The Toxic Avenger Part II

Director(s) - Michael Herz (Troma's War, The Troma System) and Lloyd Kaufman (Terror Firmer, Tromeo and Juliet)

Starring - Ron Fazio (Shell Shocked, Basket Case 2), John Altamura (Heaven Becomes Hell, Party Girls), and Phoebe Legere (King of New York, Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.)

Release Date - 1989

Genre - Action/Comedy

Tagline - "Tackling toxic trouble from Tromaville to Tokyo"

Format - UHD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     I go into all sequels, remakes, prequels, and spin offs with an open mind. While most genre fans are quick to hate any project that is a continuation of a property they enjoy, I look forward to seeing where this new film, series, or what have you takes us. While I do look forward to these films, I'm not naive enough to know that most sequels, remakes, and so on are never as good as the original with very few exceptions. I was a huge fan of The Toxic Crusaders along with Creepy Crawlers, Mutant League, and Beetlejuice growing up. In high school I was able to watch the original Toxic Avenger which sent me on a path of Tromalightenment. Not long after watching the first film I was snagging a copy of the three sequels. I've watched all three films a dozen times a piece, but the first film will always be my favorite. When I was digging into the UHD release of the film I decided to binge them all. I want to thank MVD and Troma for sending this amazing set over. 

      The film follows Melvin, the Toxic Avenger, who has cleaned up the crime in Tromaville and has settled down as caretaker for a center for the blind. However, a greedy corporation, Apocalypse Inc, wants to move into Tromaville so they can have better access to New York City. They come up with a plan to trick him into going to Japan to look for his estranged father giving them time to pollute and corrupt Tromaville. While in Japan Toxie finds his dad but discovers he is a drug trafficker. He murders him and then learns sumo before returning to Tromaville to save the town he loves. Sequels get a bad rep, but I tend to enjoy them. In fact, when I posted on social media that I was watching this one I received several messages from several genre fans expressing their dislike of Parts II and III of the Toxic Avenger film series. Honestly, I like all four films along with the animated series, but I can see why fans of the first film don't care for this follow up. I've been a Troma fan for a few decades now and this film is another staple in the wild world of Tromaville. It's nowhere near as fun as the original but it's still a fun watch especially if you are a fan of the Troma backed films. The acting in this one has more energy than the first film but we have so many characters on screen at a time. It's a lot of chaos and some scenes have dialogue flying at the viewer with absolutely no time to comprehend what is happening. This would become a staple of Troma films in later releases. The story for this one is pretty bold, especially for an indie production company like Troma. We continue with the toxic theme but this time we bring in corporate corruption, exaggerated characters, and a crime spin that works. While the film doesn't have the same gritty style story as the original, it still works and feels more like a Troma release than the original flagship film does. Finally, the film is full of bloody and ridiculous DIY effects that are reminiscent of the first film but on a much larger scale. Many of the deaths involve foam heads, lots of fake blood and some latex but we do have some iconic scenes like the fish nose gag that is still funny regardless of how many times I've seen it. Overall, The Toxic Avenger Part II may not be as good as the first film, but it doesn't have to be. It's a solid follow up that doesn't try to recreate what the first film does, but instead it gives viewers an unpredictable path for fans to go down. I highly recommend it.