The Toxic Avenger

I grew up watching the original Toxic Avenger. I remember, as a kid, thinking the movie's incredibly graphic violence and puerile sense of humor was the best thing since pants with pockets. While I think the movie still holds up in some ways -- amazing practical effects, and a crazy story that leans into its sub-B-movie roots with gusto -- it many ways, it doesn't. The crass, make-you-gasp humor that kept me in stitches as a kid now feels like try-hard edgelord nonsense. It was a movie squarely of its time, designed to push the buttons of the buttoned-up, overly conservative 80's by being the most offensive version of something they already didn't like. The idea of a remake? Impossible. It couldn't be done. When this was announced, I had serious doubts. When I heard Peter Dinklage would be starring in it, I was confused but curious. And when I heard Elijah Wood was producing, all my doubts were set aside. Wood's horror bonafides have been proven time and again. I don't love everything I've seen him do in the genre, but I can see the passion he puts into every project. Not one of the horror movies he's been involved with can be accused of being a low-effort cash grab, and his Toxic Avenger reimagining more than lives up to that reputation. What makes it work so well is that he and the rest of the cast and crew recognized that the secret to the sauce wasn't that the humor was offensive or punching down at soft targets; it was about embracing the weirdness and going all out with it, making the world where this happens a funhouse mirror reflection of our own. This version of The Toxic Avenger is more about being shocking by way of being clever. It's still got plenty of gross-out material, sure, but there is actually a sense of humor behind the jokes, and a story behind the plot. The story of the original was simple: nerd gets bullied, dumped in toxic waste by accident, revenge on bullies. This version makes the pre-Toxic Avenger character, Winston, into a single stepdad, raising his dead girlfriend's son, and discovering he has a fatal illness that his insurance won't cover. His insurance is through his employer, a toxic waste-spewing company that promotes quick-fix health products (think if Dr. Oz ran Dow Chemicals). The CEO of that company (Kevin Bacon) is also in debt to the mob for providing the seed money for the company. That company is the financial backbone of the nearby town, and as news about their toxic waste dumping and terrible products come to light, it threatens the well-being of the town. Oh, and the CEO's little brother (a wormy weirdo played by Elijah Wood) uses a local rock band who are a cross between Limp Bizkit and GWAR as his thugs, and they are all too happy to kill without discretion. Got all that? Yeah, it's a lot. Maybe too much for The Toxic Avenger. Some of it does work, like giving Winston more depth than being a hapless, bumbling goober, or making the terrible company that's poisoning people and the planet a company focused on health products. Sure, the satire is a bit on the nose (the Proud Boys satire sticks out like a sore thumb, in fact), but it's fine. It's just ... a lot. I didn't even mention the industrial espionage, or Winston's step-son's lack of self-confidence, or the strained relationship between Bacon and Wood. The original TA had minimal story and minimal character development; it was a movie focused on the broadest of social satire and being gross for the sake of making the Jerry Falwells of the world throw up in the aisles. This TA is going more for clever social satire, while also trying to touch on self-confidence, what defines a family, the media, and about half a dozen other themes or concepts. It's trying to spin a lot of plates, and I don't know that it succeeds all the time. It definitely succeeds more than it fails, but it could've been a bit less ambitious with its ideas and had a tighter experience. Just about anybody coming to a Toxie movie is coming for the gore, and here's where I tell you your mileage will vary here. There's no doubt this movie is gory. Perhaps not gory enough to rate the "UNRATED" label or all of the hype about how studios avoided this because it was too much, but it's definitely got the gore you'd expect from The Toxic Avenger. But a lot of it -- way more than half, for sure -- is CGI. Some of the CGI is very good. And some of it might've been animated in Mario Paint on the Super Nintendo. I'm almost forgiving of it, since this is Toxic Avenger, and it wouldn't be right if the movie had better CGI than Avengers: Endgame. But it really could've used some more practical effects. Or maybe less ambition in the gore department. And I think that might be the movie's biggest hurdle for some: for a movie that is a reimagining of one of the bloodiest, dumbest, and most offensive horror-comedies of the 1980's, the craftsmanship and professionalism on display here might prove an ill fit. The whole gimmick of the movie might keep some away, and true Troma fans might resent the movie's polish. I did enjoy it, and laughed a fair bit at its weird sense of humor, and gasped at a couple of the grosser spots. But this is definitely a movie with limited appeal, and given its very design, I'm concerned it might find an even more limited audience than the original. I would definitely recommend watching it, but with the caveat that no matter what you're expecting, it's not going to give you that. Which, I guess, is the most fitting tribute to Troma one can imagine: aggressive non-conformity.