Kevin Hart's latest film, Lift, was one of surprise but it was entertaining and worth the watch.
This weekend, for movie night, my family and I decided to watch the new film Lift on Netflix. It's an action-comedy that stars Kevin Hart, Sam Worthington, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Vincent D'Onofrio and many more.
As a family, we enjoy action movies and whilst we find Kevin Hart funny as a comedian, his movies aren't always our cup of tea. However, we liked the sound of Lift and thought we'd give it a go.
I am glad we did watch Lift because out of the four movies I've watched this year so far, it's perhaps the best one I've seen, although Knight and Day is always a great film to watch.
But because I enjoyed Lift so much, which came as a surprise, I thought I'd write a film review of it.
Synopsis
Lift is an action-comedy film that follows a master thief, Cyrus portrayed by Kevin Hart, and his crew as they team up with Abby, an Interpol Agent played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who just so happens to be Cyrus' ex-girlfriend.
With Abby onboard, Cyrus and his crew plan to steal $500million in gold from a notoriously bad billionaire, Lars Jorgenson, who is cast by Jean Reno. However, it's not a simple heist but a seemingly impossible one.
The gold is being flown from London to Zurich and within that time, Kevin Hart's character and his crew have to steal the gold to stop it reaching its target.
Review
Now, Lift could be seen as a typical Netflix action-comedy movie that's star-studded, has a good plot but doesn't really have much depth. And for some, that may be the case.
However, for me, I actually really enjoyed watching Lift. Yes, it has outlandish plotlines - stealing gold in mid-air, for one - but with films nowadays, you expect that. Especially action movies because a lot of movies are completely out there and have a protagonist who never gets injured or just so happens to be able to avoid every bullet and take down all the bad guys.
But in Lift, there were moments of realism and for me, the best part about the film that was a surprise was Kevin Hart. I love him as a comedian and I have liked some of his previous films, such as Jumanji, The Man from Toronto and Think Like a Man.
Kevin Hart's films usually have him playing a wacky character, who likes to swear a lot and is rather unfortunate and often incompetent. Lift was different though. Kevin Hart played an intelligent, competent and skilled thief, who was respectable and a leader - not a sidekick.
This type of character wasn't one I expected from Kevin Hart and it made the film more enjoyable because there weren't swear words in every other sentence and there weren't stupid moments of forced comedy.
I liked his character and also the others. Yes, there wasn't as much depth with the rest of the crew as there is with Cyrus and Abby, but they were still great characters to watch. The screenwriter, Daniel Kunka, obviously did a good job because my sister and I became attached to the characters, not wanting any of them to die towards the end of the climax.
So Kevin Hart's portrayal of his character and the general characterisation was a great aspect of the film. But another thing that stood out to me was the director. F. Gary Gray directed Lift and he's also directed the likes of The Italian Job, The Fate of the Furious, Straight Outta Compton etc.
With Lift, I think it was clear that the experience of directing The Italian Job and The Fate of the Furious influenced this movie because it is very much the other two combined.
It's about a heist (that does have scenes in Italy) but this time it's in the sky. It includes chase scenes, much like the scene on the ice in The Fate of the Furious and it has some a-bit-out-there plot points, also like The Fate of the Furious.
But combining the two and creating Lift worked really well. It was an action film with plenty of action and it was a comedy film too, even with a little bit of romance for those who like a romantic sub-plot.
There is tension and there is suspense. Watching a crew of thieves, all with their own roles (the boss, the pilot, the hacker, the engineer, the safecracker, the disguise expert and the Interpol agent) may not seem like it's worth the watch and it may seem predictable.
However, in my opinion, Lift is definitely worth the watch and there is plenty to keep you hooked until the very end.
So if you fancy a new movie to watch, try out Lift and if you do, let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Until next time...