The Toxic Avenger Part II

Words I would use to describe this movie:

Zany. Madcap. Gory. Cartoonish. Babe-a-licious. Ultra-low-budget. Corny.

I don't recall the first one being so ridiculous. There's kind of a plot, but not really. There's kind of an antagonist, but not really. The stakes are high, sort of. To be honest, I can't really think of a reason to recommend this movie to you. You'll likely be disappointed if you enjoyed the first one. It pains me to say that, because I have a fondness for all things Troma. One gets the sense from watching this movie that it's a movie in search of an idea; perhaps that explains why there are 5 writers credited under "additional material written by." It definitely seems like the kind of script where people were throwing riffs in around an idea instead of there being one or two people with a clear vision of the story.

Tons of beautiful Japanese girls in the movie (including Mayako Katsuragi), plus the uber-sexy, innocently naughty Phoebe Legere.

You may find it charming, as I did. There isn't anything memorable here. There are some funny kills.

The Toxic Avenger, Part II (1989) by the Troma lunatics Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman continutes the adventures of Toxie, a nuclear waste mutant monster hero, and his attempts to maintain peace in his home town, a world of its own (especially in Part I), Tromaville. And so on. Unlike the first film with many clever and satiric elements in it, the sequel concentrates more on the not-so-clever humor and jokes and extremely over-the-top ultra gore and violence that have often been censored (the Japanese VHS, the US Tox Box DVD set and, surprisingly, the Finnish videotape RE-release are as uncut as possible & director's editions) and for a better reason than in Part I. The effects are quite splashy and nasty. There are some genuinely funny moments and bits of dialogue (especially dealing with the Japan/USA territory and cultural differences and also genuine acceptance of foreign people, something that, for example, many Hong Kong exploitation films rarely achieve or dare to do) but the spark of freshness is gone. There is also a James Bond spoof that may be funny for some; at least the long chace is well shot even though the budget for the sequel was notably higher than in the first film. Ultra gory, ultra toxic and often ultra stupid but honest trash cinema.

After the original movie, mutated superhuman hero The Toxic Avenger (Ron Fazio) has been saving the town of Tromaville New Jersey and works at the Tromaville home for the blind with a new girlfriend named Claire who's also blind. However, the greedy chemical company known as "Apocalypse Inc." conducted by the evil Chairman who has plans on taking over Tromaville as Toxie goes to Japan to find his long lost father. Meanwhile in Tromaville, Apocalypse Inc. Has taken control of the town as it's bad news for Toxie but can he find his father so he can return to save Tromaville or will he fail?

Although very inferior to the 1985 cult classic that made Troma popular, it's still a funny sequel with good laughs and nice splatter here. The acting is still laughable by Troma standards especially the writing, but is missing is that Sarah the first blind chick is now replaced by another blonde bimbo named Claire and doesn't have any of the charm that the original cult masterpiece had.

It doesn't quite hold a candle to the original or "Citizen Toxie" but it's still an enjoyable sequel that isn't quite bad.

I actually appreciate how they manage to top themselves in absurdity from the last movie. What makes this film stand out is how stupid its plot is. It features the Toxic Avenger finding out his father lives in Tokyo, but it's a ploy to lure him away from his home town, so an evil corporation known as Apocalypse can take it over. What makes this really dumb is how this guy actually intends to go to Tokyo and just ask around for his dad. I think that's like the biggest city on Earth! How did anybody know these two would find each other? It gets even dumber in the climax. The villain shows off a chemical that can destroy the Toxic Avenger, but then he sends his henchmen on him.

Yeah, they just spend ten minutes of him fighting the henchman, even though this is all completely pointless because his fake father could just use the chemical on him! I don't know what emotion this movie is trying to give. There were a few entertaining little moments. I liked it when he said that if the town was destroyed, there wouldn't be a Toxic Avenger III. Granted, that's a bad thing. The original film, while not good, at least set up some interesting characters and made more sense with its wackiness. Unless you're a Troma fan, you can just skip this one. *1/2

Troma really are the pits, I was debating whether Troma or Fullmoon made the worst movies but I think I can confidently say that Troma takes the title.

With an immense catalogue of movies they're known for The Toxic Avenger and Class of Nukem High franchises above all else and I'm shocked to say I haven't seen them all.

Made 5yrs after the original Toxie gets not one but two films in the same year and this second outing is a marginal improvement on the embarassing (Yet somehow cult) original.

Toxie ventures off to Japan to find his real father while the evil Apocalypse Inc take over the town in his absence. So yeah, there is the "Plot".

Full of madcap slapstick humour I'd say about 90% of jokes not only miss the mark but miss trip backflip land on their head and urinate themselves. I like that type of humour, but it's so purile and you can tell that it was written by Kaufman! Yes if you've read any other reviews he's been mentioned in you'll understand that I think he has the talent of a Kardashian.

Interesting nugget of information, the film briefly features Michael Jai White in his very first on screen role! I'd imagine he's not proud of that but I'm sure it got better after that...............oh wait, his second role was The Toxic Avenger Part III? Poor sod!

The Good:

A couple of laughs

The Bad:

Simply not funny

Alike every Troma film it just all looks so terrible

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Dancing in the street is a principal activity

Nobody wants to see their father in a diaper