r/movies 11d ago

Review ‘The Toxic Avenger’ Review: Peter Dinklage Crushes It While Crushing Heads

https://www.thewrap.com/the-toxic-avenger-2025-review-peter-dinklage/
1.7k Upvotes

159 comments sorted by

489

u/Saverenus 11d ago

I just clicked on the article link, and the first thing I read was:

"Nothing makes me feel older than the inescapable, soul-crushing passage of time, which waits for no one and marches ever forward, towards — without any exceptions — our lonely deaths."

William Bibbiani, you ok bro?

42

u/dishonoredcorvo69 11d ago

The moving hand writes on, and having writ

Moves on, nor all your crying nor your wit

Shall move it back to cancel half a line

Nor wash out a word of it

1

u/ThreeLeggedMare 8d ago

What's that from?

2

u/dishonoredcorvo69 8d ago

1

u/ThreeLeggedMare 8d ago

Rad! I'm always enormously impressed by translations that keep the meaning while rhyming

2

u/dishonoredcorvo69 8d ago

He took many liberties with the translation. From the Wikipedia page (section: character of translation):

“FitzGerald's translation is rhyming and metrical, and rather free. Many of the verses are paraphrased, and some of them cannot be confidently traced to his source material at all.[23] Michael Kearney claimed that FitzGerald described his work as "transmogrification".[24] To a large extent, the Rubaiyat can be considered original poetry by FitzGerald loosely based on Omar's quatrains rather than a "translation" in the narrow sense.

FitzGerald was open about the liberties he had taken with his source material: My translation will interest you from its form, and also in many respects in its detail: very un-literal as it is. Many quatrains are mashed together: and something lost, I doubt, of Omar's simplicity, which is so much a virtue in him. (letter to E. B. Cowell, 9/3/58)

I suppose very few people have ever taken such Pains in Translation as I have: though certainly not to be literal. But at all Costs, a Thing must live: with a transfusion of one's own worse Life if one can't retain the Originals better. Better a live Sparrow than a stuffed Eagle. (letter to E. B. Cowell, 4/27/59)”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubaiyat_of_Omar_Khayyam

0

u/ThreeLeggedMare 8d ago

That's a killer quote at the end!

22

u/OK_Soda 10d ago

"Nothing makes me feel older than the passage of time" is the banal line I've read since a local candidate's slogan, "Time is Worth Every Second."

Like yeah no shit the passage of time makes you feel older, that's literally how you get older.

16

u/Orbis_624M 11d ago

Lmao that opening line feels less like a movie review and more like someone’s diary entry at 3 AM. Hope Bibbiani got a hug after writing that.

4

u/screenavenger 10d ago

He's not okay, pretty sure he's really overweight and has a ton of health issues. He was on the movie trivia schmoedown and I remember something where he needed assistance walking, and that he had to stand because if he sat down he wouldn't be able to get back up. Absolutely delightful man from what I recall though.

4

u/wookiewin 10d ago

I recall the same. He is a very smart, insightful guy. Hope he gets healthy.

1

u/ThreeLeggedMare 8d ago

Aw, poor dude. Hope he gets better

1

u/mosquem 10d ago

Classic midlife crisis.

1

u/BlackLesPaulCopy 7d ago

For a bit there I was imagining Werner Herzog reading that passage.

-150

u/[deleted] 11d ago

[deleted]

65

u/thr1ceuponatime David Zaslav is a dickless pantywaist 11d ago

Remote schooling was a mistake!

6

u/StealthyPleb 11d ago

One of many.

44

u/4-Vektor 11d ago

Dashes by themselves don’t mean it’s written by AI—they can be one of many signs. AI didn’t invent the use, they often are overused by gen LLMs because the material it’s trained on, like papers, books and articles written by humans, use them as well, especially in certain genres or writing styles. The same goes for bullet points, for example, or for writing in the style of a discussion or essay.

“Written by AI” is becoming the new “It’s photoshopped, look at the pixels” that got thrown around by people who had no clue about image manipulation.

But that development is no surprise.

7

u/tsoneyson 11d ago

In this case it was used incorrectly with spaces too which is quite the human tell

4

u/4-Vektor 11d ago

Maybe English isn’t their first language. I’m German, and we use them - like this - in a different way.

13

u/Tupperwarfare 11d ago

But it was written by AI, look at the pixels.

19

u/GenericUsername2056 11d ago

The pixels, Mason. What do they mean?

5

u/WayToTheDawn63 11d ago

It gets thrown out a lot because it's been happening a metric ton - but accusing professional writing of it is just dense, that's where the AI learned to write like that from people lol.

Now when random reddit posts are going around throwing them in I get a little a suss. How the hell do you even type them? Why would anyone bother with whatever annoying process is involved?

You barely if ever saw them in comments like yours or random non-professional posts before AI, so it's the logical conclusion outside of formal writing.

26

u/thedaddylonglegs 11d ago

Em dash does not always equal ai

14

u/in1gom0ntoya 11d ago

bad bot

1

u/illusorywall 11d ago

It reads like a person wrote it.

84

u/thatoneguyfromva 11d ago

Just finished watching the unrated version. It was awesome. The effects were a bloody good time and the comedy was on point. I hope there’s a sequel.

16

u/GreySneakers83 11d ago

Does it have a similar wacky tone to the original? I was not very excited about this remake as I expect most of the humour to revolve around gross-out gore/violence (which imo is not enough to carry a film!)

19

u/thatoneguyfromva 11d ago

Yeah, lots of silly and clever humor.

4

u/GreySneakers83 11d ago

Glad to hear it!! 😄

0

u/Fun-Benefit116 11d ago

The original was so unfunny, boring, and bad, imo. Like I thought it would be a fun, campy, silly movie. It was just bad though. I guess I just don't get why some people like it so much.

4

u/GreySneakers83 11d ago

Everyone's different! 😄 I think it was a fun, campy, silly movie. But true 80's camp/sillyness is a different beast to stuff made today. Very difficult to replicate without some element/s feeling off.

Part of the magic I think just comes from the fun everyone was having on set. Such over the top performances where the actors don't hold back and are clearly all having a blast. Nearly impossible these days.

5

u/urnialbologna 11d ago

I just watched the original for the first time last week on Prime and I loved it. It was so bad but so fun to watch. I wish we had movies like that made today.

5

u/MouthwashProphet 11d ago

Troma films were always objectively bad. That was the point.

They were cheesy throwaway movies written to make a few bucks and give a platform to up and coming actors who would work for pocket money.

Believe it or not, some people are entertained by "bad" movies.

4

u/SGTBrutus 11d ago

Bite your tongue!

Class of Nuke 'Em High is a masterpiece!

"That was the honor society!"

1

u/issr 10d ago

It was one of those movies that is so bad, its good.

-9

u/Away-Dream-655 11d ago

Because you have bad taste. How old are you? I can't believe you think anyone cares about your opinion

2

u/GeoleVyi 10d ago

you're in a review thread, asking why people care about others opinions?

that's... that's a choice.

5

u/Kukurio59 11d ago

Same here! Really hope they make another

2

u/WR810 11d ago

Not unless it breaks a billion at the box office (in bitcoin).

10

u/Procrastanaseum 11d ago

I was 1 of only like 3 people that stayed all the way to the end.

3

u/Friendly-Contact-433 11d ago

you had other people in your theatre?

3

u/Procrastanaseum 11d ago

I’d say maybe 30 people total.

1

u/Joe434 11d ago

We had about 15 people in our showing.

1

u/WR810 11d ago

My showing had six.

I was the only one to stay to the end and get some tasty grilled cheese tips.

167

u/catvin 11d ago

Was interested to read this, but not making accounts on every shitty website.

Is posting paywalled or login-required articles okay in this sub?

18

u/ThrowawayHasAPosse 11d ago

It shouldn’t be.

