The Toxic Avenger review

THE TOXIC AVENGER: 

TOXIE UPDATE IS SICK, TWISTED FUN! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

CINEVERSE

Peter Dinklage in The Toxic Avenger (2025)

 

            Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones, Avengers: Infinity War, Cyrano) dons the toxic mop and deformed makeup (Kind of, Toxie is actually played by Lusia Guerreiro onscreen!) in The Toxic Avenger, the new update of the 1984 superhero black comedy splatter film of the same name from Troma Entertainment. I’m no expert on Troma or the works of filmmaker Lloyd Kaufman with my introduction to it actually being from the Angry Video Game Nerd’s episode on Toxic Crusaders video games which were based off a children’s cartoon show that was very loosely based on The Toxic Avenger. 

            I’m still baffled as to how an animated show for kids spawned from this because The Toxic Avenger is about as over-the-top and relentlessly gory as you could get. People’s intestines get ripped out, a child’s head gets run over by a car, lots of blood splatter, and tits too! Even Deadpool would look at this shit and be like “What the Fuck!?!”. 

            I rewatched the original movie recently before seeing this one and while it certainly isn’t for everyone, it’s entertaining if you know what you’re getting into. It’s over-the-top and mean-spirited, but it’s also very comedic about it, the makeup and practical effects are amazing, and it spawned a cult icon in the form of Toxie with various sequels and other Troma classics like Poultrygeist and the South Park creators’ Cannibal: The Musical. 

            Now we have this remake produced by Cineverse and Legendary Entertainment with Macon Blair (I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore) in the director’s chair and the interesting casting choice of Dinklage as the Toxic Avenger. I was definitely curious to see how this movie would turn out and was relatively following its production online. 

            Well, I sat down and gave this new Toxic Avenger a watch and I gotta say…this was some of the most fun I’ve had in a theater all year. Sure, the recent Superman movie and Fantastic Four: First Steps are objectively better movies, but in terms of consistent fun all throughout the movie, Toxie goes for the gold here. 

            The film follows janitor Winston Gooze (Hehe, great name!) (Dinklage) who after a freak accident transforms into a mutant vigilante known as Toxie. Armed with a toxic mop, Toxie battles freaks, gangsters that look like Mad Max versions of the Insane Clown Posse, and corrupt CEO Bob Garbinger (Kevin Bacon-Footloose, X-Men: First Class, Crazy Stupid Love) while also trying to save his relationship with his son Wade (Jacob Tremblay-Room, Luca, The Life of Chuck). 

            The film also stars Taylour Paige (@Zola, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F) as J.J. Doherty, Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Monkey) as Fritz Garbinger, Sarah Niles (Ted Lasso, The Sandman, F1) as Mayor Togar, Julia Davis (Love Actually, Cemetery Junction, Phantom Thread) as Kissy Sturnevan, Julian Kostov (Shadow and Bone, Another Mother’s Son, The Last Front) as Budd Berserk, David Yow (Southbound, Too Late, Rattlesnake) as Guthrie Stockins, and Jonny Coyne (Alcatraz, Once Upon a Time, The Mandalorian and Grogu) as Thad Barkabus. 

            Overall, The Toxic Avenger (2023/5) is a blood-drenched good time for anyone with a sick sense of humor and a remake that lives up to the original. But what’s great about this one is even if you’ve never seen the original Toxic Avenger, it still works on its own merits and isn’t a complete rehash of the first. 

            Yes, it is a remake of an older film, but aside from a few callbacks, it’s doing its own thing with the material which is what a lot of remakes namely Disney seem to miss the mark on. This movie takes the Toxic Avenger character and premise and turns it into a father-son story and for as bonkers as that sounds, it’s done surprisingly well. 

            You legit feel for Dinklage’s character both normal and deformed in this film as he’s essentially a down on his luck widowed father trying to support his son, works for Kevin Bacon’s corrupt CEO character, and on top of all that is dying of a terminal illness. The moments with Dinklage and Tremblay do add a lot of heart amidst the anarchy, violence, and bloodshed throughout the rest of the film. 

            Peter Dinklage as the Toxic Avenger was an unexpected surprise and I thought he was great here especially since he plays this ridiculous character in this over-the-top world straight which makes it funnier. His opening monologue in the beginning perfectly sets the tone for the entire movie and he’s excellent at making quips while slaughtering, frying, and vaporizing criminals. 

            Kevin Bacon is a lot of fun as the bad guy and is clearly having a ball going big and crazy with his performance. Classic scenery-chewing, cartoony businessman villain who makes you laugh while also anticipate his inevitable gory demise by the end. 

            The makeup effects on Toxie are amazing and look better than the majority of CGI-filled, big-budget Hollywood stuff. Leave it to an independent film like this to show that sometimes actually building and crafting a monster in front of the camera is a lot more impressive and special than creating them in a computer. 

            While the monster himself was created practically, the gore effects are pretty CGI-heavy, but I won’t lie and say it wasn’t fun seeing Toxie kill his victims in gruesomely comedic ways. From burning off a man’s jaw with his radioactive mop to shoving his fist up another man’s ass and ripping his intestines out through the anus, I think it greatly helps this film doesn’t have an MPA rating so it can go even crazier with the blood and gore than if it did receive an R rating. 

            The movie is also very funny with a lot of the jokes coming from random lines from the background characters, criminal motivations like holding people hostage in a fast food restaurant because they changed the gender of the mascot, and how fast an angry mob is formed after people see the monster. It’s a fun movie to watch with an audience, hearing them laugh out loud at certain jokes or gory kills, good shit. 

            Yeah, I had a great time with the new Toxic Avenger and enjoyed it just as much as the original film. It’s a movie that gave me exactly what I expected with a bunch of unexpected surprises along the way, Toxariffic indeed.