Movie · 2025 · Action, Comedy, Science Fiction · 1h 42m · NR · English
Curator score: 2.5/10 (85.7K ratings)
The hero we need now.
Overview
When a downtrodden janitor, Winston Gooze, is exposed to a catastrophic toxic accident, he’s transformed into a new kind of hero: The Toxic Avenger. Now, Toxie must rise from outcast to savior, taking on ruthless corporate overlords and corrupt forces who threaten his son, his friends, and his community.
Ratings
Curator score: 2.5/10
IMDb: 5.9/10
Letterboxd: 2.96/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
Metacritic: 65
TMDB: 6.0/10
Director
Macon Blair
Production
Legendary Pictures, Troma Entertainment
Cast
Peter Dinklage, Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Julia Davis, Jonny Coyne, Elijah Wood, Kevin Bacon, David Yow, Sarah Niles, Shaun Dooley, Luisa Guerreiro, Annette Badland, Sunil Patel, Margo Cargill, Rebecca O'Mara, Macon Blair, Lloyd Kaufman, Spencer Wilding, Kitodar Todorov, Sophia Vassili
Where to watch
Hulu
Curator Review
Verdict
A loud, gory, punk-spirited superhero satire with enough invention and crowd-pleasing chaos to work if you’re in the right mood, but its heavy CGI, uneven tone, and studio-polished edges may disappoint fans expecting pure Troma grime. Best approached as a rowdy midnight movie rather than a faithful cult revival.
Best for
fans of splattery comic-book absurdity
viewers who like campy antihero stories
crowd screenings and midnight-movie energy
people curious about a mainstream take on Troma-style mayhem
Skip if
you want practical-effects sleaze over digital gore
you dislike gross-out comedy or cartoon violence
you’re expecting a faithful, ultra-trashy remake
you prefer tight, serious superhero storytelling
Overview
The Toxic Avenger is the kind of movie that wants to be both a sincere underdog story and a splatter-soaked joke machine, and most of the time it gets away with it. Macon Blair leans into the punk-comic-book energy, giving the film a scrappy, anarchic rhythm that makes the corporate-villain satire land better than you might expect.
Worth noting
What holds it back is polish. The movie often feels more studio-managed than truly feral, and the CGI-heavy gore can blunt the nasty charm that made the original such a cult object. Still, the cast commits hard, and the film has enough weirdness, momentum, and mutant-movie enthusiasm to keep it entertaining.
Bottom line
If you’re open to a modernized, crowd-friendly version of Troma chaos, this can be a good time. If you want something uglier, stranger, and more handmade, you may leave wishing it had gone even further off the rails.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Joe Lynch (4★) · 1363 likes
Now having worked at Troma back in the day AND was the in-house “TOXIE” for 2 years (as well as being considered for the job) I was very bias and honestly a little worried what I wound think of Macon’s studio reimagining of the iconic Troma cult classic.
I’m happy and relieved to report that it only took 2 min of this madcap punk rock motherfucker of a movie for me to fall in love with it’s style, tone and… more Now having worked at Troma back in the day AND was the in-house “TOXIE” for 2 years (as well as being considered for the job) I was very bias and honestly a little worried what I wound think of Macon’s studio reimagining of the iconic Troma cult classic.
I’m happy and relieved to report that it only took 2 min of this madcap punk rock motherfucker of a movie for me to fall in love with it’s style, tone and… more
Hailli (2.5★) · 1316 likes
A reasonable reaction to the American healthcare system.
Anna🍓 (2.5★) · 1104 likes
Elijah Wood did in fact wear a wig 🙂↕️
4 different sets of people walked out of the mystery screening 😭😭
Buddy O (3★) · 775 likes
Elijah Woods lowkey amassing the most unhinged filmography ever.