The Toxic Avenger remake reimagines Troma's 1984 cult film with Peter Dinklage as janitor Winston Gooze, who becomes a mutant superhero after a workplace accident. The update shifts the protagonist's motivation from bullying revenge to struggles obtaining expensive healthcare and fighting wealthy, unaccountable interests that harm those without money or power. The film prioritized practical effects, evident in the Toxic Avenger suit and prosthetics on Elijah Wood's henchman. The project was written in 2019, shot in 2021, released in 2023, and took more than two years to reach theaters, arriving for general audiences on August 29.
Some horror movies double as allegories for social issues, while others are all about good old-fashioned scares and special effects. Balancing the two, however, can get tricky. Get too preachy and it just becomes a PSA with blood spatter, but get too gory, and the message is diluted, like Jigsaw's hamfisted justifications for his many traps across the many Saw movies.
In 2023, one movie found that perfect balance... then took more than two years to reach theaters. But now that it's finally here, it doesn't shy away from anything, be it injustice or industrial waste. For fans of The Toxic Avenger, the remake's arrival in theaters on August 29 has been a long time coming. For its writer and director, Macon Blair, it's been even longer.
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