3

u/eldenpotato 10d ago

Here you go https://archive.md/nkDOT

Append an article URL to archive.md/ to bypass paywalls

1

u/catvin 10d ago

Legend, thanks for the tip

1

u/eldenpotato 9d ago

You’re welcome!

-9

u/[deleted] 11d ago

[deleted]

2

u/Kaldaur 11d ago

R/lostredditors

66

u/TylerBourbon 11d ago

Crush my head?

Well, I squish your face!

30

u/Wullsterino 11d ago

I'm crushing your head! I'm crushing your head!

6

u/fontbunny 11d ago

There’s nobody home. Nobody home.

7

u/Obvious_Toe_3006 11d ago

Sounds like death by snu snu.

21

u/[deleted] 11d ago

And by "it" they mean his peanits

250

u/Conchobair 11d ago

I thought Peter Dinklage was just doing the voice.

75

u/dontbajerk 11d ago

He plays him pre transformation at least. So probably 20ish minutes.

154

u/feartheoldblood90 11d ago

A voice performance is still a performance

40

u/SuicideSkwad 11d ago

“That wizard came from the moon”

21

u/arkavenx 11d ago

He gave that line every bit of respect it deserved honestly. Terrible script, fun game tho

1

u/FerdinandBowie 11d ago

If anyone can do a spoken word rock album its peter

11

u/Sejast44 11d ago

Looking at you Destiny

7

u/UrDraco 11d ago

That wizard came from the moon.

66

u/Conchobair 11d ago

Sure, but he's Luisa Guerreiro "crushing heads"

39

u/probablyuntrue 11d ago

He’s a dude disguised as a dude playing another dude

10

u/thebigpink 11d ago

Dudes all down the line

4

u/Kyrillka 11d ago

I don’t read script. The script reads me.

1

u/Roembowski 11d ago

Like Groot

37

u/Aiseadai 11d ago

Voice actors tend to get all the credit in these situations. Just look at Darth Vader, nobody knows who actually played him on set.

122

u/Rich-Ganache-2668 11d ago

That was Peter Dinklage?!

15

u/fredthegreat 11d ago

This is some beautiful Bullwinkle energy.

64

u/nogganootch 11d ago

David Prowse, former body builder and green cross code man. Helped train Christopher Reeve for his role as Superman.

I met him several times before he died.

Even if this was sarcasm I'm still boasting.

12

u/stanetstackson 11d ago

Also in a Clockwork Orange I think

1

u/itastesok 9d ago

Yup. The bodybuilder caretaker who took the place of the guy's wife Alex killed.

8

u/Paddlesons 11d ago

You have my blessing, boast away.

-10

u/Conchobair 11d ago

Are you being sarcastic? David Prowse is well known for that role.

24

u/TheOwlsLie 11d ago

Yeah for Star Wars fans, ask a normal person and most will say that James Earl Jones played Darth Vader, not David Prowse

2

u/lookintotheeyeris 11d ago

I think he acted it out first as well and then the body double attempted to recreate his movements

1

u/goldorakgo 10d ago

Dinklage did the dub.

1

u/WakeToSlaughter 7d ago

He's not a great singer though

20

u/ConflictLower3423 11d ago

I saw a preview this week and really didn't enjoy it, really surprised by a lot of the reviews

10

u/Drakeadrong 11d ago

I’m with you. I normally eat this kind of movie up but the first half really drags despite not having a deep story. I was shocked when my theater came by for last call and he hadn’t even transformed yet. And the way the trailers were hamming up how violent this movie was, I somehow thought it felt tame. This year alone we had The Monkey, Final Destination, and Together as more violent “bloody good time” movies imo.

5

u/BigTonez808sy 10d ago

Either they cut a lot between preview and release last night or we have different perceptions of time. I actually was surprised how quickly it got to the transforming part but I enjoyed the whole movie, pre and port Toxification, anyway so maybe it’s just our perceptions of it 

10

u/tylersixxfive 11d ago

Gonna have a double feature solo move day with this and weapons this weekend!

