THE TOXIC AVENGER
Starring: Peter Dinklage, Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Julia Davis, Luisa Guerreiro, Annette Badland, Elijah Wood, Sarah Niles, Jonny Coyne, and Kevin Bacon
Director: Macon Blair
NICK
The 1984 film The Toxic Avenger is unabashedly a B-movie featuring grimy quality, cartoon violence, and over-the-top ridiculousness. Although it has a higher budget and production value, the 2025 iteration maintains a lot of these values. The film is filled with visual gags, gore, and a self-awareness of exactly what we’re watching. It’s intentionally goofy (there’s a villain who literally does flips every time he makes an entrance) and Peter Dinklage makes for a great Toxie. Look, it’s a B-movie version of a Deadpool-style superhero film. It’s fun and, more importantly, it honours the original.
ROBERT
When something is in limbo for two years, it builds anticipation and props itself up to be must-see, when and if it ever gets released. Without much context of Troma Entertainment and The Toxic Avenger from the 1980s, I didn’t know what to expect from this new iteration. Fortunately, I set myself up to be mesmerized, which I was throughout, because the film never stops being its vulgar, crass, and unceasingly hilarious self. The sight gags, the long-running comedy bits, and the nonchalant reaction to mutation and violence set a blissful tone of alternative superhero lore that generates effortless smiles. Toxie (Peter Dinklage) is a damn folk legend.
QUENTIN
This remake of The Toxic Avenger is a loving homage and tribute to Troma Entertainment and weird 80s B-movies (including the original The Toxic Avenger, obviously) much in the way that Black Dynamite is a love letter to blaxploitation movies of the 70s. It features all the hallmarks of the era’s cult classics: hilarious absurdity, buckets of blood and gore, a terrifically warped charm, and unparalleled self-awareness. The entire cast, but especially Kevin Bacon and Elijah Wood, know exactly what kind of movie they are making, and if director Macon Blair can maintain this level of commitment in potential sequels, I’ll watch every goofy-ass chapter.
