“The Toxic Avenger” (2023) Has a Warm, Oozy Heart
What is the point of superhero movies? It’s a question that has likely kicked around in your brain over the last decade or so since the Marvel Cinematic Universe rewired the way people think about this genre of films. Are we tuning in to see fights between ultra-powerful metahumans and gods? Or is it for a reason far more human? To have something to believe in that can encourage the average person to live in a way that puts kindness above all else. Maybe the superhero bubble has finally burst, but if that’s the case, it’s The Toxic Avenger (2023) that deserves to be remembered as an example of what superhero movies are capable of.
Winston Gooze (Peter Dinklage) is a janitor at BTH, a health and wellness company run by a corrupt CEO, Bob Garbinger (Kevin Bacon). Winston lives with his step-son, Wade (Jacob Tremblay), who is struggling to see Winston as a father figure after the death of his mom. Winston is told by his doctor that he has a medical malady that gives him, at maximum, a year to live. There’s a medicine that will cure him, but his insurance doesn’t cover it. Desperate to make sure Wade doesn’t lose another parent, Winston makes a personal plea to Bob, who is insulted that a janitor would dare speak to him. Seeking revenge, Winston breaks into BTH at night and, in a scuffle with some goons, falls into a vat of toxic waste.
Photo courtesy of Yana Blajeva/Legendary Pictures
In 1984, The Toxic Avenger was distributed by Troma Entertainment. That film, which differs greatly from the plot of the 2023 version, would be the title that would launch Troma into the stratosphere for B movies. They’ve made a name for themselves in the wacky and weird midnight movie genre. Forty years later, director Macon Blair’s version of The Toxic Avenger captures the sensation of a grimy B movie you discovered on VHS from your friend’s older sibling’s collection. It’s the sort of movie that recognizes the role it’s playing. 2023’s Toxic Avenger gives you the splattering brain matter, flying blood, and oozy, toxic heart on its sleeve. When you boil it all down, The Toxic Avenger (2023) is a movie about a dad trying to show his kid how much he loves him and taking down the corrupt American healthcare system along the way. Isn’t that what superhero movies should be all about?
Photo courtesy of Yana Blajeva/Legendary Pictures
“I didn’t want any of this” grumbles Dinklage in the tried and true moody, hardened superhero voice during the opening voiceover. The best superheroes don’t want power or responsibility, but when presented with the opportunity to change things for the little guy, they seize it. Winston teams up with an investigative journalist (Taylour Paige) who happened to be onsite the night he fell into the toxic waste. She too wants to fight for something better and is using the skills she has to do so. The Toxic Avenger (2023) has the sensibilities of hopeful ’80s movies of yesteryear that are only a little bogged down by CGI in parts of the film. It certainly helps that Kevin Bacon, with highlighted emo bangs, is the ridiculous villain at the center of all of this. Bacon is so obviously enjoying being the bad guy that you almost wish he won so you could keep watching him.
The Toxic Avenger (2023) is frustrated with the world we live in. We’ve had so many medical revelations, yet we put them behind a paywall. That’s enough to radicalize anyone, toxic sludge or not. The Toxic Avenger (2023) is sweetly silly and gory, covering the audience in blood in the same breath it’s asking them to believe in the power of the love of a father and son.
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