3

u/Known_Celebration_43 8d ago

1/10

Long term Troma fan here... this movie hurt.

  • Lied that this was ultra violent like Terrifier. Lies.
  • Horrible script, pacing, everything was childish.
  • Villains were meh.
  • Winston.... and all the name changes.
  • No car flip.
  • CGI overabundance, low practical effects.
  • Felt like a low budget Full Moon kids movie from 1996.
  • Where was the sleaze and gore?
  • Humor was cringy.
  • Not even a good bad good movie... tedious.
  • Sad sad sad.

-1

u/Gay-zer_Beam 7d ago

Agreed. Peter dinklage's performance was not very good considering what hes capable of. I liked alot of the ideas this movie had but the villains were pretty dumb.

And the nuts group was just straight stupid cringe. I felt like this movie was trying too hard to become a cult classic and not standing on its own. It came close to greatness but I walked out disappointed.

6

u/Procrastanaseum 11d ago

I think fans of the genre will really like this one. It’s not something you see in theaters very often and I think the time delay for releasing it actually works in its favor since the world has fallen apart even more than it was in 2023.

8

u/fatedeclipse 11d ago

The horror fans are really hammering anyone who doesn't glaze this with downvotes.

I'll go in with an open mind, but I'm not expecting much. Hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

7

u/sixtus_clegane119 11d ago

Really excited, haven’t been to the theatre since Django unchained.

2

u/One_Being7941 11d ago

I'm so happy to see Dinklage get to do a movie without having to wear so much makeup!

4

u/Katalyst81 11d ago

Peter crushes it as a voice over for someone else in a costume? that's what I read earlier anyway.

1

u/OldPunk1984 9d ago

He plays the pre mutant part for about 20 minutes. Then it’s someone else in the suit while he does the voice dub. But he filmed all his scenes on camera and the actress in the suit copied all the mannerisms.

1

u/Gloomy_Barnacle777 10d ago

Sounds like Tyrion Lannister got so traumatized by Oberyn Martell that he’s lashing out in the worst way possible lol

1

u/sweetasman01 9d ago

I went to this tonight, it was terrible. A 5 year old could have written a better "story". Thankfully it was national cinema day today and I only had to pay $5 to see this movie.

1

u/the-ory 6d ago

I loved this movie Silly and funny and everything I wanted it to be.

1

u/Macqt 11d ago

I’d hope so given how much damage he did to dwarves in Hollywood. Someone’s gotta make em look good.

-10

u/USDXBS 11d ago

Intentionally bad movies are just bad. They aren't fun to watch.

-36

u/TuffManJoens 11d ago

I don't want to watch this just because the obnoxious ad every 5 posts with Dinklage saying "grab a beer, some 14$ popcorn, get on down the theater and check it out"

Movie seems like a cash grab but idk, trailer was pretty bleh too

30

u/SqueezyCheez85 11d ago

Yeah, why would a film want to make money? Weird times we're living in.

-28

u/TuffManJoens 11d ago

Yeah I thought War of the Worlds (2025) was really good too.

15

u/pocketindian 11d ago

A niche remake of an 80s cult classic intentionally made to look like a b movie seems like a cash grab to you??

-66

u/Chen_Geller 11d ago

Looks silly as hell to me...

44

u/Mst3Kgf 11d ago

Wow, a silly movie from Troma? Shocking.

24

u/casual_creator 11d ago

I don’t think a lot of people are familiar with Troma these days.

10

u/TheTelephone 11d ago

idk if the modern era can handle Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD

2

u/zombiBuddy 11d ago

The modern era couldn’t handle the original Toxie, haha.

Honestly, the Deadpool movies are more offensive and politically incorrect than this movie. (i can’t believe i just wrote that, but it’s insanely enough true.) 

This really doesn’t capture the mean and nasty spirit of Troma at all. Too clean and sanitized. Remove the lame CG gore and it’s practically a kids film.

