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Rating: 4.25 out of 5
Here we go again!! Sometimes the world makes a remake that honestly is better than the original. This time around is the Toxic Avenger. I watched the 1984 original, and it was a straight-up B-movie with campy jokes, over-the-top, violent, and gory fight scenes, and a downright hilarious but awful story. It is a movie that you know will be bad in a good way. It doesn’t take itself seriously, and sometimes those are the best films.
I wouldn’t think the original needed a remake, but Hollywood can’t come up with an original thought to save their life. When in doubt, find a movie that was done before, remake it, and see what happens. Here we go with the fifth installment of the franchise, which is the 2023 reboot of The Toxic Avenger. The film was written and directed by Macon Blair. It stars Peter Dinklage, Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Julia Davis, Jonny Coyne, Elijah Wood, and Kevin Bacon.
What is this version of the Toxic Avenger about? It starts off in a very corrupt and awful city, with the corrupt pharmaceutical company BTH (Body Talk Healthstyle) ruling most of the city. J.J. Doherty, an employee of BTH, sends secret information to an investigative reporter. The pair is attacked by a group called The Killer Nutz. Yes, they are called the Killer Nutz, and they work for BTH. They manage to kill the reporter, but J.J. escapes, which angers the team leader, Fritz Garbinger (Wood). The film skips to the shitty place of St. Roma’s Village, where BTH janitor Winston Gooze (Dinklage) struggles with life and everything as he tries to support his weird stepson Wade (Tremblay) after Wade’s mother kicks the bucket after her battle with cancer. On the high end of the world, BTH owner Bob Garbinger (Bacon) and his assistant are straight-up scared because the company’s financial health is absolute shit, as Bob owes mad money to mobster Thad Barkabus. Winston’s life suddenly goes to shit when he learns that he has a brain disease, but his insurance won’t help him, and the medication he needs is denied to him. After begging Bob for help, Winston breaks into BTH, makes a weapon out of the toxic sludge, and mops and steals from a vault. As Winston tries to dip, he is spotted and chased by the Killer Nutz. The gang kills Winston by shooting him in the head and dumping his body in the toxic sludge. The sludge does some crazy shit to him, and he is reborn as the Toxic Avenger.
Just like the original film, this film is way over the top, but it is actually really good. I love a film that you know, going in, is going to be crazy and leave you in awe of what they can get away with. When Winston becomes the Toxic Avenger, he is an outcast but takes on crime. He first escapes to the woods, where he meets a hermit who gives him sage advice and tells him to use his mop to fight everyone from right-wing terrorists, The Nasty Lads, and to save hostages. There is a training montage with this. As the Toxic Avenger dude goes ham on the brutality and shows that the little dude can get shot, use his powers to regenerate, and kill people in extreme ways. For example, Winston sees Spence giving shit to Daisy. Dude gets shot, regenerates, and proceeds to rip off Spence’s arm.
Another example is when Winston becomes a hero and confronts the Killer Nutz at a concert. They do a dueling heavy metal concert until Winston kills all the members of the group. Once again, this scene was insane because the biggest member of the group had the head of a freakin baby under his helmet. The film gets even wilder when Bob captures Winston and uses his blood to transform himself into a demon-like beast. That battle was wild, with all hell breaking loose.
When it comes to films like this, two things make it a fun watch. That is the dialogue and the over-the-top action scenes. The dialogue is so bad that it is good. The one-liners will get to you, as it is like watching an old school 80s movie. There were so many one-liners that the cringe will make you laugh. As stated before, like the original, it is all about how violent and insane Toxie can get. I love that he could use his mop like a projectile weapon, so that when people touch it, they would explode. It was insane to watch. I must put this in here; I loved the animation/CGI transition of when Winston transformed into the Toxic Avenger. It looked like you were on a bad trip with all the rainbow colors. Someone was taking some serious acid when thinking of this film.
The performances in this film were spot on. Peter Dinklage as Winston Gooze/the Toxic Avenger (voice) was great. Even though he was at the beginning of the film, he provided the voice, and it was fun to hear him rage against people. I have to admit that Jacob Tremblay did a good job as the son who was extremely awkward and trying to practice whatever dance he was working on. Kevin Bacon was Kevin Bacon. Dude knows how to act, take on the villain role, and excel at it. The star of the show was Elijah Wood as Fritz Garbinger. This dude looked like a cross of Riff Raff from the Rocky Horror Picture Show and Igor from the Frankenstein films. Wood had that creepy look and feel to him that brought out the character in a great way.
The reboot or remake of The Toxic Avenger is spot-on and takes the original to a whole new level. It was just as fun and crazy to watch. The dialogue was cringeworthy but good; the action and violence were spot-on with the original; and it was a film that shouldn’t be taken seriously like the original. Sometimes these are the best films because they know they are stupid and go all out, knowing it is a crazy film. Watch the original and then watch this crazy ass film because you will enjoy it.
