The Toxic Avenger 3 "The Last Temptation of Toxie" (1989)
Dir: Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz (Troma)
IMDB Rating: 3.5 out of 10
As I mentioned in my last review I feel that Troma did an excellent job continuing the story of Toxic Avenger through it's sequels but for some reason the third installment has always been less memorable for me personally, Now after re-watching it for the ump-teenth time I think I know why it just never stood out as much as the rest of the series. The Last Temptation of Toxie on the surface is not a bad film , It just lacks the zany slapstick and gore the series is known for. Now, don't get me wrong there are a few scenes that live up to the Troma standards but for the most part the film takes a different approach which in some cases is not a bad thing as it helps flesh out The character of Toxie but when Changing the pace this sudden it makes the film come off as a little boring at times , which the rest of the series had never had an issue with. Because The Toxic Avenger series is allot of things but boring was never one of them in my opinion. So let's join Toxie as he battles with some of the demon's within and see just why this flick is just not as "Classic" as the rest of the series.
The third installment picks up right after the events of the second film as Apocalypse Inc has been cleared from Tromaville and once again the streets are filled with folks dancing and living a safe crime free existence. Things however are off to a promising start as a group of left over Apocalypse Inc. goons ransack a local video store and demand that they only provide mainstream cinema to their customers. As the thugs get aggressive and take hostages, Toxie makes the scene and absolutely destroys these would be gangsters in violent , gory fashion. As usual Toxie is never short on creative ways of disposing with his foes and this time is no different as he guts a man, Erases a mans face with a tape cleaner and rips a mans hand to shreds with a re-winder before beheading him with his mop. From this point things take a turn for the odd for a Toxie film as Toxie struggles with life after crime fighting when a important piece of mail comes his way. Claire and Toxie receive a notice of a new surgery that can restore Claire's vision and Toxie of course promises to do anything in his power to get this procedure for his love, However the cost is high and they cannot afford it. So Toxie hits the streets and gets himself a job , only problem is there is not much work out there for a Hideously deformed creature of super human size and strength and he has little to no success.Feeling like a failure Toxie's depression begins to get much worse and he begins having cryptic nightmares and thoughts of suicide. Meanwhile the folks at Apocalypse Inc are regrouping and thinking up ways to take out Toxie so they can return to business as usual. They decide that if you can't beat em' join em' and they decide to offer Toxie a job as a spokesperson, Their timing could not be better as this lucrative position would provide Toxie the money for Claire's operation in no time, So surprisingly Toxie agrees to take the position.
Toxie gets put to work immediately and the public is none too pleased with this change in their heroes behavior as he begins putting his face out there backing the statements of the large corporation. Claire goes through with her procedure in the meantime and she regains her vision just in time to witness her lover begin selling out to corporate America. In one funny bit though when her eyes are uncovered for the first time she freaks out when looking at the handsome doctor but seems to love the looks of Toxie and the two go home to have sex for the first time when she can see the on goings.Toxie continues to change and he becomes more of a yuppie as the days pass by even taking on new dialect and talking like a big city wheeler and dealer. Claire is not a fan of this new found attitude as he dismisses her and her environmentalist beliefs for the almighty dollar.This is where the film strays from the norm for the series and just does not have the same charm as the other films as instead of Toxie kicking ass and spewing cheesy one liners he is just becoming a boring character and the jokes are not as funny as well as the complete lack of action, As all we witness is the big corporation taking over Tromaville and forcing the residents into work camps with little to no resistance. Claire and Toxie have a bit of an argument and Toxie leaves to brush her off , While out on the town he witnesses the citizens taring up his pictures and talking about him being a sell out as well as commenting on how awful their living conditions have gotten. Toxie confused about what to do decides to head to his quiet place for a moment to think and after having another nightmare it becomes clear that he has not been himself and Claire was right the whole time. Toxie now clear headed returns to Claire to apologize and afterwards he heads straight to the Apocalypse headquarters to fight back yet again.