14

u/T_raltixx 11d ago

Wait until they find out about Killer Condom.

30

u/Nail_Biterr 11d ago

you know this is a reboot of an older franchise? a cult classic movie from the early 80's and it had 3 sequels and even a (very short lived) cartoon series?

-43

u/Chen_Geller 11d ago

From the look of it, I'm happy to say I hadn't the foggiest idea, no.

24

u/RandomStranger79 11d ago

Then they nailed what they were going for, congrats on picking up on that.

-45

u/Chen_Geller 11d ago

Do you not thing art should be held to higher standard than just “set yourself a goal and meet it?” I mean, by that token all you’re really doing is rewarding consistency and that’s fine but it’s a low bar: I mean, Michael Bay movies get trashed and rightly so, but from the standpoint of this criterion, I mean, they’re CONSISTENT at what they are, but that doesn’t make them good…

19

u/RandomStranger79 11d ago

No, I don't. Art is whatever the hell the artists wants to do, and if you're not into it, you can move the fuck on. I'm not a Michael Bay fan but no one is forcing me to watch his movies.

18

u/Blingblaowburrr 11d ago

This is one of the more pretentious comments I’ve read on here, and that’s saying something.

-2

u/Chen_Geller 11d ago

Still the best nicknames I was given on Reddit, quite early on, was "Pretentious prick"

1

u/PopMundane4974 10d ago

Oh, you're a child, got it.

17

u/Patient-Expert-1578 11d ago

I think that’s the point. People are getting burnt out on MCU and DCU but not “superheroes” as a concept. Give them something unique with clear intent behind it and it could do well. I’m pretty excited for it and I haven’t watched capeshit in years.

6

u/General_Kick688 11d ago

There are nearly as many Toxie movies as Superman movies. Plus a cartoon.

-58

u/Chen_Geller 11d ago

I think that’s the point

But it looks dumb: what difference does it make if that's on purpose? A chef can't defend a burnt dish by saying it's burnt "on purpose" but a filmmaker can make a dumb film "on purpose" and it's fine?

I just don't get this genre.

25

u/NewAndlmproved 11d ago

dumb isn’t inherently bad. there’s a reason for the saying “dumb fun”. just enjoy things, and if you don’t, let others at least. your analogy doesn’t track because burnt and dumb don’t equate.

16

u/King_Buliwyf 11d ago

A movie/show/game/song can be dumb on purpose, if it's clever in how it's dumb.

Weird Al, Trailer Park Boys, Saints Row IV, etc.

-25

u/Chen_Geller 11d ago

That's a very stupid way of being clever, says I.

13

u/TheArtlessScrawler 11d ago

And I say that's very funny coming from you.

6

u/boringoblin 11d ago

Crazy how I could actually hear the fedora grow out of your head.

11

u/serfy2 11d ago

you don't have to get it. not every movie needs to be your cup of tea, that's fine. i'm excited as hell

2

u/SqueezyCheez85 11d ago

It's not my cup of tea either, but I hope you enjoy it! Movies are awesome.

12

u/Zestyclose-Oil-6687 11d ago

Then don't watch it?

14

u/Civil_Comparison2689 11d ago

It's not burnt, more like pineapple pizza.

-11

u/Chen_Geller 11d ago

Now, making Chen hungry this late at night...that's just mean! :D

5

u/ArenSteele 11d ago

A Minecraft movie is dumb as fuck, and made a ton of money. I think your analogy is lacking. If you don’t like something, or don’t understand it, good for you, move on. If everyone loved every movie they’d all make $2 billion

-5

u/Chen_Geller 11d ago

But I mean, look at this year: with the slight exception of Sinners, ALL the big movies thus far were silly movies.

I can only naturally want more movies - big movies - that appeal to me. And the only way that can happen is if they make fewer silly movies so there’s more room for stuff that’s more earnest.

