Lift is an action comedy directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Daniel Kunka. It was meant to be released in 2023 but was delayed until 2024 when it was streamed to Netflix.

Cyrus (Kevin Hart) is a master thief who runs a daring crew. He is busted by a former fling and Interpol agent Abby (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and her boss Huxley (Sam Worthington). They blackmail him and his crew to steal gold belonging to a terrorist financier named Jorgenson (Jean Reno). He gathers the master of disguise Denton (Vincent D’Onofrio), pilot Camila (Úrsula Corberó), safecracker Magnus (Billy Magnussen), hacker Mi-Sun (Kim Yoon-ji), and engineer Luke (Viveik Kalra) to steal the gold from a plane, increasing the danger.

Gray is a fine director who does a good job crafting the story for this film. I found it enjoyable, chuckling at the jokes, and invested in the plot. The heist and the antics were definitely worthy of a bowl of popcorn and a drink to go with it.

The issue with the movie is that it is nothing new. We have a plucky group of thieves who claim to only steal from the “undeserving.” Each has a unique skill, of course. We have the charismatic leader. We have the law enforcement agent who is empathetic. We have the OTHER law enforcement officer who is rude and may have ulterior motives. We have the target that is never developed, but we know he is a bad dude because, of course, he is. We have a “never been done before” type of safecrack. Etc. Etc.

Basically, the plot is nothing we have not seen before. That is not to say that it is bad, but it is just unoriginal. It comes off as a sort of a typical movie that you would see in this genre and that is okay, but if you know, you know.

As I stated earlier, that does not make it a bad film. It is just one we have seen over and over when it comes to the heist genre. It never veers from any of the tropes, but if you are okay with it, grab a snack and enjoy.

The cast does a decent job with the roles. No one was extraordinary and Kevin Hart was a tad out of place as the leader of the bunch, but no one was awful.

Bottom line, Lift is a passable action comedy that you can enjoy for a movie night, but it offers nothing new as far as heist flicks.

PARENTAL CONCERNS: Violence, Some foul language

FAVORITE QUOTE: That’s the problem on the board.

Check out the trailer below:

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Tell me if there is a comic book, movie, or anime you would like me to review. While you are at it, check out my reviews of The Holdovers and May December. Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe for more posts like this one.

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