‘Lift’: Kevin Hart’s High-Flying Heist Flick Soars Amidst Familiar Turbulence
Netflix has perfected a formula, a cinematic recipe of sorts: take a proven box office theme – be it a high-octane action flick, an international espionage thriller, or a collision of hitmen and car chases – and repackage it for the laptop screen.
Add a dash of star power, stir it up, and voila! The result? Well-watched but seldom discussed blockbusters, such as ‘Sweet Girl,’ ‘The Adam Project’ and ‘The Gray Man,’ each fitting the familiar mould of over-lit, frenetic escapades lacking enduring impact or distinctive flair. And let’s not forget other streaming services falling into the same trap – who recalls Apple’s Ghosted?
Enter ‘Lift,’ Netflix’s latest venture, a collaboration featuring comedian Kevin Hart and a well-worn concept – this time revolving around clever thieves armed with expensive gadgets and menacing adversaries.
Right from the get-go, as Hart’s suave conman Cyrus Whitaker confidently glides into a Venetian art auction, it’s evident that this is your typical streaming action fare: stock characters, music video aesthetics, a dash of wealth flaunting, and faint attempts at injecting personality for the lowest common denominator.
Thankfully, ‘Lift’ benefits from the seasoned expertise of F. Gary Gray, the director behind multiplex hits like ‘The Italian Job,’ ‘Straight Outta Compton’ and ‘Fast & Furious 8,’ not to mention iconic music videos such as Ice Cube’s ‘It Was a Good Day’ and TLC’s ‘Waterfalls.’
The plot, admittedly dumb and entertaining or grating depending on one’s tastes, revolves around an NFT-centered heist in Venice, complete with half-jokes about the fleeting nature of NFTs. Gray, however, excels in orchestrating chaotic action sequences, and the cat-and-mouse chase between Cyrus and Interpol officer Abby Gladwell (played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw) in the Venetian canals is both impressive and stressfully enjoyable.
Hart, typically cast as the goofy, well-meaning foil or the everyman sidekick, steps out of his comfort zone here as the hyper-competent leader of a heist ring. Unfortunately, his brand of physical, loud comedy occasionally pokes through attempts at suave charisma, making for an interesting yet somewhat awkward dynamic. Lines delivered with a straight face, like “the rules were already broken for someone like me,” carry an uncomfortable edge, as if Hart is itching for a punchline.
The narrative introduces Abby, an Interpol officer with a history with Cyrus, adding a layer of strained charm to the story. Abby’s boss, Huxley (played convincingly by Sam Worthington), orders her to reconcile with Cyrus to prevent a catastrophic plan by the villainous billionaire Lars Jorgenson (Jean Reno).
If Cyrus and his crew fail to steal $50 million worth of gold bars during transit from London to Zurich, Jorgenson will unleash hackers for profit, involving Northern Irish henchmen and a convoluted financial subplot.
If this plot feels like a mishmash of ‘Ocean’s 11’ with a ‘Fast and Furious’ twist, you’re spot on. Hart might not be convinced as a crew boss, but Gray’s direction shines in the action sequences. Watching the crew, including daredevil pilot Camilla (Úrsula Corberó), over-caffeinated safecracker Magnus (played delightfully by Billy Magnussen), hacker Mi-Sun (Yun Jee Kim), engineer Luc (Viveik Kalra), and disguise expert Denton (Vincent D’Onofrio), pull off an improbable heist is undeniably satisfying.
The in-flight sequences, with time-crunched logistics, hand-to-hand combat during turbulence, and a couple of plane barrel rolls, raise the stakes and pulse rates.
‘Lift’ offers enough to keep viewers engaged for its 1-hour, 44-minute runtime. Yet, the film’s minimal character development and the lack of chemistry between Hart and Mbatha-Raw, despite her commendable efforts, prevent ‘Lift’ from rising above its forgettable counterparts.
