It’s a thin line to walk, but there’s an art form to vulgarity. The cinephile term to describe this would be “ridiculous sublime”, but in the case of The Toxic Avenger, fans can temporarily rename the phrase to “straight up Tromatic” for a well-earned moment of appreciation.
Understanding Troma’s Cult Legacy
It’d be blasphemous to compare Troma Entertainment to a cult, but there is a sort of indoctrination required to grasp what the production company has been putting out for the past 50 years. Don’t forget that art is subjective, now. Co-founder and creator of the original Toxic Avenger, “Uncle Lloyd” Kaufman understands that better than most. With that, Troma has fueled the success of James Gunn, J.J. Abrams, South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, and a hell of a lot more memorable names in showbiz. Cash is king, yeah, but trash gets it flowing. Writer/director Macon Blair is next up on the roster, and right now the citizens of Tromaville are nothing but welcome.
A New Toxie Hero
Bottom line- The Toxic Avenger rips, and is exactly what you’d expect from a big budget (by Troma standards, at least) modern day re-hash. The new Toxie is more of a reimagining than it is a typical remake, and I’m digging the new origin story. Good old Melvin has been swapped for Winston Gooze (Peter Dinklage), a down-on-his-luck, single stepdad stuck in the middle of a couple of personal crises, health related and otherwise. He, his stepson Wade (Jacob Tremblay), and their combined anxieties live in the nothing but normal suburb, St. Roma’s Villa- which fans remember as the infamous Tromaville.
The Villains of Tromaville
Gooze is a janitor at the HQ of crooked pharma company BTH; infamous for being an A+ super polluter, accepting dirty money, and contributing to the predatory never-ending cycle of healthcare and insurance scams. With every government-protected monopoly, there’s bound to be a supervillain-adjacent CEO, which in this case, is helmed by king shmoozer Kevin Bacon in the hilariously ignorant role of Bob Garbinger. He plays a great asshole, but it’s the 2000s era N’SYNC highlights with a swoop bang that gets me, personally.
After a sad attempt at begging for healthcare coverage, Gooze meets JJ Doherty (Taylour Paige); a mole set on exposing the skeletons in the BTH pharmaceutical company closet. The lesser brother of the BTH empire, and Rocky Horror’s Riff Raff wannabe, Fritz Garbinger (Elijah Wood) sends his goons, The Killer Nutz to handle the infiltration. Is there anything more unserious than a nu-metal/juggalo fusion band masquerading as hitmen? Pause for several consecutive minutes of tongue-in-armpit violence and pointless parkour, and Gooze ends up face down in a vat of toxic pharma-waste. Thus, the new Toxie is born!
Over-the-Top Humor and Visuals
What comes next, I can only describe as a scrapbook, “fuck-off” movie. Its plot is simple, leaving opportunities to pack in throwaway scenes to generate laughs and build audience understanding of the boundaries of St. Roma’s Villa. They’re not all gold, but with the sheer volume of crass humor, something’s bound to get you. Worst-case scenario: chuckle by way of cringe or secondhand embarrassment. It’s filled with bright colors and wacky shapes that don’t make any sense. I’ll take my cap off to production designer Alexander Cameron for creating a real live-action cartoon, and to the cast for understanding the assignment of underplaying moronic, skitchy dialogue, as they’re all just cartoon characters themselves.
Social Commentary Through Satire
Though this world ain’t even close to ours, our societal problems do overlap. America’s got a huge issue with corporations’ parasitic effects on our communities. Our healthcare system is a damned mess, the wealth gap grows deeper by the second, but somehow the spite that gets us out of bed in the morning is the erasure of Aunt Jemima, or the burger chain down the street changing its name from “Mr. Meat” to “Miss Meat”. For that reason, we’re able to connect with this crap (complimentary). If you’re willing to meet The Toxic Avenger at its level, you’ll be forced to take a step back and remember how dumb some of our contemporary conflicts really are. Good thing we can laugh, though. It’s getting dark out here.
That tie-in must have been tough, but Peter Dinklage’s performance (before the toxic accident) encourages more of an emotional connection than its predecessor. Fans may have been skeptical of this casting due to Dinklage’s weight in traditional dramatic roles, but his 30 minutes of “normal human” screentime is just the modern touch of relatability this reimagining needed to survive 2025. The wraparound train from “sometimes it’s better to do nothing” to “sometimes you’ve got to do something” actually has a chance of leaving you (appropriately) touched by the time the credits roll.
Macon Blair’s Tromatic Vision
The Toxic Avenger is clearly a product of a seasoned Troma Entertainment fan, created specifically for the fan base. Is it Criterion material? Hell no, but through his new story and direction, Macon Blair has taken Toxie down a modern lane through classic Troma guidelines that can be felt from a handful of anarchic angles. The most prominent being the “you can’t laugh at me- I’m already laughing” circle of protection. Blair and the crew are already 10 steps ahead of you, giggling in a mirror covered with sweaty fingerprints and other questionable substances. You should watch it. I’m going in for seconds this weekend.
