Lift Review: Kevin Hart’s Heist Film Fails To Live Up to Its Cast and Premise

Lift boasts a star-studded cast and a premise that is wild and unique in theory. However, aside from a few stunning visuals and action scenes, it proves to be a surprisingly dull entry in the heist film subgenre.

The film follows interpol agent Abby Gladwell as she recruits her ex-boyfriend, notorious thief Cyrus Whittaker, and his crew for a government mission to intercept a delivery of gold to financial terrorist Lars Jorgensen, which he plans to use to pay hackers to disrupt the world’s water supply.

Meanwhile, the crew decides the only way to pull off the heist is to steal the passenger plane transporting the gold from midair.

The unusual premise is enough to intrigue viewers as they ponder how it’s possible to steal a plane from 40,000 feet in the air. Unfortunately, poor execution prevents this film from living up to its ambitious premise.

Rather than a suspenseful and thrilling heist, much of the plot is devoted to Whittaker and the crew formulating a seemingly needlessly complicated plan to intercept the plane.

Instead of “stealing” the plane, the crew flies an alternate plane underneath the gold-carrying plane while hiding their location, linking the two aircraft, and pulling off the safecracking in the other plane.

If it sounds confusing, it’s because it is confusing. For how cunning Whittakers and Jorgensen are supposed to be, there’s little rhyme or reason to their elaborate and mind-boggling plans and ruses.

Viewers who came to Lift for the cast will also be disappointed. Though it has been advertised as Kevin Hart’s latest movie, the actor is uncharacteristically subdued in the role of Whittaker.

Hart shines best in comedic or charismatic roles. He also fares well when playing the underdog or dimwitted but well-meaning characters.

Hence, the role of Whittaker is about as far from his typical roles as he can get. He’s intelligent, serious, and a bit arrogant.

However, Hart comes across as stiff in the role. In trying to temper his charisma and humor, he comes across as a very flat, quiet, and uninteresting character.

Similarly, Vincent D’Onofrio’s Denton, while sweet and charming, also feels subdued and flat, which is very uncharacteristic for the powerful character actor.

Other members of Whittaker’s crew, such as Billy Magnussen’s Magnus and Úrsula Corberó’s Camila, show personality sparks with their caffeine addiction and piloting skills.

However, each member of Whittaker’s crew has a specific role — safecracker, pilot, engineer, etc — and each fails to contribute much more to the film and plot outside their designated roles. They serve more as pieces of a puzzle than fully developed characters.

The sole standout in the film is Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Agent Gladwell. She has a backstory to rationalize her actions and truly carries herself with the dignity and severity of an Interpol agent.

Additionally, she adds some light humor to the largely laughless film with her sarcasm, no-nonsense personality, and hilarious facial expressions.

Mbatha-Raw isn’t the only highlight of the film. There’s no denying that it’s quite a clever film.

Although it will likely lose viewers at some points, it somehow maintains the shape of a heist movie. It has the multi-talented crew, the absurd and intricate heist plot, the plan falling through, and the inexplicable success at the end.

It may not have the sense of danger and suspense that most heist films do, but it certainly has the absurdity and intricacy.

Additionally, even the most skeptical viewers will be forced to admit several scenes are impressive.

The airplane fight is bound to get viewers’ blood pumping as the aircraft does complete 360-degree rotations thousands of feet in the air with NATO crafts tailing it and a fight happening within.

When the door blows open, sucking out the bad guys, or when Agent Gladwell sends a message to NATO in the form of LED projections on the body of the airplane, viewers will have to admit, “Now, that’s cool!”

Still, do a few “cool” scenes make up for a relatively bland and tame heist story? Not quite, but it does provide viewers a bit of escape into that improbable and extraordinary side of heist movies.

Ultimately, Lift is elevated by the performance of Mbatha-Raw, its intricate and ambitious plot, and a handful of scenes that will earn respect from the most seasoned heist film writers.

However, it is also uncharacteristically restrained for a heist film without emotion, danger, suspense, thrills, or eccentric and compelling characters.

It may have faired much better if it had embraced the talents of the lead cast and the humorous side of its implausible plot. For a heist film that clearly wants to be taken seriously, though, Lift misses its mark.

What did you think of Lift? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Lift is streaming now on Netflix.

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