The Toxic Avenger 2025 Review

This reboot of The Toxic Avenger delivers gritty, cheeky chaos anchored by strong performances in familiar sleazy‑splatter territory. It is raw, it is messy, and it insists you lean into its absurdity.

Winston Gooze is a single stepdad doing his best, until a diagnosis of a terminal illness leaves him desperate. That prompts an ill-advised robbery of his employer. He is thrown into a vat of toxic waste, mutating into a green invincible creature, Toxie. With superhuman strength and durability, Winston becomes a vigilante taking on crime and corporate corruption while trying to protect his son.

Peter Dinklage plays Winston. His shift into mutant-voice mode after the transformation is bold. He steps into unapologetic silliness with sharp timing. It is been a while since he leaned into ridiculousness like this, and it really lands. His emotional core keeps the madness grounded.

Kevin Bacon plays Bob Garbinger, a corrupt CEO dripping with sleaze. His performance reminds you how much you can enjoy hating someone. Jacob Tremblay plays Wade his stepson, a vulnerable teen whose life Winston is trying to save. Taylour Paige appears as JJ Doherty a vigilante journalist fighting against Garbinger’s corporation. Elijah Wood plays Fritz Garbinger the brother of the villain in a flamboyant role that borders on camp.

This film has that early‑2000s action comedy vibe enhanced with practical effects and intentionally cheap visuals. The practical gore is gloriously over‑the‑top. Bodies and limbs go flying. Blood sprays everywhere. The audience I saw it with roared at the carnage. The cheap look is part of the charm. It recalls cult classics where the mess makes the fun.

The tone is a glossy slop of superhero black comedy and environmental revenge. There is satire in how Winston uses his mop. His mop is his symbol of cleaning up the city. There is also genuine absurd thrill in seeing this green mutant rag on corporate crime. The satire is flirtatious at best, not deeply felt. That is fine. It is not looking to solve anything except boredom.

Realistically this film will not land for everyone. It is messy, the satire is light and not deeply layered, the plot drifts for attention rather than clarity. But that is not a flaw here. It is part of the splatter‑camp appeal. Narratively this is unapologetically wild. It zigzags from grief, to gore, to satire, to genuine heart in a blur. The pacing sometimes hits narrative dead zones, yet every visual is oversized and intentionally outré. It pulls from the original Troma DNA while using updated production values to deliver a louder, bloodier version.

This film is a gloriously unhinged, adrenaline-charged reboot that spills guts and laughs in equal measure. The gore is a spectacle, the tone is an oddball delight, the performances are bold. It is not elegant, but it is defiantly invigorating. This is messy, this is ridiculous, this is wildly entertaining. That why I give it a 6.5/10