The New ‘Toxic Avenger’ Has Some Troma but Many Compromises
About a dude, a mop, some slop, and some fun.
Note: Indeed, I’m alive and mostly well - read my review of Witchboard at Big Easy Magazine. August was a crazy month, but I’m getting back on the reviewing beat and have some interesting updates in the works - stay tuned. For now, grab a seat and let’s chat about movies!
Dear Moviegoers,
It's always a miracle, a modern-day miracle, when a new Lloyd Kaufman film is completed and released. By "modern-day" I refer to the traditional U.S. theatrical distribution models, and how they're designed to hinder smaller, independent cinema, like from Lloyd's Troma Studios. Granted, while his brand of cinema - and typically those that come from his organization - are almost always guaranteed to be deliberately offensive and gross (just wait for my thoughts on #ShakespearesShitstorm), it doesn't mean that audiences should be denied discovery and potential fandom.
Some years ago, it was announced that director Macon Blair would take on a remake of Lloyd's beloved and most famous movie, The Toxic Avenger.
A miracle of sorts. Straight-up, actually.
Flash forward to 2025, Blair's Toxic Avenger has finally arrived, pushed by the folks at Cineverse, after being stuck in distribution limbo. A victory from on high.
It's just too bad that the movie didn't live up to certain personal expectations.
The remake, with "Unrated" affixed to the title, is more or less undeserving of being considered too raunchy or too extreme for a wide audience. While many limbs are torn off, while slime can be found all over, and while jokes are made of shocking situations, there have been other movies, new ones, that have gone further and been more disturbing. Heck, the original film, made in the 1980s and on a really small budget, featured a scene where a child's head was squashed by a car. Just a few frames of this exploding watermelon make all the difference - to this day - between what's allowed and what's out of bounds, culturally speaking. This new Toxic Avenger is toothless by comparison to its patriarch and to contemporary horror flicks. Even the new Final Destination movie surpasses with immense and intense kills and thrills.
The great Peter Dinklage, playing the human and voice portion of the poor janitor turned monstrous radioactive hero - of which the creature part is played by the very brilliant actress Luisa Guerreiro - works well as Toxie's heart and soul, overcoming health care bitterness to confront the forces of local evil. His role, I assumed, was going to be used in a way to poke fun at big-time stunt casting, almost to the point of absurdity, as Troma would do. Instead, he's just a regular schlub that gets tiptoed around. When I watched the film's teaser trailer, a moment of ugly animal abuse was suggested, which would've pushed things into its billed Unrated category. Instead, the scene is saved when Dinklage rescues the cat in the nick of time.
I'm happy for Dinklage. I'm glad about the cat. I'm upset with the movie.
It's just all so...edgeless. More pop-punk than punk. Why do a remake of something so brash if it's not going to take that aspect to the next level? To be expected of a more Hollywood production, it's a fun facade of something it never could've been.
How deeply unfortunate.
Still, things are not terrible in Neo-Tromaville. Jokes around violence and situational satire abound, and are done in increasingly creative ways. Sound effects and background dialogue are, as in a Troma film, used extensively to lighten the mood and heighten the weirdness. And then there's the references to Lloyd Kaufman's filmography, using motifs galore as weapons of genuine affection. It's crystal clear that director Macon Blair wanted to pay tribute to the man behind it all, and tribute him he did, perfectly so. That stuff is brilliantly executed and truly done with love.
How awesome.
The Toxic Avenger Unrated is both compromised and sad. Both entertaining and sweet. It's blood without the gore. It's a fine roast without the sharp bite. I'm not angry, just disappointed, kiddo. And yet, things are going to be ok. Lloyd Kaufman and Macon Blair cameo together at one point, in a bit of approval or, at least, a receipt of the check handed to Troma. Either way, no matter what, people will watch this.
Another miracle. 2.5/5
The Toxic Avenger Unrated is now playing in theaters.
Sincerely Yours in Moviegoing,
⚜️🍿
I’ve been writing about movies in Hollywood South since 2011, and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. You can support my work by subscribing below or via PayPal and Ko-Fi. Follow along on Letterboxd and Bluesky.