When Toxie faces off with the Chairman, His true form is shown and it turns out that the Chairman is Satan himself. In order to defeat him Toxie must go through the "5 levels of Doom" represented by Earth,Fire,Wind, Water and the fifth is left under wraps as "No one ever makes it to five". The First level is Earth and the ground opens up swallowing Toxie but he is able too easily break free and resurface. The second level is Fire in which both Toxie and Satan are lit aflame , The citizens of Tromaville are quick to throw water on Toxie putting the flames out, then Toxie "Pisses Off" the devil literally as he urinates the fires out and we move on to the next obstacle. Level Three is Wind, Where Satan forces some of the towns children into a school bus which is drove onto a cliff where Satan plans to blow it off sending the young ones to their doom.As expected Toxie comes to the save before the bus plunges to the ground below, However The Chairman's main assistant Malfire is crushed in the process. Level four is a strange one as it is Water yet all it involves is the Bus reconstructed driving Toxie on the hood into a mud puddle where the bus explodes, As we have seen in prior films of the series Toxie seems to fare well in these situations and as expected he survives the blast. This brings us to the fifth and final stage which is the Mind. Satan manages to warp Toxie's mind which causes his body to melt back into his old form as Melvin, leaving him powerless against the lord of darkness. Things are looking grim for our hero when Claire attempts to shoot Satan but he makes her blind once again. Showing that she is not as stupid as she presents herself she runs home to find Toxie's contract and returns finding a escape clause.The contract states that under an act of God he may be freed from bindings, We get a cheesy "God is in the heart of the people" line before a messenger arrives with a note from God himself freeing Toxie from the contract in question. Now with Toxie's strength back in tact he easily takes out his adversary, Skinning him and ripping his head off throwing it across the globe all the way to Japan. Once again peace is restored to the streets of Tromaville and we witness Claire who again has her vision back and Toxie getting married as the film comes to a close.
Although this is clearly a continuation of the second film in order to close the story arch of Apocalypse Inc. This film felt a bit stretched as if they would have just eliminated the Japan sub plot from part two and focused more on the original villains this would be an unnecessary addition to the series. Although if they did that we would have missed out on some pretty fun and classic moments , I do feel that the main points of this film could have been abbreviated and put into the second installment though allowing this film to focus on something new. Toxic Avenger three has it's moments, Like the opening fight sequence and the transformation scene but this one just lacked the action fans have grown accustomed to with the series and watching a dialog heavy Toxie film is a strange change of pace for the series. I don't hate it though as I find it nearly impossible to hate anything Toxie related. This brings us to my next review which will be Citizen Toxie: A Tale of Two Toxie's which honestly is one of my favorites and proves that even years after a series can be brought back to life even after a lackluster edition like this one. So until then I hope you have enjoyed my look into the Toxic Avenger Series so far as I know the next review is gonna be a blast.
Gore:5
Nudity:3
Story:5
Characters:5
Fun Factor:7
Overall: 5.5 out of 10
After The Toxic Avenger succeeded in establishing a strong cult following and essentially put the Troma name on the map it was only a matter of time until a sequel was made. Problem is more often than not sequels never live up to their predecessors and run the risk of damaging any fan appreciation that has been built up. Lucky for the guys at Troma not only did they manage to create a character and an entire universe very similar to those found in popular comic books of the time only with it's own special Troma twist , But The guys at Troma truly know how to make a good sequel. Taking all the elements that worked with the prior film and just expanding on them and taking them up just a notch enough to keep the fans coming back for more. As you can probably tell already, I like this film but how does it stack up against the original? Well, Let's dive in and see.
After the events of the first film the town of Tromaville has been completely wiped clean of any crime and the citizens are overjoyed and dancing through the streets. With no baddies to chase Toxie takes a job at the Tromaville center for the blind with his girlfriend Claire, Which is a bit strange because there is no explanation as to why the name has changed or if it is a new blind woman he has shacked up with but my guess is they could not get the original actress to reprise the role of Sara? This is small potatoes though so, we shall move on. Things are looking up but, Toxie is getting bored with his new life without crime fighting. The boredom is quickly put to an end when the Apocalypse Inc. arrives on the scene and they want Toxie out of the picture so they can focus on taking over Tromaville. A bomb is delivered to the center for the blind and after a huge explosion kills all the residents Toxie survives and springs into action, Taking several of the Chairman's goons, One of which is played by a young Michael Jai White (Black Dynamite). After defeating the thugs , Toxie begins to suffer from serious depression over the deaths of the blind folks at the center and begins blaming himself. Meanwhile the folks at Apocalypse Inc. devise a plan to take out Toxie once and for all as they have some folks in Japan working on a Anti-Tromaton serum to relieve Toxie of his super human size and strength. Only problem is finding a way to get Toxie to Japan, The Chairman quickly solves this by using Toxie's missing father as a pawn and he manages to get Toxies Therapist to talk up the missing father being the root of his depression and informing him that the long lost father has been found living in the land of the rising sun. After talking it over with Claire , Toxie decides since tromaville is safe he can take some time off to reunite with the family member he has always yearned to meet.So, Off to Tokyo Toxie goes via Windsurf Board.
