#yun jee kim

[kaipanzero]

Lift (2024)

[ratleyland]

I was expecting a 'Run-of-the-Mill' Netflix movie... but it was actually an entertaining heist movie, with Kevin Hart going against type in a slightly more serious role.

[filmshady]

10 things I thought about while watching LIFT (2024)

It boasts a cast so star-studded that they could probably outshine the $500 million in gold they're trying to steal. It's a shame the charisma of the actors can't elevate the film as high as their lofty heist ambitions.

It delivers a last-minute twist that feels like a desperate attempt to distract you from the visual unpleasantness and cheap aesthetic that plagued the preceding scenes. It's like putting a sparkly bow on a gift you never wanted.

The film's visually unpleasant and cheap aesthetic is a bold choice, as if the director said, "Why bother with cinematography when we can just throw gold bars at the screen and hope for the best?" Spoiler alert: it didn't work.

The forced romantic subplot between Cyrus and Abby is like trying to convince yourself that airplane food is gourmet cuisine – unconvincing, and you're left wondering why you even bothered.

The third act of Lift requires you to suspend your disbelief so often that it feels less like a heist film and more like a crash landing into the realm of implausibility. It's as if the scriptwriter's favourite word was "magic" – as in, "Let's just magic our way out of this plot hole."

Kevin Hart stars as Cyrus Whitaker, a master art thief who, unfortunately, couldn't steal the show. It's like casting a Chihuahua as a guard dog – adorable, but not exactly intimidating.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw's character, Abby Gladwell, seems determined to catch Cyrus, but I'm more determined to understand why she'd pursue a man who, according to the movie, constantly mutes his own charisma. Talk about questionable life choices.

The film's heist, set mostly in two planes and an air traffic control tower, is hampered by the blandness of its sets. It's like watching a magic show where the disappearing act involves the excitement disappearing from the audience.

F. Gary Gray's past credits include classics like Friday, Set It Off, and THE ITALIAN JOB (one of the greatest heist movies to exist) but with Lift, it's like he decided to take a break from craftsmanship. It's the cinematic equivalent of a Michelin-starred chef serving instant noodles.

For a thriller spending most of its third act in the air, Lift struggles to ever get off the ground. It's like a plane that forgot it was supposed to take you on a thrilling ride and decided to taxi around the tarmac indefinitely.

[filmshady]

Have you ever attempted a heist, and did it involve stealing back the time you spent watching Lift?

FUNNY STORY (not really that funny)... after watching Lift (should've stayed grounded) I watched Society of the Snow...and while it's probably the most touching story I have watched this year...I could not quite help but think about how ironic it was that I watched a film about a plane heist and then watched a movie about how people tried to survive a plane crash...

and then if given the choice...I would probably like to be a character in Society of the Snow and freeze to death after a plane crash than watch Lift again.