Lift

Helmed by F Gary Gray (The Fate of the Furious, The Italian Job, Straight Outta Compton), Lift is Netflix’s latest small-screen blockbuster to star Kevin Hart. This time, he plays Cyrus, a suave professional art thief, whom Interpol recruits to steal half a billion in gold from a powerful terrorist (Jean Reno). The catch: the job needs to be executed while the gold is being transported by jet. There’s a thrill that comes with watching the gang put their scheme in motion, with Hart’s charismatic screen presence lending an endearing likeability to the character. However, the star’s charm isn’t enough to pull off this score.

From the opening scene in which Hart casually strolls into a swanky art auction in Venice to steal an NFT, it’s evident that this film requires viewers to turn their brains off for the next hour and 40 minutes and go along for the ride. Characters use a lot of fancy gadgets and jargon to explain what they’re doing without there being any tangible reasoning behind their actions. Using the soundwaves of a metal song to demonstrate the difficulties of cracking a safe during turbulence sounds impressive, even if the logic behind it is never explained and the concept doesn’t play a major role in the actual heist.

Gray’s tenure as an action filmmaker allows for the action sequences to flow smoothly and stylishly, although an overreliance on spinning camera shots becomes more distracting than anything else. The biggest letdown about this flick, though, is how heartlessly formulaic it feels. The stakes are artificially inflated with nonsensical twists that come out of nowhere. Cyrus’s crew serve to exist more as genre tropes than they do as well-rounded characters, with Reno’s villain likewise possessing no personality of his own. Worse, is the romantic subplot between Cyrus and Interpol agent Abby Gladwell (Gugu Mbatha-Raw). The pair are supposed to have a complicated history with one another, however, if it weren’t for the script bringing their past up at every opportunity, the absence of any spark between the actors would suggest otherwise.

Lift is a Netflix blockbuster at it’s most disposable. However, if viewers are able to switch off for the duration, there’s enough action and thrills to make for an entertaining, if overly familiar, outing.

Andrew Murray

Lift is released on Netflix on 12^th January 2024.

Watch the trailer for Lift here: