterization of the villains entitled to a Paul Giamatti cynical and traitor and the interpretation of Adam Nagaitis that delivers a plastic and greasy-looking character – see the hair. One of the sequences that works very well is the hospital, where it takes on a more unique air that matches its aesthetics. Although I made some mistakes along the way, the long one is worth it.  

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Thunder Wave review
critical-cocktail-explosiveDespite the stumbling blocks in the script and the direction having been guided by comfort, Explosive Cocktail stands out for bringing women to the front where they manage to defend themselves by beating, shooting and bombing. The film brings a strong message about sexist and misogynist issues and the bet on a strong cast combined with bloodthirsty scenes of pure massacre and fun, the production is a good choice for anyone looking for something in a John Wick footprint. Worth the entertainment.

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