The Toxic Avenger (2023) Review

The Toxic Avenger (2023) Review

Winston Gooze is an ordinary janitor, who after a shocking accident, transforms a downtrodden janitor into a mutant vigilante. Armed with his signature mop, the unlikely hero battles freaks, gangsters and corrupt CEOs while trying to save his relationship with his son.

Starring Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones), Jacob Tremblay (Doctor Sleep), Taylour Paige (Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F), Kevin Bacon (MaXXXine), Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings trilogy), Julia Davis (Gavin & Stacey) and Luisa Guerreiro (Baldur’s Gate III), The Toxic Avenger is written by Macon Blair (I Don’t Feel At Home in This World Anymore), Lloyd Kaufman (Mother’s Day) and Joe Ritter (The Toxic Avenger 1984), and is directed by Blair.

Based on the original 1980s cult hit which spawned an outrageous franchise, The Toxic Avenger is produced by Kaufman and Michael Herz (Class of Nuke ‘Em High) of Troma Entertainment, and Alex Garcia (Godzilla MonsterVerse) and Mary Parent (Dune: Part One, Dune Part Two) of Legendary Pictures.

Co-written and directed by Macon Blair this remake of the Eighties cult flick THE TOXIC AVENGER is very much something that you have to be in the right mood to watch. When I first saw the film back at the end of August, it rubbed me up the wrong way and I ended up hating every second of it. However, when presented with it to review months later, I found myself liking it, not a lot, but enough to see it through till the end. Perhaps I was in a better frame of mind second-time of watching it.

I liked the visuals, I enjoyed the cast, but overall, THE TOXIC AVENGER did not hit the spot. Everyone involved looked like they were having a blast making it, but the fun did not always transfer to the viewer, and the film’s humour often felt forced and overdone. My recollection of Troma’s original 1984 flick is hazy at best so I can offer no comparison but given the original’s now cult status it is unlikely that this remake will appeal to those that warmed to the ‘charm’s of that offensive, gooey and subversive ‘classic’. This flick plays it safe, which sounds paradoxical given that there is a glimpse of a prosthetic male organ at one point, but perhaps that’s the issue, for all its gore and goo, it never feels as challenging or as shocking as you might expect a remake of a Troma movie to be.