A horrible toxic accident transforms downtrodden janitor Winston Gooze into a new evolution of hero: the Toxic Avenger.

It is easy to forget that prior to the explosion of cinematic universes and mining every aspect of comic book lore for multiple movies a year, that superhero movies were just as likely to be low budget B-movies as blockbuster tentpoles, and ‘The Toxic Avenger’ is testament to that spirit. This is a remake granted, of a story that has been told on screen multiple times (none of which I’ve seen), but it feels quite refreshing in a cinematic landscape peppered with big budget bores. That is to say I liked this movie a lot more than I expected too, and I’d be up for more comic book adaptations in this vein.

‘The Toxic Avenger’ is the story of Winsten Gooze (Peter Dinklage), a down on his luck janitor who spends his time either looking after his disinterested stepson (Jacob Tremblay) or working for a large chemical corporation for minimal pay. When he is diagnosed with a terminal illness and his pleas to his companies CEO (Kevin Bacon) fall on deaf ears, he ends up in an accident involving toxic waste that transforms him into the mutated superhuman of the title. Thereafter we follow Gooze as he attempts to connect with his stepson (hard with his new appearance) while taking out a whole manner of villains in vigilante fashion. It is a hell of a lot of fun, helped by Dinklage’s winning lead performance and the silly, almost slapstick black comedy and ultraviolence that colours most of the interactions.

I can see this being a movie that will play well on the midnight movie circuit or on late night TV when you come in from the pub and aren’t ready for bed yet, and if you enjoy splatter and gore it’ll tick many boxes. In a world of Marvel and DC superhero movies, I thought the ‘The Toxic Avenger’ was a breath of fresh air in its throwback approach, and I really enjoyed it.

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: Macon Blair

Starring: Peter Dinklage, Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Julia Davis, Jonny Coyne, Elijah Wood and Kevin Bacon

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1633359/