Upon arriving in Tokyo, Toxie notices his Tromatons acting up and he saves a young woman named Masami from three low lives. After he takes out the light work Masami promises to help Toxie in his journey to find his father. Meanwhile back in Tromaville , Apocalypse Inc has taken over the town and things are getting bad as they have flooded the streets with drugs while ruling the streets with an iron fist keeping the citizens in fear. In Tokyo Masami and Toxie continue their search and It turns out that his dad is a well known business man who goes by the name of Big mac Junko, But not too many folks are willing to speak on his whereabouts.After a little searching they receive a tip that Junko is working in the fish market and Toxie finds Big Mac loading a truck for his fishing business. Shortly after reuniting with his long lost pop, Toxie's tromatons again alert him of evil nearby. Sadly for him the evil is stemming from none other than Big Mac Junko himself and it is revealed that the fish business is just a front for a Cocaine smuggling operation. As Toxie pleads with his newly found father about his criminal ways , Mac tells his son that he is working for Apocalypse Inc and not only does he run a drug and white slave trade but he has also developed the Anti-Tromaton serum he plans on using on his own son. Big Mac sicks some of his lackies on Toxie and a fight through Tokyo ensues, Providing some very funny moments as Toxie disposes of his foes in typical Troma fashion which makes for some laugh and stomach churning moments.
Toxie closes in on his deadbeat father and Big Mac introduces a monster of his creation in which Toxie makes short work of turning him into a sushi plate. Then it is time for the big showdown between father and son as Mac shows off his Sumo skills. During the brawl Mac is violently murdered by an innocent bystander who is working at a small fish shop as he chops him up while not paying attention as his eyes are focused on the monster hero. However mid fight the Anti -Tromaton serum falls to the ground and begins to affect Toxie. Luckily Masami manages to get Toxie to safety and he awakes at a sumo dojo where the local Sumo's nurse him back to health before teaching him the ancient art. Once Toxie is back to normal he bids goodbye to his new Japanese friends and makes his way back to New Jersey. Upon arriving Toxie see's the damage Apocalypse Inc. has done and Toxie rapidly reestablishes his dominance and turns things around. The Chairman believing he cannot defeat Toxie calls in his Ace in the hole , A terrorist named The Dark Rider who is called in to suicide bomb town hall and destroy Tromaville for good. This leads to a long and exciting Car chase as Toxie hijacks a cab and tails the cyclist through the streets of Tromaville. Luckily Toxie is able to detour The Rider and he once again saves the day as the heads of Apocalypse Inc flee the town. Things are back to being peaceful as Toxie and the city rejoice, While he is celebrating with his friends and family a older Jewish man shows up and it is Big Mac Junko Toxies actual father, revealing that the mob boss posing as him was actually big Mac Bunko , A man who has ruined his credit for years. So Toxie now reunited with his entire family live happily ever after in a clean Tromaville. Though as we know this is not the end of the Toxic Avenger saga.
Toxic Avenger 2 is a prime example of a sequel done right, Is it perfect? No, But it does do allot of things right. The character of Toxic Avenger is basically a over the top version of a super hero much like the ones of Marvel and DC and Troma managed to create a perfect universe to allow this character to grow in Tromaville. The things this film did right are easy to spot as they turned the gore up a notch yet kept it slapstick enough to not turn the viewer off and a perfect example of this is the fight scene in the fish shop where Toxie turns seafood into weaponry making it much to silly to offend anyone but at the same time the part where Bunko is chopped up by the butcher is done well enough to please any gore hound watching, Also they managed to create a perfect villain army for Toxie to face in the form of The Apocalypse Inc. The story here may have been a bit to ridiculous with the trip to Japan and such but it is a arch that is very easy to continue to build upon and move forward within the Troma universe. Some things they did wrong, Well they are a bit harder too find honestly and when I think about it they just come off as nitpicks. Mainly being the costume of Toxie as I preferred the original better but as the series continued I got used to the new look and that look has become how I have grown to recognized to this day, Another thing is the strange unexplained change in love interests for Toxie. If it is supposed to be the same girl which it seems it is, then why the name change? Several films have had different Actors/Actresses play a role within a series so the name change leads the viewer to wonder what happened to the original if it is a different woman. Though in the end again this woman is the one the viewer ends up recognizing as the series continues. So although I still like the first installment better than this one, It is not by much as this volume is just as fun just not as memorable and that is to be expected in almost any series with the exception of maybe Friday the 13th as most who know the series recognize Jason and not his mother as the main attraction. Next up I will be taking a look at the third installment of the series which oddly enough is the one I always have trouble remembering so perhaps after re-watching it for the umpteenth time and actually reviewing it perhaps I will uncover the reasoning behind why it is such a forgettable installment for me. In the end though in my opinion you cannot go wrong with any of the Toxic Avengers as they are all fun too watch and they are great films to just put everything aside and be entertained and that my friends is something I truly love in a film. Thank you Troma for providing me with such a series that i will never get tired of watching even after all these views and years have passed. To me Toxic Avenger has a never ending shelf life and that is truly rare too find in film these days.
Gore:7
Nudity:6
Story:5
Characters:6
Fun Factor:9
Overall: 7.5 out of 10
