1992
review by Bobby Blakey
The Rodney King riots should have been a wake-up call to the world, but sadly there are still way too many cases like this with very little consequences. There have been numerous films focusing on elements of these events with the latest being 1992 starring Tyrese Gibson, Clé Bennett, Dylan Arnold, Christopher A’mmanuel, Michael Beasley, Ori Pfeffer, Tosin Morohunfola, Oleg Taktarov, with Scott Eastwood, and Ray Liotta from The Iceman and Criminal director Ariel Vromen. Could this actioner bring something new to the genre or will it get lost in the riots?
1992 follows Mercer who is desperately trying to rebuild his life and his relationship with his son amidst the turbulent 1992 LA uprising following the Rodney King verdict. Across town, another father and son put their own strained relationship to the test as they plot a dangerous heist to steal catalytic converters, which contain valuable platinum, from the factory where Mercer works. As tensions rise in Los Angeles and chaos erupts, both families reach their boiling points when they collide in this tense crime-thriller.
For those wondering if this is about the riots at all the answer is yes and no. It is a major plot point, but only in the aspect of the backdrop to everything going on. The chaos is the cover to their crime and the dangers of the father trying to find
his son bringing them all into a dangerous collision. So, if you were hoping for something focusing on the history of that violent time in history this is not that film. Instead, this is a straight up action heist flick that manages to do its own thing with it without feeling like there is a side to choose in the situation.
Tyrese leads the charge with his usual swag, but this time around gone is the loud-mouthed fun and banter that fans love from him in the Fast series and in its place is a harden man with a past and reputation that preceded him. He brings the perfect performance for this role and is a great starring vehicle for him allowing him to be something familiar but different at the same time. The rest of the cast are fine with Liotta in one of if not his final role bringing his usual tough guy presence to his role.
The film is good but nothing we haven’t seen before. It falls into the genre with films like Trespass of wrong place wrong time. It offers up some decent enough action to keep fans of the genre happy without really breaking down any barriers in the genre. These kinds of films offer up those frustrating moments you have to kind of ignore so that it can play out properly for the characters as opposed to just killing them off right away when they easily should have early on.
In the end it knows what kind of movie it is and leans into it. It takes its direction and puts together a simple but effective action heist that will no doubt entertain the fans of the genre. I like Tyrese in the Fast films, but think he is perfectly suited for these kinds of parts and hope will get to see more in the future.
In addition to the film this release offers up bonus content including trailer, commentary, deleted scenes, featurettes and more. Grab your copy of 1992 available now on Blu-ray, DVD and digital from Lionsgate Home Entertainment.
