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.
Kevin Hart’s Cyrus and his crew specialize in stealing art from people who don’t deserve such great works, and that seems presumptuous, but that’s their motto and they’re sticking to it. In an instantly confusing opening sequence, Cyrus and his team pull off an NFT heist (which seems very 2021) by kidnapping a digital artist known as “N8” (Jacob Batalon). There’s an admittedly thrilling chase sequence through the waterways of Venice, and London also comes into play, and we get the feeling even the filmmakers realize they’re in danger of losing the viewers early, so they conveniently supply us with graphics identifying Cyrus’s team. In addition to “CYRUS, THE BOSS,” there’s “CAMILA, THE PILOT” (Úrsula Corberó), “MI-SUN,” THE HACKER (Yun Jee Kim), “MAGNUS, THE SAFECRACKER” (Billy Magnussen) and “LUKE, THE ENGINEER” (Vivek Kalra). All fine actors, all playing thinly drawn caricatures with superficial personality traits, e.g., Magnus the safecracker is quite the wisecracker.
Also on board is Vincent D’Onofrio’s Denton, a so-called master of disguise whose disguises seem quite less than masterful. It’s a shame to see the great D’Onofrio lost in the shuffle in this film — and the same could be said for Jean Reno as the main villain, one Lars Jorgensen, a wealthy investment banker who secretly backs terrorist attacks in order to manipulate the stock market in his favor. Reno is on the sidelines for most of the film, barking commands to his henchmen; it’s a nothing role for a brilliant actor.
Now, you might be wondering: How are Cyrus and his team linked to the ruthless Jorgensen? Thanks for asking! The wonderful Gugu Mbatha-Raw is Abby, an Interpol agent who spent five days with Cyrus while working undercover in Paris. (She regrets it. He thinks they were great together. There will be bantering and sexual tension, oh yes there will.)
On orders from her boss Huxley (Sam Worthington), Abby tells Cyrus that he and his entire team have been implicated in a number of crimes, and they’ve got two choices: Either go to prison, or, in exchange for immunity, steal $500 million in gold that Jorgensen is sending to a terrorist group — and they have to pull off the heist, aka “lift,” in mid-air, on a passenger plane. Why, that’s impossible! Or isssssss it??? (In an instant classic of a groaner, Huxley tells Abby about a previous terrorist attack that was funded by Jorgensen: “You remember the New Zealand plane that went down, 183 dead. Airplane stock plummeted just like those poor souls.” Yikes.)
As the action jumps from exotic international location to exotic international location, there’s a LOT of procedural buildup to the big mid-air heist, which is kind of cool but also just plain gonzo nuts, and by then you’ll either be soaking up the ridiculous fun or thinking about hitting the eject button and seeing what else they’ve got going on Netflix. I vote for the latter.
