The Toxic Avenger
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 1/2 (out of 5)
In an age of endless remakes, a film that manages to honour its source material while carving out its own identity is a rare beast. Director Macon Blair's take on Troma Entertainment’s 1984 splatter classic, The Toxic Avenger, is just that. This isn't your daddy's toxic hero; it's a sleeker, more coherent, and thankfully, less gratuitous version that somehow retains the anarchic spirit of the original. Prepare for some insanely hilarious moments and over-the-top gore that's all in good fun.
The film drops us into the fictional, crime-ridden town of St. Roma’s Villa, a place suffocated by the greed of one man. Winston Gooze (the always-brilliant Peter Dinklage), a mild-mannered janitor, finds his world crumbling with a terminal cancer diagnosis. His biggest fear isn’t his own mortality, but what will happen to Wade (Jacob Tremblay), the emotionally-addled teen he’s raising after the boy’s mother—Winston’s late girlfriend—also succumbed to the disease. In a desperate bid to secure Wade’s future, Winston confronts his boss, BT Healthstyle CEO Robert Garbinger (Kevin Bacon), a health and wellness guru whose empire is built on a foundation of toxic waste.
Garbinger’s initial promise to cover Winston’s medical bills is a lie, and Winston's subsequent attempt to rob his workplace leads to a tragic accident. He’s killed by The Killer Nutz, a monstercore band moonlighting as hired killers who were actually targeting journalist J.J. Doherty (Taylour Paige). But this isn't the end for our hero. In a truly bizarre twist, Garbinger’s younger brother, Fritz (Elijah Wood), orders Winston’s body dumped in a pit of toxic waste. This act of disposal leads to his reanimation, transforming him into a mutated, superhuman vigilante known as 'The Toxic Avenger.'
Now, armed with a glowing mop, he sets out on a quest to save his 'son' and stop Garbinger from leveraging this same toxic power to strengthen his poisoned empire. Garbinger, we discover, is the architect of the town's plight, pumping toxic waste into the local water supply and creating a population of the 'wicked sick.' As our mop-wielding hero cleans up St. Roma’s Villa, his public popularity skyrockets, earning him the affectionate nickname 'Toxie.' Much like the message in 2023’s TMNT: Mutant Mayhem, director Macon Blair masterfully uses a dire, mutated situation to deliver a powerful message about the need for belonging and acceptance, a theme that resonates deeply within the chaos.
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REEL DIALOGUE: Are we alone on this journey called life?
Winston Gooze’s story shows us all how we all yearn for acceptance and to belong to something beyond ourselves. There is an undercurrent of loneliness amongst this twisted tale of corporate greed. Isolation can be a physical reality, but for many it is truly a state of mind.
We can seek solace in personal relationships or through technology, but these things eventually have limited satisfaction. This profoundly philosophical query can be answered by saying that God is there for us at all times. The answer for mankind is to merely turn around and acknowledge His presence. During times of joy or loneliness, God is there for us and provides a relationship unlike any other.
Where do you start? Begin with the first book of the New Testament - Matthew 28:20 - ‘behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’ and then go back to the beginning of the story and introduce yourself as the person of Jesus. Matthew
