Review: 'Lift' Is A Humdrum Heist Movie That Steals Time You'll Never Get Back
Kevin Hart says he doesn't want to be funny. At least not all the time. And he achieves his dubious goal in "Elevator," a dark heist movie now available on Netflix with a few jokes. Come on, there are a lot of Hart fans who would be outraged if their favorite clown decided to delve deep into the world of drama.
Do not panic. "Up" is just a small step for Hart, much like his co-star Bryan Cranston in 2019's "Up," a surprise success given Hart's sentimental premise as an ex-con who plays Cranston's billionaire caretaker, who suffers from paralysis due to defeats. .
Hart is too smart to play with his offensive abilities. He will likely follow in the footsteps of his former co-star Dwayne Johnson, who scored a big win in the action hero game. Hart is not The Rock. But Cyrus Whitaker, the suave thief he plays in "Elevator," is dressed to impress as he moves alongside the charming Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Interpol agent Abbie Gladwell.
Unfortunately, the romantic chemistry between them is below zero. Hart gets better on the road when Cyrus orchestrates an art heist at a Venetian museum, leading to a legal boat chase through picturesque canals. Under the direction of star director F. Gary Gray ("Everything Is Fine," "The Italian Job"), "Elevator" initially shows potential as a globe-trotting film.
Until that happened. When Cyrus plans a new scam with his team, which includes Vincent D'Onofrio as Denton, a master of disguise, Ursula Korber as Camille, a getaway driver, and Billy Magnussen as Magnus, a cartoon safecracker, all bets are off.
Everything changes when a job in Venice goes wrong and Abby, still angry at Cyrus for lying about his criminal identity during their five-day adventure in Paris, prepares to put his entire crew in jail for their evil ways. actions.
That's when Abby's abusive boss, Dennis Huxley, who was Avatar star Sam Worthington, offered Cyrus a get-out-of-jail card if she would work for someone he thought was good. We are talking about the theft of gold worth $500 million, weighing 10 tons, from a plane flying from London to Zurich.
Sounds interesting, right? Yes, not for long. The actors in the air and on the ground are essentially a brawl waiting to happen on an airplane that's so clumsily shot and edited that you can't believe a director as talented as Gray had anything to do with it.
And Daniel Kunka's script moves from place to place without taking us anywhere we don't already know from the mimeographed book. The gold belonged to a terrorist group led by master criminal Lars Jorgensen, a party that even left the great Jean Reno in the land of the lame.
How will Cyrus and his team complete this impossible mission? This is a film, a person, and logic is the first thing that sucks into the void. Hart, a renowned actor who suffers from exercise anxiety, said he actually spent time preparing for the role of Cyrus. You will never know. Either he's staring off into space and looking a little annoyed, or he's wondering where he is, just like the audience.
They say January is the month when Hollywood buries its mistakes. “Elevator,” which is too lazy to consider one-time entertainment, is proof of this. Honestly, this can still be called a heist movie because Hart and company stole an hour and 44 minutes that you'll never get back.