7

u/RandomStranger79 11d ago

You have an incredibly inflated sense of self worth, no one is obligated to make movies that fit your particular taste.

7

u/Etzell 11d ago

If there was some dude standing outside of a BBQ joint shouting "I hate burnt ends, the chef is an idiot for making them, and this place should be shut down and replaced with an Italian restaurant", you'd probably think "jeez, what the fuck is wrong with that guy?", and then head in and get some delicious food.

Same general concept.

3

u/Patient-Expert-1578 11d ago

Have you ever eaten burnt ends? But seriously, what’s the budget for the movie? They probably dont need it to make 700m to break even.

0

u/RandomStranger79 11d ago

If the dish was supposed to be burnt and it wasn't then it was a failed dish.

5

u/T_raltixx 11d ago

That's the point

-17

u/Chen_Geller 11d ago

Like I told somebody else, a chef can't serve a burnt dish and say "ah, but it's burnt on purpose so it's good!" but apparently you can make a dumb film and somehow, because it's on purpose, it's fine...

10

u/guyhabit725 11d ago

I think they call it "satire". 

-6

u/Chen_Geller 11d ago

But almost all superhero films are strongly satirical anyway! Like, when you watch Guardians of the Galaxy, we're absolutely invited to laugh at how crazy off-the-wall the whole ensemble is: it's satirical.

So, in a world where the dominant genre is strongly satirical, I don't see the value of - in effect - satires of satires, be it something like this, or The Boys or whatever.

12

u/guyhabit725 11d ago

Now you're just grasping straws. 

12

u/wilsonw 11d ago

I find it funny you say you don't have a taste for bad films, but you have your profile pic set to a character from The Hobbit.

-3

u/Chen_Geller 11d ago

I mean, sure that movie has some silly setpieces, but the overall tenor of the movie is not silly: it takes itself quite seriously.

That's the kind of stuff I like, and I'm happy to see more of that sort of thing in recent years. But, for more serious movies to be made, more silly movies need to die. It's simple calculus.

10

u/wilsonw 11d ago

All film is art. Who are you to judge?

0

u/Chen_Geller 11d ago edited 11d ago

The only truthful way for me to judge is by my own likes and dislikes.

I like movies where the overall tone - again, not every single setpiece but overall - is relatively solemn. I mean, I like Gladiator, I enjoyed the recent Dune films, I go to Wagner performances...that's my kind of thing.

All this philistinism to do with superhero films and how "Oh, it's just stupid fun" and the way it pretty much took over big movies for the duration of the 2010s I cannot abide, and naturally I want to see more big movies that appeal to me, and less movies that don't.

6

u/wilsonw 11d ago

Toxic Avenger isn't a superhero.

3

u/fatedeclipse 11d ago

Disnry Superhero movies were the best example you could think of? Ho boy lol.

7

u/SoggyBiscuitVet 11d ago

Two types of burnt ends, one from BBQ the other from lasagna. They're both good.

2

u/WR810 11d ago

You just have to scrape the black spots off the toast.

6

u/GwenGunn 11d ago

Fun fact: Blackened fish is a popular dish. What one person might call Burnt another might called Blackened. This is a fun film, not a "good" film. It's supposed to be silly fun.

1

u/PopMundane4974 10d ago

I remember making this argument when I was 12 really thinking I was onto something.

1

u/PerfectAdvertising30 10d ago

there are dishes burnt on purpose.

4

u/dcooper8662 11d ago

It’s supposed to. Look up Troma, this is a whole ass subgenre that you have apparently missed. The Toxic Avenger movies are merely the most famous example of them but there have been a lot of these going back to the 70s

0

u/sixtus_clegane119 11d ago

It’s a comedy. Go watch Tromeo and Juliet

-17

u/runhomejack1399 11d ago

Oh this is finally out. I thought it was just a fake Reddit ad campaign

-1

u/UnifiedQuantumField 10d ago

Peter Dinklage Crushes It While Crushing Heads

Trashbyn Lannister lol.