The Toxic Avenger
When best investigative journalist runner-up Mel Ferd (Shaun Dooley) is dispatched by four masked men, his associate J.J. Doherty ("Zola's" Taylour Paige) is determined to uncover the malfeasance of BTS, the pharmaceutical company that has poisoned the town of Tromaville. She doesn't know the company's janitor, Winston Gooze (Peter Dinklage), who has also decided to fight back when the company's insurance won't pay for the drug he needs to save his life, but she is present when BTS's Head of Security, Fritz Garbinger (Elijah Wood), sends The Killer Nutz to eliminate her and they shoot Gooze instead, then dump his body into a vat of ooze which renders him invincible as "The Toxic Avenger."
Laura's Review: B
Lloyd Kaufman's 1984 "The Toxic Avenger" is B movie producer Troma's biggest hit, having surged in popularity when it hit the video rental market to become a camp classic. He has a cameo in writer/director Macon Blair's ("I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore") affectionate, un-rated, foul-mouthed modernization, which folds health care and father-stepson bonding into Kaufman's themes of ecology and corruption.
Blair, who was introduced to the original as an impressionable preteen by a friend's big brother, pays much homage to the original, that assassinated journalist bearing the moniker of the first Toxie, and in a bid to convince his stepson Wade (Jacob Tremblay, "Room," "Sovreign") to perform at his high school talent show, Winston dons the pink tutu forced upon Melvin by bullies, its tattered remains still visible on Toxie (voice of Dinklage, body of Luisa Guerreiro). His new take on the film has the same rebellious, DIY, bad taste, splatter and cartoonish gore effects, a superhero movie for the gutter dwelling (and old ladies with cats).
Winston is immediately made sympathetic, struggling to provide a good life for his stepson after the death from cancer of his wife and Wade's mother, but the teen isn't exactly receptive as he faces his own problems amidst his grief. Then the man finds out a test has revealed he only has six months to live unless he gets the expensive medication, but in a Kafkaesque bit of doublespeak discovers his Platinum level of insurance does not incorporate what is included in the Gold level - like that medication. BTH CEO Bob Garbinger (Kevin Bacon) and his assistant Kissy Sturnevan (Julia Davis, coifed like Ivana Trump) assure him he'll be taken care of, but as soon as they think he's out of earshot laugh at his naiveté, but the Toxic Avenger will soon rise to take on all of Tromaville's ills, beginning with The Nasty Lads' hostage takeover of Miss Meats (because it is no longer Mr. Meat). And once Bob Garbinger realizes that Toxie can't be killed, he has the BTH research department work with a sample of the man's blood until they declare it safe for his consumption - with predictably disastrous results.
Blair and his production team have created an amusingly horrific landscape, its toxicity announced by a mutant bird puppet and location titles like 'Ye Olde Shithead District.' There are nice people amidst the depravity, but they are in scant supply - even the female dance group which precedes Wade during the talent show performs to the extremely raunchy 'My Neck, My Back (Lick It).' Elijah Wood, keeping his freak on, looks like a cross between "Rocky Horror's" Riff Raff and Danny DeVito's Penguin, and his hit squad, The Killer Nutz, are like a melding of "A Clockwork Orange's" droogs and Insane Clown Posse's Juggalos. The film embraces extreme gore, Toxie's toxin laden mop cutting through flesh like a laser, his strength capable of pulling a man's arm off. Zucker Abrahams Zucker style humor extends to sound editing, important information imparted during deafening bursts of loud machinery. And just like the original, there is an inherent sweetness to the film, Toxie saving J.J. with his blood and his stepson from BTH's villainous network, forming a united bond.
Macon Blair has delivered everything a modernization of the Troma classic should be. "The Toxic Avenger" is a profane blast and clearly a labor of love.
Robin's Review: C+
Winston Gooze (Peter Dinklage) toils as a janitor for the BTH chemical conglomerate. When a nefarious corporate scandal arises and he is accidentally shot, his body is dumped into a vat of noxious ooze. But, he does not die. Instead, he emerges as "The Toxic Avenger."
The original of "The Toxic Avenger" hit the screens in 1984 and spawned a money-making franchise. Now, 40 years later, director and co-writer Macon Blair attempts to reboot the franchise and I am not so sure it should. Back then, before the Earth finally turned on us, its destroyer, there was still hope that we could stop climate change and save the planet. That hope is, sadly, completely gone.
Winston is a real sad sack. His wife left him a widower to raise her son, Wade (Jacob Tremblay), alone. And Wade has blamed him for them losing his mom. Then, Winston gets some really bad news - he has brain cancer than can only be treated with an expensive drug. He gets more bad news when told his insurance does not cover it. He has a year or less to live.
Desperate, he goes to the company owner, Bob Garbinger (Kevin Bacon, who only needs a black moustache to twirl), for help. Bob tells him, "we'll sort it out." Unfortunately, for Winston, this means a bit more than just being fired. From here, the Toxic Avenger (or "Toxie"), will fight the corporate evil and save those he loves.
The "eeww!" factor of the original is similar here but the black humor that should exist does not. Oh, sure, Toxie dealing out justice with his deadly mop is gorily amusing but, I think, the times we live in are not so far-fetched. Death by pollution, heat, hunger and thirst is far more the reality than it was near a half century ago.
Peter Dinklage gives a suitably hang dog performance prior to his metamorphosis and evokes sympathy. That changes when he transforms into the TA and a diminutive femme stunt person, Luisa Guerreiro, does all the physical stuff – covered in TA suit and makeup. Dinklage provides just the voice.
The rest of the cast is relegated to the background with Wade moving from hating his dad to loving him. There are two exceptions, though. Kevin Bacon, as the evil corporate head looks suitably sleazy as he gleefully works to destroy Winston - just because he can. Elijah Wood, as Bob's brother, Fritz, and boss of the Killer Nuts, a combination of punk band and henchmen, channels Riff Raff from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."
Truthfully, I do not know why Hollywood would bother with such a reboot. It seems like they could use a bit more imagination and reboot, say, "Casablanca" or "Gone with the Wind." (Just kidding.)
Cineverse releases "The Toxic Avenger" in theaters on 8/29/25.
