Movie 32 - Lift (2024), Dir. F. Gary Gray.
Date: 21/01/2024
The movie follows Cyrus (Kevin Hart) and his team as they are told to steal 500 million in gold from an evil person (Jean Reno) by Interpol Abby (Gugu Mbatha-Raw).
When I think of good heist movies, I think of Ocean's 8, 11, 13, The Italian Job. What I will not think of is Lift (2024). This movie is now added to the list of failed original movies made by Netflix. My honest thought is, who the heck green lit the movie without properly reading the script? When I watch bad movies, I sometimes wonder if the whole production was like, "it's a good movie, let's make it." Since it is a heist movie, I can let go a little bit regarding technology, but the lack of common sense is astonishing. Let's get into the details.
The opening sequence is Cyrus bidding for an NFT so that he can later inflate its price at an auction. It is very bland in taste for what qualifies as a heist. It does not make the viewer feel like it's a heist movie. An issue is the NFTs have become a method of scamming people IRL, so the whole sequence of them kidnapping the creator so that the price increases and they sell it does not make them masterminds and great thieves. Thirteen-year-old kids can do this sitting in their parents' garage. While they do show that other members of their group are stealing priceless art in London, it also becomes bland as they steal it only to fund the NFT. During this sequence, there is also a boat chase sequence, and for some reason, Cyrus keeps looking back and smiling at Abby, which is annoying. The opening scene should have established their credibility as real thieves and not small-town robbers, but it fails to do so terribly.
The following sequence is of Abby telling Cyrus that she has caught them and can send them to jail, but there is nothing shown that makes that statement credible, so it makes Cyrus and his team look dumb for overlooking something. Up until the part where they execute the plan is very boring. Kevin Hart is trying very hard to not be funny. He is trying to be serious which does not suit him. Maybe he was trying to change how he is seen, but it has failed. He is a comedy actor and should lean into the comedy part.
The whole plane robbery sequence was quite good; it had a good amount of action and was a thrill to watch. The stealing of the gold, the fake moaning to throw off the enemy was funny. This part felt like a heist movie which is my only plus point for this movie.
The rest of the film goes downhill. The dialogues feel very forced, random lines that have no connection, the lack of humour or a stand out character. The acting is decent but not strong enough to make this movie watchable.
I'm gonna stop writing because the movie is truly boring and not worth discussing anymore. If you want to watch a good heist movie, go watch Ocean's 8, 11, 13, The Italian Job, Focus, Baby Driver, Inception, Now You See Me 1 & 2. Do not watch Lift (2024); it's boring af. 1/10.
I'm going to start watching better movies hopefully.
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