Review: The Toxic Avenger Unrated

I’ll preface this review with a confession: I am not a particularly huge fan of the original Toxic Avenger. Having only first watched it relatively recently, I found its “provocative” tone underwhelmingly juvenile. I don’t object to “offensive” material, of course; I simply prefer when it serves a greater purpose. John Waters, for example, made obscenity a political statement—an act of protest against a morally twisted and hypocritical society that prioritizes propriety and conformity over equality and justice; and although the intentionally grotesque splatter flicks that defined Peter Jackson’s early career lacked any such thematic depth, he at least had the decency to be visually ambitious. Lloyd Kaufman’s philosophy regarding vulgar content, on the other hand, epitomizes the worst aspects of trash cinema: utterly lacking in both substance and style, confrontational without confronting anything worthwhile, and gratuitous to a borderline cynical degree. Troma had a nasty habit of reducing “shock value” to a mere marketing gimmick; the studio’s motto seems to have been, “Make ‘em cheap, throw in copious amounts of blood and boobs, and you’re guaranteed to turn a profit.” This mercenary attitude represents, in my opinion, the absolute lowest form of transgressive filmmaking, giving “bad taste” a bad name.

Fortunately, the new remake/reboot of the indie cult classic suffers from none of these shortcomings; in fact, it improves upon its predecessor significantly. Its protagonist, for instance, is actually likable: whereas the 1984 version of Melvin Ferd was kind of a pervy, off-putting creep prior to his transformation into Toxie (making him somewhat difficult to root for), Peter Dinklage’s reimagining of the character is a mild-mannered, down-to-earth single parent struggling to support his adolescent stepson amidst mounting medical debt, a pervasive culture of nihilistic apathy, and the nagging sense that the world itself is gradually decaying around him. It is, in summary, the archetypal underdog story: our unlikely antihero’s enemies include greedy corporate executives, corrupt politicians, and “anti-woke” domestic terrorists (who hold a fast-food establishment hostage in retaliation for the “estrogenization” of America… because the franchise has altered its mascot’s gender; yes, this is distressingly relevant to current events). The underlying class conflict lends the narrative stakes, gravity, and (most importantly) structure; the irreverent humor and gloriously excessive gore for which the series is renowned remain, but never at the expense of the foundational drama—like Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker and Edgar Wright, writer-director Macon Blair understands the fundamental truth that joking is a very serious matter, and he approaches his craft accordingly.

Boasting bold, neon-drenched, comic book inspired imagery reminiscent of Sam Raimi’s genre work (indeed, the whole production owes an enormous debt to Darkman); solid performances across the board (Elijah Wood is especially compelling in his surprisingly nuanced and sympathetic role as Fritz, the villain’s primary henchman/part-time talent manager); and a clear creative vision and voice that elevate its anarchic absurdism to biting satire, The Toxic Avenger Unrated stands triumphant as the year’s best superhero movie (my condolences to Superman and The Fantastic Four: First Steps) and its funniest comedy (apologies to The Naked Gun). It is totally inconceivable to me that this was considered “unreleasable” back in 2023; perhaps reality needed to become as filthy, depraved, and tarnished by reactionary ideologies as Tromaville to make the film’s artistic merits apparent. Whatever the case may be, I’m glad that it’s finally free from the shelf of perpetual languishment (where 2022’s Batgirl still resides); mankind needs an antiestablishment hero like Toxie now more than ever.