The history of “The Toxic Avenger” is nearly as wild as anything its creators have put on screen. Lloyd Kaufman’s 1984 film was a bonkers superhero, black comedy, and splatter film mashup that gained a boisterous cult following through its VHS and Betamax releases. It eventually paved the way for three feature-length sequels, an animated spin-off series, and a video game based on the spin-off series.

Now here we are in 2025 with a remake that has its own wild history. There were talks of a family-friendly reboot as far back is 2010 but it fell through. Six years later, another reboot was discussed with Guillermo del Toro attached. In 2018, Legendary Pictures won the rights to the remake, and a year later Macon Blair had been hired to write and direct. The finished film hit a few festivals in 2023 but struggled to secure a distributor due to its over-the-top gore. No one would touch it until Cineverse stepped in earlier this year.

Now “The Toxic Avenger” is back and with a fresh coat of 2025 paint. Blair’s script has a little bit of everything. It starts as an underdog story, evolves into a vigilante story, and ends as something similar to a superhero story. But possibly more than anything, “The Toxic Avenger” is a pitch-black comedy. The laughs come in rapid succession and often from the most unexpected places. And then there’s the gore, thrown liberally at the screen through an array of digital and practical wizardry.

Peter Dinklage stars as Winston Gooze, a widowed single parent doing his best to raise his stepson Wade (Jacob Tremblay). Life has dealt Winston a tough hand, and it only gets worse after he’s diagnosed with a terminal brain disease and given one year to live. Winston learns of an insanely expensive potential cure. But he’s devastated to learn that it’s not covered by the insurance plan he has with his employer, BTH, who has loyally worked for as a janitor.

BTH is ran by an its pampered and corrupt CEO, Robert Garbinger (played by a wacky Kevin Bacon who eats up every wacky scene he’s in). The company creates and distributes proprietary bio-boosters. But it’s also a criminal polluter, dumping cancer-causing chemicals and toxic waste into a river that runs by the small town of St. Roma’s Village. As a result, a determined whistleblower named J.J. Doherty (Taylour Paige) is ready to go public with damning evidence exposing BTH’s complicity.

After the company refuses to help him, a frustrated, hurt, and desperate Winston breaks into the BTH factory to steal enough money to pay for his treatment. But he’s caught by Garbinger’s goons who shoot him in the head and dump his lifeless body in a tank full of toxic sludge. Unexpectedly, the chemicals bring Winston back to life yet leaves him horribly disfigured and deformed. Even more, the mutated Winston emerges with superhuman strength and healing factor which he uses to become the working-class, mop-wielding avenger his city needs.

Dinklage brings energy and heart to the ill-fated Winston, both before and after his grotesque transformation (Luisa Guerreiro handles the body suit performance with Dinklage provides the voice-over). Meanwhile he’s surrounded by a supporting cast who are all-in with what the movie is going for. In addition to the hilariously gonzo Bacon and Paige as the movie’s straight woman, we also get Elijah Wood channeling Danny DeVito’s Penguin, Jonny Coyne playing a perpetually angry mob boss, and Julia Davis as Garbinger’s ditzy wife.

“The Toxic Avenger” is a zany yet self-aware reimagining that pretty much accomplishes everything it sets out to do. In fact, you could tag it as pure shock schlock and the filmmakers wouldn’t be a bit offended. It’s extremely gory to the point of delighting some and turning off others. It’s also absurdly silly which could lead to the very same reactions. I get that it may be excessive to the point of being exhausting. But it’s hard to not be entertained by this raucous mix of shock value and humor. “The Toxic Avenger” releases in theaters Friday, August 29th.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS