Lift Movie Review: Perhaps buoyed by the success of Money Heist, a creative mind at Netflix embraced the idea of featuring Hollywood superstars in their own heist movies. The concept gained approval, resulting in a string of A-lister-headlining heist films that initially made a splash, dominating charts for a few weeks before fading into obscurity. Ryan Reynolds led Six Underground, Dave Bautista confronted zombies and buttloads of cash in Army of the Dead, while spawning a heist spinoff/prequel in Army of Thieves. Gal Gadot's Heart of Stone, though an action movie, incorporates heist elements. Reynolds returned with Red Notice, also featuring Dwayne Johnson and Gal Gadot. Now, Kevin Hart, a frequent collaborator of Johnson, takes the lead in his own heist film, Lift, stepping away from his usual comedic persona to portray the straight leading man. People in India Are Going to Love 'Lift': Kevin Hart.

In Lift, Hart portrays Cyrus, the mastermind of a heist group that specialises in stealing high-priced artefacts worldwide. The narrative kicks off with the team orchestrating their next target at an auction in Italy, successfully kidnapping an NFT artist N8 (Jacob Batalon in a cameo) and purloining a valuable painting in the process. However, Interpol officer Abby (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), who has been monitoring Cyrus, apprehends one of his team members, Denton (Vincent D'Onofrio). Abby's superior, Huxley (Sam Worthington), instructs her to propose a deal to Cyrus, complicated by the fact that Abby shares a history with him. Basically, their entire arc is like the Brad Pitt and Catherine Zeta-Jones characters in Ocean's Twelve, if they ended up working together to carry out a heist.

A Still From LiftA Still From Lift

The proposition involves wiping the team's slate clean if they successfully steal gold transported by billionaire criminal Jorgensen (Jean Reno), intending to pay a group of hackers capable of causing chaos anywhere they want. Cyrus agrees to the heist, but only if Abby is part of the team. Predictably, their collaboration reignites old sparks, but the lack of chemistry between Hart and Mbatha-Raw diminishes the impact.

Watch the Trailer of Lift:

As with most heist films, Lift adheres to a formulaic structure—planning, setup, seemingly botched execution, cleanup, and a significant twist. The team members, including the underused Vincent D'Onofrio and Money Heist's Ursula Corbero, stick to their perfunctory roles, lacking the camaraderie necessary for the audience to invest in their unit. The heist itself involves plenty of technical jargon to explain the mid-air escapade, but the absence of tension, compounded by the team's consistently cool demeanor, hampers the effectiveness of the scenes. Director F Gary Gray injects some fun-looking Fast & Furious action into the heist sequences, yet the scenes are disappointingly dull, marked by the evident use of green screens.

A Still From Lift

A successful heist film relies on keeping the audience in the dark, and keeping them on the edge of the seats till the final revelation, eliciting genuine satisfaction from you as a viewer at falling for the unexpected twist. The problem with Lift lies in its predictability; viewers are on the same page as Cyrus and the team, able to anticipate their moves from setup to final twist, resulting in a lack of thrill. Moreover, with Hart forsaking his comedic persona for a conventional role, the film loses a significant element of appeal. Despite its drawbacks, the movie does offer a redeeming feature—the exhilarating water chase through Venice in the first act.

Final Thoughts

Even with the allure of a fun-filled heist film, Lift ultimately feels like a plane wreck in terms of its unappealing screenplay that bears no surprises and an execution that doesn't errr... 'lift' the film above its ordinary writing. Most of the cast get stuck in unmemorable parts while Hart's attempt to play the convention 'cool dude' merely passes muster. Lift is streaming on Netflix.

Rating:2.0

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 12, 2024 12:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).