In the town of St. Roma’s Village (get it?), mega-corporation BTH has been poisoning people and polluting the town’s waters. Lowly janitor Winston (Peter Dinklage) falls victim to the company’s toxins. When BTH’s medical plan won’t cover the costs of his health care, Winston hits the roof. He’s already struggling to pay the pharmacy bills for his son, Wade. Winston decides to confront the head of BTH, Bob Garbinger (Kevin Bacon), in the hopes he can override the company’s medical plan.
Things don’t work out for Winston, and he finds himself desperately robbing BTH. Cornered by BTH’s goons (an Insane Clown Posse flavored band called Killer Nuts, managed by an unrecognizable Elijah Wood), Winston is murdered and thrown into a pool of toxic sludge. Thus, Winston is reborn as The Toxic Avenger. Armed with his trusty mop, Toxie sets out to clean up the streets of St. Roma while proving himself to be the man his son can be proud of.
Macon Blair directs and writes The Toxic Avenger. Blair is most well-known for appearing in many of Jeremy Saulnier’s films (Murder Party, Blue Ruin, Green Room, Hold the Dark). While Blair is more-so associated with dark dramas, it’s refreshing to see him tackle silly horror and nail it. Troma has returned.
Peter Dinklage stars as Winston/Toxie. He brings gravitas, weight, and pathos to his diminutive and downtrodden janitor. Dinklage sells the hell out of his scenes as both Winston and Toxie (voice acting/dubbing for Toxie). The character has been aged up (He was a high schooler in the OG), but retains the same heart and soul Toxie is known for. Luisa Guerreiro steps in to play Toxie, and looks fantastic as our titular hero.
The prosthetic effects for Toxie are shockingly impressive, high-quality, and cool. The Toxic Avenger was presumably made on a smaller budget (stats for the film’s budget aren’t currently available online), so to see this level of quality is a welcome surprise. The good folks at Millennium FX crafted the design of 2025’s Toxie. They nailed it out of the park. Everyone involved deserves some praise.
Jacob Tremblay plays Wade, Winston’s queer, high-functioning Autistic son. Wade is insecure and shy, but he’s got a good heart. At the end of the day, he just wants to dance but lacks the confidence to do so. Tremblay’s Wade isn’t given a whole lot to do, despite getting a significant amount of screen time (He can safely be considered a lead). That said, Tremblay shines like nobodies business whenever he’s on screen. You’d think he is starring in a hard-hitting emotional drama and not a goofy/silly horror-comedy. He’s absolutely a bright spot, and continues to prove he’s one of Hollywood’s most talented young actors.
Elijah Wood steals the show as the Riff-Raff coded Fritz, brother to Bob. Fritz is the head goon for his brother and the manager for the genuinely awful band-cum-assassins Killer Nuts. Wood looks freaky and frightening, but he has a sadness to his eyes and the way he holds himself that makes him oddly likable and sympathetic (despite him partaking in some nefarious ish.). Fritz might just be hiding a heart of gold. When all is said and done, this is the best we’ve seen from Wood, Tremblay, and Dinklage in some time.
Taylour Paige plays an important role as J.J. Doherty, an ace undercover reporter who’s got BTH’s number and is out to reveal them to the public. She just so happens to be snooping around and gets to witness Winston’s rebirth as Toxie. It should come as no surprise that she eventually finds herself fighting alongside him. Taylour plays her spunky and bad-ass side-kick role well. The film benefits from having Taylour in it.
The movie itself has the same tone, style, heart, and charm of classic Troma. The deaths are bloody and graphic, but don’t exactly impress. The humor tends to be very silly, but luckily the laughs tend to hit more often than not. Macon Blair and crew manage to faithfully bring Troma Studios, The Toxic Avenger, and Toxie himself back for the 21st century. Not only is The Toxic Avenger one of the coolest and most fun films of the year, its got one of the biggest hearts too. Toxie is the hero we need right now, not the one we deserve.
4 STARS
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