The Toxic Avenger Unrated Review

The Toxic Avenger series has been given the reboot treatment with Troma Entertainment teaming up with Legendary Pictures and the website Bloody Disgusting.

Winston Gooze (Peter Dinklage) is a janitor, widower, and single parent to his stepson, Wade (Jacob Tremblay). When Winston finds out he has brain cancer and after having treatment rejected by his insurance company and employer, Winston takes desperate action and steals from the local chemical company. Winston’s robbery coincides with J.J. Doherty (Taylour Paige), trying to get evidence that the company had been knowingly and deliberately polluting the environment. This chain of events leads to Winston turning into a superpowered monster and needing to take down the corrupt businessman Bob Garbinger (Kevin Bacon).

The Toxic Avenger Unrated was shown at an Odeon Scream Unseen film, and the reaction from the audience was mixed. When the BBFC title card came up, a woman yelled, “Oh for fuck sake,” which led my audience to laugh, and many walked out. More people walked out of The Toxic Avenger Unrated than a foreign language film. The reboot was made for a specific audience.

The original Toxic Avenger movies were low-budget exploitation. They were self-aware, exploitative films that aimed to be provocative with their gore, nudity, and subject matter. They were near amateur productions with acting that makes porn actors look like Marlon Brando and Meryl Streep. I binge-watched the original films before the screening since the Odeon’s clues pointed to The Toxic Avenger Unrated, and that’s six hours of my life I’m never getting back. The only way was up.

The Toxic Avenger: Unrated had a proper cast. Peter Dinklage, Jacob Tremblay, Kevin Bacon, and Elijah Wood have some star power, and other actors have credentials. Paige won an Independent Spirit Award for her role in Zola, Julia Davis was best known for playing Dawn in Gavin and Stacey, and character actor Sarah Niles had a minor role as the mayor of the town. Niles has had a big year since she was also in F1, Heads of State, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and The Thursday Murder Club. Most of the cast knew what they were in, and they wanted to have fun with their work.

The reboot was directed by actor-turned-director Macon Blair, whose first film won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. He has a lot more credibility than the Troma filmmakers. He set out to make a knowing B-movie, something more in line with Darkman and Super, where a crime-ridden town gets an unlikely hero to take on the bad guys. There was no attempt to be shocking or edgy, and there was only one scene that featured tits and todger.

The Toxic Avenger: Unrated story was more like a traditional superhero origins tale. Winston was wronged, and when he tried to right it ended up getting superpowers. The robbery at the Miss Meat burger restaurant was used as The Toxic Avenger’s induction scene, like Superman saving Lois from a helicopter crash, Batman disturbing Falcone’s drug trafficking operation, and Iron Man defeating a terrorist group in Afghanistan. There were stakes in the film, and the story was played a bit more seriously. The screenplay may not be a masterpiece, but it was functional as it showed the connections between the characters and events, and there was a sense of causation. The Toxic Avenger: Unrated wasn’t a series of random events like in the original films.

The film did spring to life after Winston’s transformation. There was more than someone would expect from a Toxic Avenger movie. There was a lot of bloody carnage, even if it was more dependent on CGI, and it could please fans of B-movies. The Toxic Avenger’s broom wafted with fumes and felt like people could get ill just being around it. The final act was the strongest since it had the most comedy, starting with a twist on a woman using their feminine wiles.

The Toxic Avenger: Unrated was better than its predecessors, but it was a film that was made for a specific audience. It will probably be enjoyed the most during its home release, where people can watch it with a few drinks.