Tyrese Gibson's New Crime Thriller Gives Him A Career First Even Fast & Furious Couldn't Do

Tyrese Gibson’s new crime thriller, 1992, has managed to give the actor something his long-time Fast & Furious career couldn’t: critical acclaim. The action movie franchise, starting in 2001, has been Gibson’s most recognized project for quite some time, with the quick-witted character that he plays, Roman Pearce, becoming a defining element of Gibson’s career and action-hero typecast. Yet, despite the Fast & Furious movies' expansive runtime and commercial success, Gibson rarely had a chance to receive critical praise for his acting, as the ensemble cast, expensive cars, and explosive action often took center stage.

It’s no secret that Gibson is incredibly talented, holding many Grammy nominations alongside his career in film. However, Gibson’s acting career has been largely defined by Fast & Furious' blockbuster action, with his box office success coming at the cost of being pigeonholed into the role of the funny, quotable Fast & Furious sidekick. 1992, his new thriller that merges crime conflict with familial, gives Gibson the serious story that he needs to showcase his full acting range, as he portrays his character, Mercer, with spectacular emotional depth. This performance has earned Gibson a career-first, marking a turning point for Gibson’s future projects and getting him out of the box of merely being Fast & Furious' comic relief.

2024 Is The First Time Tyrese Gibson Has Two Movies With Fresh Rotten Tomatoes Scores

1992 & Bosco Are Looking Good

For the first time ever, two of Tyrese Gibson’s movies, 1992 (the last project of the late Ray Liotta) and Bosco, have earned fresh scores on Rotten Tomatoes, with 1992 receiving 61% on Rotten Tomato’s Tomatometer, and Bosco, 71%. In 1992 and Bosco, Gibson expertly masters roles that demand a high level of emotional weight, finally managing to distance himself from the blockbuster action-centered persona he’s gained during his career. This shift in his roles is certainly paying off, as this overlap of critical acclaim marks the first time Gibson has had two movies get positive reviews in the same year.

Gibson is no stranger to mixed film reviews, receiving many throughout the duration of his acting career, even despite the commercially successful Fast & Furious. While the Fast & Furious franchise made Gibson a household name, it never gave the actor space to perform with his full range, especially the level of range required to achieve critical acclaim, which differs from his 2024 films. These reviews stand as a landmark in Gibson’s career, emphasizing the power he holds as an actor when placed into roles that allow him to portray emotional depth.

Tyrese Gibson's 2024 Movies Snap A 7-Year Rotten Tomatoes Streak During Fast & Furious Struggles

Even His Fast & Furious Movies Have Failed To Impress

After years of consistent Rotten Tomatoes scores under 60%, Gibson’s 2024 movies, 1992 and Bosco, mark his first theatrical releases to receive a fresh score on the Tomatometer in seven years.F9: The Fast Saga and Fast X were both great successes at the box office but failed to impress critics. The last time Gibson achieved critical success with a theatrical release was in 2017 with The Fate of the Furious, and it marks a break in his four-year spell with streaming success, as Bosco overtook his 2020 Netflix original, The Christmas Chronicles 2, with a fresh score of 64%.

The critical success of 1992 and Bosco stand as structures for a promising future in Gibson’s career. His decision to break away from commercially successful films in favor of roles requiring complex performances has given the actor grounds to show movie critics that his acting goes beyond that of blockbuster comedic relief. After a seven-year run of struggling to find projects that achieve success further than the box office after the Fast & Furious franchise, Gibson has certainly proved that he has the talent needed to reach critical acclaim. These fresh Rotten Tomatoes scores signal a new era for Gibson, and it’s looking exciting.