The Toxic Avenger

At its core, the Toxic Avenger is a material that is simply suited to the ultra-low-budget waters of Troma Entertainment, a studio that has never been afraid to be provocative, wild and unbridled, which was one of its main charms. Transferring him to a mid-budget project from big studio Legendary Entertainment fails already on paper. The result is wannabe edgy, but in reality it’s quite tame, tidy and unsurprising compared to the original four-film series, and I'm not even sure what type of audience it's actually targeting. What's also bizarre is that although the reboot was given a more generous budget, apart from the casting of more familiar actors, you won’t notice it, especially in terms of the action, which is notably absent. It lacks ideas, playfulness and daring (compare that to the Dadaist explosion of ideas and razor-sharp wit that is Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV). Instead, it has lots and lots of deaf spots, and also attempts at humour that hardly ever hit the ground running. (14/10/2023)