BY ERNIE MAGNOTTA
While working at the Tromaville Health Club
in 1984, goodhearted, 98lb. weakling Melvin “The Mop Boy†was tricked into
wearing a pink tutu and teased unmercifully until he fell from a two-story
window and landed in a vat of nuclear waste. The toxic chemicals changed little
Melvin, transforming him into a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size
and strength. Melvin became The Toxic Avenger, the first superhero from New Jersey!
Written and Directed by the great Lloyd
Kaufman (and co-directed by his partner-in-slime, Michael Herz), The Toxic Avenger, which is a thoroughly
entertaining and unique combination of the superhero genre, raunchy and over-the-top
comedy, as well as full-on horror movie-type gore, not only became an instant hit, but singlehandedly built Troma
films (Toxie is the company’s mascot much like Spider-man is to Marvel Comics).
The Toxic Avenger character became so popular that, over the years, fans were
treated to Tromatic goodies such as Toxie comic books, action figures, a
children’s cartoon series (Toxic
Crusaders) and even a musical; not to mention three hilarious sequels (with
a fourth on the way). The first sequel, also written by Kaufman, and, again,
directed by Lloyd and Herz, appeared in 1989.
Thanks to Toxie’s past heroics, The Toxic Avenger Part II begins with
the little people of Tromaville living in peace and harmony. That is, until the
evil chemical corporation Apocalypse Inc. comes to town and blows up the local
home for the blind which, incidentally, happens to be where Toxie (played by Ron
Fazio and John Altamura) is working, along with his blind girlfriend, Claire (singer/musician/artist/poet/filmmaker
Phoebe Legere). After Toxie mops up the floor with the corporation’s top
henchman, the evil Chairman (Rick Collins from Sgt. Kabukiman, N.Y.P.D.) and his partner Miss Malfaire (Class of Nuke ‘Em High 2’s Lisa Gaye) devise a diabolical plan to
rid Tromaville of the Toxic Avenger once and for all. They convince Toxie to
travel to Tokyo in order to locate his long-lost father, Big Mac (Rikiya
Yasuoka from Black Rain). Not only
will Toxie’s absence allow Apocalypse Inc. to take over Tromaville hassle-free,
but, while he’s in Japan, Miss Malfaire and the evil Chairman will order their
Tokyo contacts to use state-of-the-art Japanese technology in order to rid
Toxie of the Troma-tons within his body which not only give him his superhuman
size and strength, but also act up whenever he’s in the presence of evil. Will
the oblivious monster-hero figure stop the evil corporation from taking over
both Tromaville and Japan or will Apocalypse Inc. reign supreme?
I first saw this film in 1989 at a (sadly)
now defunct grindhouse theater on New York’s famed 42nd street. I
was a bit disappointed as I felt that the sequel didn’t live up to the
greatness of the original. Over 25 years later, I still feel that it doesn’t
come close to the original film, but I do find it a lot more entertaining than
I did back then (probably because this is the Director’s Cut and not the
chopped up, R-rated version I saw on its original release). Like the first
film, it’s still a wild combo of super heroics, raunchy, over-the-top comedy
and excessive gore, and the movie barely stops to catch its breath during the
109-minute running time. The larger-than-life acting is a real joy to watch too.
In particular, Lisa Gaye (who studied under Strasberg) and Phoebe Legere both
shine in their insane roles and these two lovely ladies prove to be extremely
gifted comic actors. Also, for those who enjoy seeing stars before they hit the
big time, the incredibly talented Michael Jai White (Tyson, Spawn, Black Dynamite) makes his film debut as an evil, yet
humorous henchman.
Although, the film runs a bit too long and
isn’t as focused as the original, The
Toxic Avenger Part II is loaded with enjoyably campy humor and wonderfully
comic bookish situations, characters & performances as well as insane (in a
good way) direction. It also contains a fun, Heavy Metal Toxie song and the
classic theme of good vs. evil.
If you’re a true-blue Tromaniac, you’ll be
happy to know that Lloyd Kaufman and the terrific Troma team have put together
a lovely remastered, Troma-rrific HD transfer presented in its original 1:85:1
aspect ratio. The region free Blu-ray/DVD is also packed with a ton of special
features (most of which have been carried over from previous releases). Along
with the original theatrical trailer, we also get trailers for the remaining
three Toxic Avenger films as well as
several other Troma classics like Troma’s
War and Return to Nuke ‘Em High:
Volumes 1 & 2; not to mention the featurette: The American Cinematheque Honors 40 Years of Troma, two humorous,
retro features: At Home with Toxie and
Toxie on Japanese T.V., a brief interview
with Lisa Gaye who happily discusses her association with the fiercely
independent company, a brand new introduction by the King of Troma himself,
Lloyd Kaufman, as well as a retro DVD intro and, last, but certainly not least,
a full-length, hilarious and informative audio commentary from writer/director Kaufman,
who discusses a plethora of interesting subjects such as filming in New York,
New Jersey and Tokyo as well as his many battles with the MPAA. My only
complaint here is that the commentary is out of sync, as Lloyd seems to be six
minutes ahead of the visuals. Other than
that, it’s over four hours of toxic goodness, so if you’re a Troma fanatic, a
lover of Toxie or just enjoy off-the-wall insanity, this Blu-ray is an absolute
must.
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