Kevin Hart’s latest movie, Lift, sees him try to steal $500 million worth of gold from a plane. Will he succeed with Interpol hot on his tail? The movie follows Hart in the lead role as a master criminal, leading a band of thieves to thwart a terrorist attack while getting a little something for themselves on the side. Director F. Gary Gray, known for his work in movies like The Italian Job, Set If Off, and Straight Outta Compton worked on this movie leaving his mark in most scenes.
Despite some bad reviews on social media and a dismal 30% on Rotten Tomatoes, Lift still made it to the top of Netflix’s most-watched movies list. This film was Hart’s attempt at a more serious project out of the comedy bubble he had built for himself. But after the hype died down from this action film, there are glaring plot holes in this film that can’t just be ignored anymore. Here are four reasons why Hart’s Lift didn’t land as expected.
1. Kevin Hart Is a Comedy Star
Hart has been in several movies with great success, mostly playing the funny sidekick or the goofball, doing his best to complete the mission in films with action stars like Central Intelligence and the Ride Along franchise. He successfully carved out a niche that worked; understandably, he might have wanted more for himself. That’s why he tried out something new with the serious and dramatic role of the master thief, Cyrus.
In Lift, Hart plays a serious and competent leader of this heist team who is quieter, more pensive, and nothing like the outgoing, loud, and funny roles he used to play. This change in character choice is probably why he felt so out of place in the movie. In most scenes, it was like waiting for the joke to drop off for him to say something funny or a punchline that would make the audience laugh and relax into the movie, but it never came.
2. The Cast Wasn’t Utilised Properly
Hart put together an amazing team of actors to lead his action movie, with the female lead being Gugu Mbatha-Raw, straight off the heels of Loki Season 2 as Ravonna Renslayer. To add to these stars, Hart pulled in more talented stars, such as Vincent D’Onofrio from Daredevil, Ursula Corbero from Money Heist, Sam Worthington from Avatar movies, Jacob Batalon from the Spiderman franchise, and Burn Gorman.
With such an amazing ensemble of masters in their fields, like a safecracker, hacker, engineer, and disguise expert, this was the perfect group of people to pull off the heist. As much as the film tries to show that Hart’s and Mbatha-Raw’s characters have immense chemistry due to their past dalliance, it just doesn’t translate well for the movie. Played by pulled fan-favorite actors, there is plenty to keep viewers entertained throughout this movie’s runtime.
3. The Story Has Been Told Too Many Times Before
Netflix is notorious for taking a box office trope, telling it with their A-list cast, and hoping for success. But things don’t always go as hoped, just as in the case of Gal Gadot’s Heart of Stone, which was released to poor reviews. For Lift, Netflix repackaged the heist trope with the big-name star being Kevin Hart. There have always been heist stories on TV and movies, and Hart’s show isn’t much different. The plot of Lift is focused on Hart’s character, a master thief who plans a heist on a 777-passenger flight from London to Zurich. While they are the bad guys, they are also trying to foil a terrorist attack, not to mention Hart and Mbatha-Raw’s characters have a complicated past
But maybe that was the point of the series, to be absurd and so unbelievable that viewers will find it entertaining to watch. Much time is spent on the plot, which is too wordy without giving out too much helpful information. Certain instances in the film give a glimpse of what a good and interesting movie it could have been if they focused more on the storyline and less on the locations and things looking perfect. Though, the cat-and-mouse game between Cyrus, an Interpol officer, and ex-Abby Gladwell is enjoyable and keeps the romance at the forefront.
4. The Movie Came Out Too Late
Lift felt like a movie of a different time because it wasn’t meant to come out this late. The movie was filmed in Italy and Belfast at the beginning of 2022, but because of the Hollywood actors and writers strikes that took place for most of 2023. Lift was originally meant to be released in August 2023 but ended up being in 2024. The plot is also centered on NFT, but considering how NFTs are now essentially worthless, it just feels like the movie is set a couple of years back. Unfortunately, it could have indeed been an interesting watch if it came out between 2019 and 2021. Follow the link to get to know the cast of Kevin Hart-led Heist Comedy.
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