Shadows on the Wall | The Toxic Avenger

The Toxic Avenger

dir-scr Macon Blair
prd Mary Parent, Lloyd Kaufman, Alex Garcia, Michael Herz
with Peter Dinklage, Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Kevin Bacon, Elijah Wood, Julia Davis, David Yow, Jonny Coyne, Abraham Lewis, Annette Badland, Sarah Niles, Luisa Guerreiro
release US/UK 29.Aug.25
25/US Legendary 1h42

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While this remake of the iconic B-movie is relentlessly cheesy and often chaotically ridiculous, it also has a surprising warmth that sneaks up on us. Even more surprisingly, the film tackles some big ideas in the most outrageous way possible, overstating the issues with unsubtle pastiche and on-the-nose people and place names. But it's actually refreshing that writer-director Macon Blair so carefully avoids anything resembling cinematic polish.

Working at the sinister BTH Labs, owned by snaky billionaire Robert (Bacon), frazzled janitor Winston (Dinklage) struggles to connect with his teen stepson Wade (Tremblay), whose mother has just died. Then Winston learns that he also has terminal cancer, most likely from the pollutants at the lab, which is poisoning the community. When he inadvertently crosses paths with investigative journalist JJ (Paige), Winston is attacked by thugs and thrown into toxic waste, transforming into green monster with a glowing mop. As he fights for justice alongside JJ, the public celebrates him as a folk hero.

Layers of villains are trying to stop Toxie, as the kids quickly dub him. Robert is accompanied by his slimy brother Fritz (Wood) and his vicious assistant Kissy (Davis), plus an army of thugs who play in a local metal band. Robert's also under pressure from mobster Thad (Coyne) and his evil pretty-boy heir Spence (Lewis), plus their array of goons. So it seems like there is no end of fodder for Toxie's astonishingly inventive array of self-defence methods.

These camp baddies offer the actors a chance to perform to the rafters, while the heroes manage to remain slightly more grounded. Dinklage has terrific gravitas as the hapless Winston, who is trying a bit too hard to do the right thing (as Toxie, his expressive physicality is played by the gifted Guerreiro). He has a complex connection with both Tremblay's soulful Wade and Paige's intrepid JJ. And there's also a hilariously nutty turn by Yow as a shambolic homeless guardian angel.

All of this is played to the hilt for maximum silliness, and much of it is genuinely amusing. Sure, there's a lot here that's painfully obvious, punched so hard that it's impossible to miss the gags or find anything surprising in them. But the steady stream of madcap antics and hilariously overwrought gore keeps us chuckling. And because it all spirals around both family relationships and corporate greed, there are bigger issues that we can try to think about amid the mayhem.

themes, language, violence 20.Aug.25

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