‘Lift’ unremarkable, but watchable

Film Review

Tinashe Kusema

IT is hard to talk about Kevin Hart or any of his upcoming projects without mentioning Katt Williams and his now infamous appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s podcast “Club Shay Shay” a few weeks ago.

As a fan of both comedians, I have decided to take the Swiss route and stay neutral on the beef and animosity that exists between the two, or, at the very least, Williams towards Hart.

What I will say though is that whoever came up with that strategy from the Williams camp deserves a big fat bonus.

That interview was way too loaded and strategic not to be planned.

And, more importantly, the once-forgotten Katt Williams is now relevant again.

Job done, I suppose.

Now, that I have filled my Katt Williams quota, let us get back to the business at hand.

“Lift”, Kevin Hart’s latest attempt at becoming an action star is one of those flicks haters will use as an example of why the famed comedian should stick to what he does best.

As a stand-up comedian, Hart is well on his way to becoming one of the greats, and there is a very good chance that future generations will speak of him in the same light we talk about the likes of Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby (without the scandal).

Unfortunately, his filmography ranges from serviceable, to average to bad at times. And, “Lift” is one of those serviceable flicks.

Hart stars as Cyrus, a renowned international thief, who leads an elite heist crew which comprises of an inside man Denton (Vincent D’Onfrio), pilot Camila (Ursula Corbero), hacker Mi-Sun (Kim Yoon-ji), safecracker Magnus (Billy Magnussen), and engineer Luke (Vivek Kalra).

Soon after successfully stealing a Van Gogh painting, the crew gets approached by an ambitious Interpol agent Abby (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) who offers them an immunity deal.

The catch, however, is that they will have to steal US$500 million worth of gold that belongs to a ruthless banker Jorgenson (Jean Reno) who plans to use it to fund some shady terrorist activities.

The only way to steal the gold is while the gold is being transported from London to Zurich via a plane.

The film yearns for the charm, awe and intricate details of previous heist movies like the “Oceans’ trilogy”, “Italian Job” and even the “Fast and Furious” movie franchise, but lacks the chops to execute.

Kevin Hart is not a leading action star and becomes a huge blob when you take away the humour and silly gags we have grown accustomed to.

His delivery is bland and easily disappears into the background when compared to some of his co-stars.

The film’s plot lacks depth and desperately cries for some of the intricacies that usually accompany heist movies.

A few of the cast members are wasted with the biggest victims being the duo of D’Onfrio and Reno. There is even an argument to be made that the lead actor himself wasted as Cyrus is seriously lacking in some of the mannerisms that we have come accustomed with a Kevin Hart character.

Luckily, though there are plenty of laughs to go around with Magnussen’s Magnus a total scene-stealer.

In the absence of Hart’s comedic chops, Magnussen does most of the heavy-lighting in the humour department and does a stellar job at that.

Reno surprisingly chews up the scenery as the film’s main protagonist and does so with limited screen time.

The pacing and visuals are also good, and one of the reasons behind the film coming off as serviceable rather than a plain old bore. Let us just hope that Hart gets cured of his action-man bug, sooner rather than later, and goes back to what he does best— comedy.