The Toxic Avenger 4K Review (CineVerse)

The Toxic Avenger is a 2023 horror comedy film written, executive produced, and directed by Macon Blair (I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore, Room 104, The Shitheads, and The Lowdown). It was produced by Lloyd Kaufman (The Toxic Avenger franchise, Terror Firmer, Eating Miss Campbell, Class of Nuke ‘Em High franchise, The Final Countdown, Surf Nazis Must Die, Zombie Island Massacre, Blood Hook, Def by Temptation, Tromeo and Juliet, Father’s Day, Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D., Shakespeare’s Sh*tstorm, Combat Shock, and Mother’s Day). It’s a remake of 1984’s The Toxic Avenger. It was followed by The Toxic Avenger Part II, The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie, Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV, and Toxic Crusaders. This remake was originally announced in 2010 but it sat in development hell for additional 13 years. It was actually finished in 2023 but it wasn’t officially released until 2025. It grossed $3,472,130 worldwide during it’s limited theatrical run. When an unlucky janitor, Winston Gooze (played by: Peter Dinklage from Game of Thrones, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Dexter: Resurrection, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Death at a Funeral, and Avengers: Infinity War) is exposed to a catastrophic toxic accident, he’s transformed into a new kind of hero. He’s now known as The Toxic Avenger. Toxie must rise from outcast to savior with his special abilities. He takes on ruthless corporate overlords which includes Bob Garbinger (played by: Kevin Bacon from Friday the 13th, Tremors, Hollow Man, Flatliners, The Following, and Mystic River) and Fritz Garbinger (played by: Elijah Wood from Maniac, The Lord of the Rings franchise, The Monkey, The Faculty, Sin City, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) that’s financed by ruthless mob boss Thad Barkabus (played by: Jonny Coyne from Gangster Squad, The Blacklist, Preacher, and The Hangover Part III). They continue to threaten his step-son Wade (played by: Jacob Tremblay from Harley Quinn, The Life of Chuck, The Predator, Doctor Sleep, and Good Boys), his friends, and his community. In a toxic world where nothing but greed controls everything. Brutal justice and vengeance is always best served radioactive!!!! Have you ever wondered what would be like to see a Troma feature with an actual budget and some big names in it? It really happened with this reboot after all these years. The Toxic Avenger was my most anticipated movie of the year. It had no distribution for a little bit and it sat on shelves for around 2 years after it was completely finished. It already had a troubled history so that didn’t help it either. Most people know Macon Blair as an actor from such projects as Blue Ruin, The Hunt, Murder Party, Oppenheimer, Logan Lucky, and Green Room. This time he got behind the camera and wrote the screenplay for this remake. I’m very impressed with his work here considering that he’s only done a few previous projects which includes Netflix and some television. Macon Blair puts his own spin on The Toxic Avenger, it’s very different from it’s original franchise but it still has that familiar atmosphere. Lloyd Kaufman created one of the most unique and original superheroes in 1984 with the first Toxic Avenger. There’s no one like him and I always loved the fact the character never got watered down no matter what. It has spawned 3 sequels and a cartoon besides this new version. The talented Peter Dinklage is the lead Winston Gooze. He’s great as the unlucky janitor that no one seems to appreciate it. He gets some lite changing health news and he goes to his greedy boss after getting turned down for insurance. Everything gets much worse for him after that. He’s in this as himself for a little over 30 minutes before he gets transformed into The Toxic Avenger. After that, he’s still the voice of the character but Toxie is played by actress Luisa Guerreiro (The Witcher) for the rest of it. Kevin Bacon is fantastic as the main villain Bob Garbinger. He’s a legit star and he’s been a leading man for most of his impressive career but he’s not afraid to take risks and go over the top when needed. He’s the sleazy C.E.O of BTH (Body Talk Health) and he’s a very powerful man with no morals. He’s backed by vicious gangsters so he’s starting to feel the pressure after struggling lately with his business. Elijah Wood shows up as Bob’s eccentric brother Fritz. Wood is very entertaining while doing his best Danny DeVito impression as The Penguin in Batman Returns. He’s a known horror fan and I respect that such a big actor like himself does some off the wall weird projects like this. He’s the main henchman for BTH plus he controls the Killer Nutz that does all of their dirty work and kills for them. Unlike his monster brother, he actually has some morals and he doesn’t want to murder children. Taylour Paige (IT: Welcome to Derry, Brothers, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, White Boy Rick, and Zola) is the brave J.J. Doherty that’s trying to expose the evil chemical company so they track her down to silence her for good by any means necessary. She’s basically the other main character in The Toxic Avenger with her subplot that interacts with Winston Gooze. She’s a bad ass that won’t back down from anything. The rest of the supporting cast includes Jacob Tremblay, Jonny Coyne, Julia Davis (Phantom