Warning! This post contains major spoilers for Netflix’s Lift.
Netflix’s Lift is a standalone film with no connections to any other franchises, but it still seems uncannily similar to the Fast and Furious movies. Starring Kevin Hart, Netflix’s action movie Lift unfolds as a typical heist film where a group of highly skilled robbers is given the opportunity to save the world from an imminent crisis. Like most run-of-the-mill action comedy films, Lift is not narratively deep. However, it involves all the necessary ingredients that make an action comedy film an entertaining watch.
Lift‘s story elements and character beats make it evident that it has no connective threads with any other popular action movie franchise. Yet, it is hard to ignore how it seems a little too reminiscent of several Fast and Furious movies. Interestingly, even though Lift is not narratively linked to the Fast and Furious movies, it has one thing in common with the popular action franchise.
Lift Ending Explained: What Happens During Cyrus’ Gold Heist
Starring Kevin Hart, Netflix’s Lift walks through a meticulous gold heist that presents many gripping twists and turns before it reaches its ending.
Lift’s Director Also Directed The Fate Of The Furious
Lift seems to have a lot in common with the Fast and Furious movies. Like the Vin Diesel movie franchise, Netflix’s Lift features everything from diverse international settings to high-stakes heists, from hi-fi technology to high-octane action. Even the movie’s central crew, which involves highly skilled robbers, seems to be similar to Vin Diesel’s team in the Fast and Furious movies. Like the Fast and Furious movies, Lift also tries to portray its main characters as noble thieves by highlighting how they only rob the corrupt and the rich. These parallels between the two film franchises are no coincidence because F. Gary Gray, who helmed The Fate of the Furious, also directed Netflix’s Lift.
What Lift Does Better Than A Fast & Furious Movie
The Fast and Furious movies are better than Netflix’s Lift in more ways than one. After all, there is a reason why the franchise is still going fairly strong even after ten installments. However, in many ways, Lift, too, comes with its own set of strengths, making it a worthy competitor for mainstream heist films and franchises. For instance, in the Fast and Furious movies, Vin Diesel’s character preaches a little too much about how his team members are his family. Lift, in contrast, follows the golden rule of storytelling of showing and not telling, and instead of constantly reminding viewers about the close-knit relationships of its central characters, it shows how they work together and respect one another as a team.
Unlike the Fast and Furious films, Lift also does not sideline its female characters. Three of its leading female characters, Abby, Camila, and Mi-Sun, play crucial roles in the overarching storyline, and their respective contributions are instrumental to the central heist. Although Lift‘s characters seem one-dimensional, the film’s roster includes several relatively lesser-known actors, adding a subtle layer of novelty to its storytelling. This, in turn, makes Lift more like the early installments of the Fast and Furious franchise that were arguably more grounded and fun than the recent ones.
Lift
From F. Gary Gray, the director of Friday and The Italian Job comes Lift – an action-heist movie starring Kevin Hart and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. In the film, an international crew with several heists under their belts is recruited to stop a terrorist attack from happening. To do that, the team will have to conduct a high-stakes heist on a plane mid-flight.
- Release Date
- January 12, 2024
- Director
- F. Gary Gray
- Cast
- Kevin Hart , Gugu Mbatha-Raw , Sam Worthington , Vincent D’Onofrio , Úrsula Corberó , Billy Magnussen , Jacob Batalon , Jean Reno
- Rating
- Not Yet Rated
- Main Genre
- Action
- Genres
- Action , Crime , Drama
- Writers
- Daniel Kunka , Emerald Fennell , Simon Kinberg
- Cinematographer
- Bernhard Jasper
- Producer
- Audrey Chon, Kevin Hart, Adam Kassan, Simon Kinberg, Matt Reeves, Bryan Smiley
- Production Company
- 6th & Idaho Productions, Genre Pictures, Hartbeat Productions
- Sfx Supervisor
- Tez Palmer
