The Toxic Avenger allows me to finally unburden myself of any lingering semblance of dignity I have left and reveal the fullness of my scuzz to anyone within sniffing range. I grew up loving Troma, the independent genre film studio known for noxious humor and punk rock energy. The original version of The Toxic Avenger was a sacred screening when we discovered it at the video store, a promise of every gross kid’s wildest fantasies writ large in a superhero/monster movie that felt like no other.
The Toxic Avenger remake from writer/director Macon Blair undoubtedly has that Troma spirit urging it along, but this new version isn’t here to try and recapture the bygone stench of yesteryear. Instead, this Toxie is here to carve his own path as a character, story, and universe. And he’ll do so with his own brand of sludge, slime, guts, butts, and even butt guts.
A Hero We Can Relate To
Other than some basic similarities like toxic waste and a heightened cartoon reality, The Toxic Avenger is not a retread of the original’s story at all. This time, our hero is Winston (Peter Dinklage) and he’s a janitor at a pseudo-health company that spews poison into their products and into nature. Winston finds out he’s terminally ill and tries to get the company’s owner (Kevin Bacon) to cover his medical costs. After getting the boot, Winston tries to rob his workplace for the money, but runs afoul of some hired goons that kill him and dump his body into the factory’s mutagenic runoff.
Thus is born The Toxic Avenger! It’s a nifty and endearing origin that’s anchored by a real heart beating through Macon Blair’s script. Even in his original form, Toxie was always a loser and a weirdo. That’s why we loved him! Giving us a new riff on that same loveable loser actually works out better in the long run for this take on the character than even the original. Peter Dinklage provides his voice after Winston transforms into Toxie, but Luisa Guerreiro shines through the awesome makeup and get-up to deliver the pathos we need to truly love Toxie’s mug.
Over-The-Top Without Feeling Dirty
But, what you’ll remember most from The Toxic Avenger is the humor and the heaps of blood, guts, and other fluids that the High Sheriffs around these parts probably don’t want me writing about. This is a consistently funny movie if you can dance to the beat of bongos made from someone’s bongos, if you know what I mean. The juvenile humor is deployed more effectively than it’s not, with more than a few gags that I’ll remember for quite a while.
The humor of The Toxic Avenger manages to never feel misplaced, misdirected, or maligned while still going for broke with crassness and absurdity. It’s a deft balancing act Macon Blair pulls off with the heart and the hilarity. In many ways, this is unquestionably the best script for a Toxie movie when it comes to being what Toxie needs to be: a hero we love. It’s uplifting to walk out of a movie all warm and fuzzy after seeing someone get their intestines yoinked out of their ass. That’s good filmmaking.
I hope The Toxic Avenger is seen and embraced the same way the original film was by myself and a generation of aging sickos. This is exactly the Toxie our kids need these days. Show it to your children and have them grow up to be good-hearted people who just want to help. …And who can laugh when a man explodes for no discernible reason.
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