1992

'1992' was Ray Liotta's last film and it was fitting that he was playing an unhinged villain. He was one of the best in the industry to do it. He had a real edge about him that he could bring to a character and he absolutely expelled menace.

This film was a lot better than I expected. After a bit of a dusty start it found its way and became quite enjoyable. I was impressed with Tyrese Gibson in the lead role. He brought a lot to the film.

It is lacking a bit of polish and originality it would have to be said. And it could've done more with the 'Die Hard' type scenario it sets up towards the end. But all in all this was a pass mark by the barest of margins. 6/10.

1992 had real potential. With strong performances, particularly from Tyrese Gibson and the late Ray Liotta, and a powerful historical setting during the Rodney King riots, the film sets the stage for something impactful. Unfortunately, it falls short in execution.

The film suffers from an inconsistent tone, shallow engagement with serious social issues, an over-reliance on genre clichés, and a lack of emotional and narrative depth. Rather than focusing on a single, well-developed thread, it attempts to blend a heist thriller, a father-son redemption story, and a commentary on racial injustice all at once. The result is a muddled, unfocused narrative.

Structurally, the film follows a predictable formula: a man trying to do the right thing, a heist that spirals out of control, and a final moral confrontation. These elements might have worked if developed with nuance, but here they unfold in ways that feel familiar and uninspired.

Ultimately, 1992 becomes a frustrating blend of compelling ideas and underwhelming storytelling, a film with the right pieces, but the wrong assembly.

This movie captures various themes and genres. At some point or another the movie is a heist movie set against the backdrop of the Rodney King riots of 1992. Along the way it's also a coming of age movie, an exploration of father-son relationships, and race relations.

Having seen the movie in a theater, to be fair, the movie has the cast, look, and feel of a better than average straight-to-streaming movie. The fact that it was given a "limited theatrical release" might just be giving the movie too much credit.

Tyrese Gibson, who plays a convincing father and "OG Merc" back in the day, finds himself thrust in the middle of a heist of valuable platinum bars, led by Ray Liotta (in his final film) at his villainous best.

What on first blush is an engaging heist movie rapidly evolves into a movie extremely derivative of "Die Hard" - nearly plot point by plot point. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but it does become quite formulaic.

Of course, the heist "crew", as always, includes "the muscle guy", the "smart" leader guy (Liotta), and the "clueless reluctant impressionable" guy (almost always related to the boss/leader) that you wonder why he was even brought along on the job in the first place.

A key plot point is that Gibson is bent on bringing his son to his workplace factory after-hours to "distance themselves" from the riot mayhem. What were they going to do? Spend the night there? Why not drive out of town altogether? I felt that was a fairly weak contrivance.

If you're a fan of Gibson and/or Liotta I think the movie would meet your expectations. Giving the movie a "10" (as others have done) is inexplicably generous.

I feel like Tyrese is becoming complacent. Listening to him from one interview to the next, he comes across as someone who feels he's achieved a lot and should be revered for it. While he's undeniably an amazing singer, as an actor, I think he's just okay and got lucky with *Fast & Furious*, heavily relying on the strength of the supporting cast.

I've always been a fan of Scott Eastwood, son of the legendary Clint Eastwood, and you can never go wrong with the always brilliant Ray Liotta (RIP), who delivered a strong performance in this movie. His presence kept me engaged right until the end.

As for the script, it's clever, but the execution felt a bit second-rate. Then again, that's often what you get with a B movie. It's not great, but it's not terrible either.

I just got done watching 1992 (2024) and I liked it a lot. This is also another win for Lionsgate in 2024.

Positives for 1992 (2024): First off, I've gotta give props to Tyrese Gibson for his performance in this movie as it's one of the few less comedic performances in his career. I do enjoy Tyrese as Roman from the Fast and Furious Franchise, but it was nice to see him do something different from his usual shtick. I also really enjoyed both Ray Liotta (RIP) and Scott Eastwood in this movie. It was actually very interesting to see a movie that explores the Rodney King riots during that time. And finally, there are some decent action sequences in the movie.

Negatives for 1992 (2024): The movie doesn't really do a deep dive into the Rodney King riots and that's coming from someone who doesn't have a lot of knowledge about that. Also, the movie feels a little bit generic with its execution, but that's something to expect from a Lionsgate movie.

Overall, 1992 (2024) is a great little action thriller with some great performance that is held back by its execution at times, but I'm still recommending this movie for anyone who watches to see the last on screen performance by Ray Liotta.