For those who may not know, the Toxic Avenger was a b-rate film made by Troma films and the legendary Lloyd Kaufman. Lloyd Kaufman has been an inspiration to people in the film world for generations, who has not only been a mentor, but a support system for a lot of people as they tried to get their feet into the door of the industry.
One of his most beloved films, no matter how campy it is, is the Toxic Avenger. With its updated film coming out, we wanted to jump at the chance to review it.
As always, we break down our views by story, acting, and overall. So let’s jump on into it.
Story 9/10
The story starts off with Winston, a janitor, who is trying to make his way in an incorporated run world. He’s the stepfather to his deceased wife’s kid, raising him alone and trying to be the best dad he can be.
He’s not great at it, but he’s doing the best he can. Wade, his stepson, has a lot of issues, but while this is a small window into their relationship prior to toxification, it is a perfect snapshot at what must have been at least a very difficult year.
Winston is meek and avoidant as he makes his way through a corpo-dominated world that is also somehow run by the Mafia. Everything just seems like a slice of Life, until Winston receives news that he’s got a horrible brain condition that will kill him in months if he doesn’t get a lot of money for medication that his insurance won’t cover.
After being rebuked by his soulless corporation’s CEO, he attempts to take what you can from his company by force, but when doing so gets him tangled up with a whistleblower’s espionage, and it gets him killed and then intoxified.
Now a hideous, super strong, but nigh invincible monster, Winston must find his place in this world, and keep those who he loves safe from not just the Mafia run town, but also his corporate bosses.
The film is incredibly camp, but Dinklage delivers the story with serious hearts and everyone is giving 110% which takes this b-movie full of A-list actors to another level.
It’s not Shakespeare, but it’s a whole lot of fun.
Acting 9/10
Peter Dinklage performs the shit out of his role as Winston. While it gets a little hard to see his acting within the Toxie suit, his performance pre-toxification is a perfect mixture of heartwarming and heart-wrenching as he tries and fails to be a good father to his stepson.
Jacob Tremblay who plays Wade, Winston’s stepson does a wonderful job playing an awkward child dealing with stressors, tragic back story, and the ruthlessness of the current school-based hierarchies.
As for the villains, Jonny Coyne, who plays the mob boss does a perfect job. Every scene he is in, he devours the scenery and leaves a lasting impression. Kevin Bacon, as the corporate villain, is also a lot of fun. Playing levels of ineptitude, mixed with corporate soulless actions is a very interesting role for Bacon.
Elijah Wood, on the other hand, disappears into the role of Fritz Garbinger and is a joy to behold as he goes full method in his character.
Overall 9/10
At the end of the day, it’s still an incredibly campy over the top film with ridiculous levels of gore, but I will say that Dinklage does a great job delivering some moments of true heart within the scenes of the film.
Conner’s Final Thoughts
The company behind the PR for the film did an amazing job advertising the film during San Diego Comic-Con. They set up multiple screenings at the event and included a full showing of the film during Hall H with special guests and so much more. I love how much attention this film is getting and I can only hope that this helps bring more attention not only to the original film, but other b-film classics that shaped the industry of horror.
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