Whether it’s a heist classic like Michael Mann’s “Heat” or a far lesser film in the genre, there’s almost always that moment when the mastermind behind the Impossible Job tells his loyal team that now is the time to bow out with no hard feelings because this gig is just too damn dangerous and there’s a possibility everyone will wind up in jail or dead — after which the team members step forward one at a time to say: F- - - it, I’m in. Let’s do this thing.
We get that moment in the slick and bombastic and at times confounding “Lift,” and we get a lot of other sequences that will seem so familiar to you that you might start wondering if you’ve actually seen this movie before. In a way, you have, because this is a classic example of a well-made, big-budget action movie that is less than the sum of its parts. Despite the presence of the talented and reliable action-movie director F. Gary Gray (“The Negotiator,” “The Italian Job,” “The Fate of the Furious”) behind the camera and a charming cast led by Kevin Hart, “Lift” often comes across as if it’s cranking up the volume (and the visuals) to 11 in lieu of serving up an original storyline. Like “6 Underground” (2019) and “Red Notice” (2021) and “The Gray Man” (2022) and “Heart of Stone” (2023), this is another entry in the growing Netflix library of star-studded action movies sure to rack up tens of millions of views while garnering mixed reviews at best.