Thread), Abraham Lewis (I Am Mortal), Lloyd Kaufman (Guardians of the Galaxy franchise), Macon Blair (Swamp Thing), Annette Badland (Ted Lasso), David Yow (Under the Silver Lake), Shaun Dooley (Saltburn), Rebecca O’Mara (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice), Spencer Wilding (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Julian Kostov (Leatherface), Neda Spasova (Brothers), Duke Nwamerue (Pandora), Ioan Karamfilov (Conan the Barbarian), Sarah Niles (The Fantastic Four: First Steps), Atanas Srebrev (Day of the Dead: Bloodline), Nathan Cooper (Doom: Annihilation), Max Kraus (Red Sonja), and Valentin Ganev (The Abandoned). The Toxic Avenger delivers a solid mix of dark comedy, drama, horror, and action. It’s extremely violent, and gory so it doesn’t hold on it’s gruesome kills. There’s some practical old school special fx from from artists Martin Astles (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Candyman, House of 1000 Corpses, Chucky franchise, Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice, and Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth) and Marina Boshnakova (Barbarian, Hellboy: The Crooked Man, and Death Race 4: Beyond Anarchy). I wished that they used more of that here. It always looks better to me. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the overuse of CGI and visual fx for most of it’s violence. It didn’t look bad or anything but it kinda takes away from some of the best scenes in this. The Toxic Avenger does take a little time to get somewhere but it pays back the audience with it’s wild journey. It’s a total blast, it manages to keep itself faithful to the vibe of Troma’s bizarre universe despite being a bigger production. There’s sleaze, nudity, and it’s a bloody cinematic adventure. The Toxic Avenger reboot has been through hell since it was originally announced 12 years ago. I’m glad that they changed their mind about making it PG-13 and more like the Toxic Crusaders. It went through so many different directors and actors over the years. When it was finally made, it got delayed for another 2 years and it only received a limited theatrical run. I still think it did really good for what it had so I’m hoping it gets a sequel like they tease at the end. The Toxic Avenger is the mutated superhero feature that you didn’t expect to show up in a world of Marvel and DC Comics. It’s one of the most entertaining experiences of the entire year, it deserves more attention. RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from CineVerse! This 2160p (2.39:1) unrated transfer looks excellent on home video for it’s 4K debut. It has a colorful visual style to it’s cinematography, production design, and locations. It definitely feels like it’s own little world here which fits for Troma. The special and visual fx are very sharp. It has a few different audio options which includes English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English: Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks on the UHD. The Toxic Avenger is packed with all kinds of violence and action so it sounds great when it comes to the audio. All of the dialogue is crisp, the chaos is elevated, and the music has a huge boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. It has an “Audio Commentary” with director and writer Macon Blair. He talks about early test screenings left crowds confused if it was a comedy or serious so they had to make some changes to it’s beginning. He has lots of fun here, he cracks all kinds of jokes while giving the audience plenty of detailed information and inside stories about this reboot. He mentions some influences and he mentions that was always a comedy first rather than just a straight up gore film. He goes over why the sign spells Tromaville but it was spaced like it was to separate itself from the original universe. He drops all kinds of easter eggs and homages in this reboot. It’s a very entertaining track, it’s not your typical commentary and he just wants to teach some stuff while having fun while revisiting his own movie. It has the little over 13 minute “A Toxic Environment: Best of Behind-the-Scenes”. It has interviews with Lloyd Kaufman, Macon Blair, Kevin Bacon, Elijah Wood, Peter Dinklage, Jacob Tremblay, and others. They chat about working on this reboot. They go over the cast and the characters. They talk about the original and it’s changes on this one. It has a variety of clips and behind the scenes footage. It shows the Tromaville set up with it’s locations and production design. They all show their appreciation for the director and writer Macon Blair. It has the little over 10 minute “Toxic Shock with Tiffany Shepis”. Troma veteran actress and legendary Scream Queen shows up around 5 minutes into this. She chats about this classic independent series. It goes over New Jersey and the history of the Toxic Avenger. It shows various scenes from all of the Toxic Avenger films, the musical, and the cartoon with some narration. It goes into the new Toxie towards the end of it. It has the little over 15 minute “40th Anniversary of The Toxic Avenger”. This extra is dedicated to Troma Entertainment and The Toxic Avenger universe. It’s goes a little into it’s success with sequels, toys, and cartoons over the years. It’s a silly quick livestream that has fun with discussing about Troma and all of the projects. It has the “Trailer” for The Toxic Avenger. It comes with a slipcover and a blu ray copy. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!