The film "The Toxic Avenger" is a remake of the 1984 film of the same name, but its fate is unenviable. The film premiered 2 years ago at the Fantastic Fest festival on September 21, 2023. However, due to the violent content, the creators could not find a distributor to launch a theatrical release for a long time. Eventually, a distributor was found, and the theatrical premiere took place on August 29 worldwide and on September 4 in Russia. Let's break down what came of it in our review!
The original film was made by Troma Entertainment, one of the longest-running American companies in the field of independent genre cinema. Subsequently, the film grew into a full-fledged franchise: a total of four films, an animated series, and several video games, and at the end of the year, we are waiting for a new game project. Together with the 2023 remake, the universe has been resurrected.
A Toxic Story
The film tells the story of Winston Gooze (Peter Dinklage), who works as a cleaner at the BTH pharmaceutical corporation, which pollutes the environment with its waste. He raises his stepson Wade (Jacob Tremblay) and is one day diagnosed with a disease that will soon lead to death; a cure is possible, but Winston's insurance does not cover the cost of the necessary drug. In desperation, he goes to the boss of BTH — Bob Garbage (Kevin Bacon) — to ask him for help, but instead, he decides to get rid of the annoying employee, which leads to unexpected consequences: after being thrown into radioactive waste, Winston turns into a green monster.
The first and second halves of the film differ markedly. In the first part of the story, the film feels more atmospheric, down-to-earth, and deep: here, Winston's personal drama takes center stage; the character's nature, his weakness, indecision, and how much he values his son are demonstrated. The protagonist tries to cope with all the hardships and find money for treatment. The second half, on the other hand, goes all out: it is full of blood, brains fly in different directions, and the atmospheric and quiet gloom of the first part is replaced by dynamic black humor, and all the emotional problems of the characters are successfully resolved: somewhere thanks to their actions, somewhere thanks to the help of other characters — I liked Fritz Garbage (Elijah Wood), the antagonist's brother, who goes through an albeit background, but important arc.
The characters are revealed well — their images are simple, and their motivations are clear. Winston is trying to survive, but he does it not so much for himself as for Wade, with whom he does not have an ideal relationship: he is afraid that the child will be left alone. Even Garbage's motivation is easy to understand: his firm went bankrupt, he owes a lot of money to the mafia, and then a successful experiment appears — Winston — and if it is successfully repeated, then all the problems will go away.
The downside is a certain degree of confusion in what is happening: the actions of the heroes and villains often cause a controversial reaction — and not only from the viewer but also from the residents of the city in which the film takes place: they either open a hunt for Winston or accept him as a hero and vice versa — this happens several times. And often this happens within the same scene, which can cause a feeling of discomfort when watching — fortunately, all this is presented with a touch of humor, which somewhat smoothes out the impressions.
The scenes after the credits turned out to be funny — there are two of them. The first gracefully completes the story, showing the unity of father and son, who have become real relatives to each other, and the importance of self-confidence, and the second does three things at once: hints at a sequel, entertains the viewer with the protagonist's culinary delights, and immediately jokes about a sequel that will not happen — the box office goals are too unrealistic!
Black Comedy Incarnate
"The Toxic Avenger" skillfully ridicules several things at once, without overdoing it with the "blackness", as it was in the original projects:
Firstly, corporations. BTH presented in the story and its boss do not delve deeply into the topic of corporate life, but the antagonist's actions directly demonstrate the dark side of the corporate world when bosses are ready for anything to earn as much money as possible and they do not care at all about the troubles caused to people.
Here, the heroine of J. J. Doherty (Taylor Page) came in handy: she brings a small element of investigation to what is happening, although the plot does not delve into the intricacies of this activity, leaving them exclusively as an additional element — although the story starts with them. This character can be called the most adequate in the entire film, and her sincere, uncomprehending reaction to what is happening sometimes causes fits of laughter.
Secondly, superhero templates. Winston is trying to save his adopted son and protect ordinary residents from the influence of BTH, but due to his own appearance and other factors, he does it in a very peculiar way: there is a lot of blood, dismemberment, and scenes of nudity — almost like in the series "The Boys" from Amazon, only without pathos and excesses: everything is in moderation.
Thirdly, various clichés. The spirit of the film corresponds to the films shot at the end of the last century: there are enough moments in the plot where the characters commit very strange acts, but other characters notice this, notice it, and ridicule it. I especially remember the moment when the captured Winston threatened Bob, but he foresaw this in advance and ridiculed it — the scene turned out to be very absurd.
There are enough absurd moments, but not all of them are humorous. Many show the true nature of this world, where something out of the ordinary regularly happens, but which is calmly accepted by local residents — this is especially evident in various names in the style of the "depressive backwoods" area. Others well demonstrate the emotional contrast of the protagonists facing circumstances that they cannot overcome in ordinary ways.
How it Looks and Sounds
In technical terms, "The Toxic Avenger" is a low-budget film without frills: there are no blockbuster-level graphics here, but the overall style is reminiscent of films from the 1980s and 90s. Especially the scene of the protagonist's transformation. A VHS filter is missing, and the film would be almost indistinguishable from films from the end of the last century.
There are also no spectacular battle scenes here: all the battles are simple and ridiculous, although they are arranged funny — for example, when Winston runs at the enemy or waves a radioactive broom, which he uses as a weapon. The only exception is the final battle, and even then with a stretch: the fight looks interesting, but only within the framework of the film itself — otherwise, it looks average.
The character design is very bright and diverse, from the protagonist with his different eyes to the villains, among whom there is an adult with the head of a baby or Fritz. The latter reminded me of the Penguin from the DC Comics universe — they all immediately catch the eye and are easily remembered.
I liked the music — cheerful rock riffs add drive to what is happening on the screen, and the scene at the concert is both pleasing with bloody moments and humor and good dynamics. And since some of the opponents are musicians, a very atmospheric image is sometimes created.
But the translation is a controversial issue. The dubbing is excellent — many famous actors were involved in the work on the film, whose voices are familiar and loved by most viewers: Vladimir Zaitsev, Petr Glants, Sergei Ponomarev, Kristina Sherman, Sergei Chikhachev, and many others. They revived the characters well, but the vocabulary itself turned out to be restrained, which is not very suitable for this kind of film: there are not enough obscene expressions that would add appropriate color and spice to what is happening on the screen.
Diagnosis
"The Toxic Avenger" is a good balance of the good old trash from the films of the 1980s and 90s and modern dramatic elements. The film turned out to be chaotic and silly, but thanks to well-written characters, excellent humor, and dynamic narration, it is watched in one breath, and you almost do not want to pay attention to the problems.
The film does not have expensive graphics or staged scenes, but the overall style, design, and adult rating allow you to level this disadvantage — the picture pleases the viewer's eye, but not quite as we have become accustomed to lately.
The audio component is also good: the film pleases with dynamic musical compositions that create the mood and affect the pace of the scenes, and excellent voice acting, performed in the spirit of the atmosphere of the work by famous actors, only adds "warmth" to what is happening on the screen.
If you are looking for something that you can watch once after a hard day's work and have fun — "The Toxic Avenger" is a good option. We recommend it!
