Ty Watches "The Toxic Avenger" (2023)

A while back I watched the original "Toxic Avenger". I had seen a few Troma movies prior to that one, but that was the main Troma movie I wanted to see. I had heard so many interesting things about it and the time had come to finally sit down and watch. And it was fine. It was pretty much what I expected. It was gory, silly, kind of stupid and upsetting at parts, purposely.

After seeing the original I happened to come across a new interpretation of "The Toxic Avenger". I saw that they had a solid cast and I kind of figured I would watch it at some point. Well that day was yesterday. I had some free time in the afternoon, I usually watch movies while folding laundry, so I decided to watch the remake, or reimagination.

What stood out right away to me was that this new version was going to be just as silly and slapstick as the original. The movie starts out with a voiceover by Peter Dinklage, he is the main character, but all the while he is doing voiceover, he is making jokes throughout. I was in from that moment on. I like Peter Dinklage. He was my favorite part of "Game of Thrones". I love his minor role in the MCU. His work in "Elf" is wonderful. He is as reliable as they come in Hollywood. And he is funny as hell. He gets to do a ton of jokes in this movie and I'm here for it. He also plays this put upon scaredy cat before he transforms and he nails that as well. And when he turns into Toxie, although the hero is played by someone else and voiced by Dinklage, his voice work is so perfect for this type of movie. I loved seeing him in a starring role in something goofy and gory. Dinklage has earned the right to star in more movies, and I hope he gets that chance soon.

Joining Dinklage is a pretty solid cast of actors. Jacob Tremblay plays his step son. He is an anxious riddled ball of nerves, and when he finally gets his voice, Tremblay does some good work. I had only seen him in "Good Boys" prior, which is an underrated movie, but seeing him in something like this was a nice change of pace. Taylour Paige plays a former worker of the corrupt company in the movie who is out to show the world how evil the company truly is. She is a very good actor, and I've never seen her do comedy before this. She is the "straight man" in this role, but when she needs to make a joke or a funny face or do anything comedic, she is up to task. Elijah Wood plays the injured brother of the CEO of the corrupt company. He is bald on top,  but has long stringy hair in the back. He uses a cane, talks with a raspy voice and needs an inhaler. He is head of security, but all I could glean security was in this movie was killing people who speak out against the company. Don't worry, minor spoiler, Wood does save someone near the end, but he still has a not so happy ending. And Kevin Bacon plays the CEO of the evil corporation, and he is so good as the villain. He is vile and mean. But he's also being controlled by a mob boss and he gets to play a scared person whenever that guy is around. Bacon has become so good at playing a villian, even in a silly movie like this, and he nails it here. The big fight between him and Dinklage at the end is pretty epic.

Besides the acting, the action and gore in this one is very over the top on purpose. Heads get ripped off, limbs get pulled around, multiple shots are fired to and about faces. It is an endless orgy of gore, but that is the whole idea of Troma movies. They purposely go over the top, and there's nothing left to the imagination. One of the bad guys gets half his head ripped off. Another bad guy gets his arm ripped off by accident. Dinklage uses a mop covered in acid to fight off the bad guys. They do a throwback to the classic fast food restaurant scene in this movie and it gets way more amped up and violent here.

This new version of “The Toxic Avenger” is, overall, a better movie because people make better movies now. That's just a fact. But I think I prefer the original a little more. I like the whole low fi idea of the original movie. But this one is still very funny and a good time. You need to know what you're getting yourself into when you watch a Troma movie, and if you can deal with the gore and goofiness, I'd recommend both the original and this reimagination of "The Toxic Avenger". They're a good time for what they are. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Better Late than Never on "Good Boys"

Continuing with my quarantine movie watch, I just recently saw the movie "Good Boys".

This movie got a very limited release in theaters, it is dirty and has children saying the dirty words, which may be why it got released and pulled so quickly from the theaters. I remember seeing the previews, seeing that Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg were producers, and wanting to see the movie. It looked funny and it looked like me and my friends growing up. It looked and felt familiar, and that was just from the trailer. Watching it the other day only reaffirmed that for me so much more. This movie is hilarious and heartfelt and goofy and sweet and I loved every single second of it.

The movie is not without big actors either. Will Forte plays Jacob Tremblay's dad. Both of those actors have been in big time stuff. Keith L Williams is another one of the kids, and he has been on a number of sitcoms already. And Brady Noon, the third member of the "Bean Bag Boys", that is what they call themselves because they all sit on bean bags when they hang out, was a recurring actor on "Boardwalk Empire". These kids are no slouches, and they absolutely crushed it in this movie. They were funny. So what if they said bad words. Spoiler alert parents out there, all 5th and 6th graders swear like these kids did in the movie. I did it, you did it, we all did it. I remember being caught, as a 6th grader, by my dad swearing in front of my friends. It was brutal, but I didn't stop. I was a dumb kid that wanted to be cool. Just like the "Bean Bag Boys". If you can get past the swearing, which is easy, at least for me, this movie is really solid.

The long and short of the plot is the kids get invited to a "kissing party". They have never kissed anyone before, so they go on a mission to find out, and some wild stuff happens from there. They search kissing on the internet, and they obviously end up on a pornography site. That scene in and of itself is worth a watch. It was so funny, so relatable and played so well by the actors. They then try to spy on their neighbor and her boyfriend, and that leads us into a whole other plot point where Tremblay loses his dad's drone. This leads us to some of the best moments of this very good, very funny movie. The interaction with the two high school girls is hilarious throughout the movie. The stuff with the cop, played by Sam Richardson, was my favorite. The scenes involving the three main characters fighting and making up and yelling at one another is what I related to most in the movie. I fought like that with my friends. I mentioned the swearing before, and I did all that. I was terrified to kiss a girl when I was a 6th grader, and that spoke so true to me. It was like watching my childhood unfold.

I had a close knit group of friends just like the "Bean Bag Boys", and what this movie did so well, was showing them kind of grow apart. That is the main point, for me, in this movie. This movie isn't about a kissing party or finding a drone or fighting with friends, it is about growing up and growing apart. It is about how you change the older you get. How the stuff that you were into as a kid kind of fades away. I had friends that loved sports like I did when we were kids, when we were the "Bean Bag Boys", who one day just decided they weren't into it anymore. It was brutal, but that is what happens. And "Good Boys" does such a wonderful job of portraying that. And the last scene in this movie was great. It was like one last big party with your closest friends.

I loved this movie, and was surprised at how many different emotions it brought out in me. I highly recommend watching it. I bet you will enjoy it. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.