And FINALLY we have a worthy sequel!
Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (2000)
Directed By: Lloyd Kaufman (The Toxic Avenger)
The Prologue
Let’s all talk to some real talk shall we? The Toxic Avenger was a great movie..OK, maybe not great, but it was fun! You don’t really need me to tell you that part 2 and 3 was bad because everyone knows it. Hell, Troma and Lloyd Kaufman know it and they aren’t ashamed to admit it. So finally in 2000 we got a worth sequel in Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV. A movie that was in the same spirit as the original and even surpasses it in the gore area! So is it okay if from here on out I just act like 2 and 3 were never made?
The Movie
When our film opens, The Diaper Mafia have taken everyone at Tromaville’s School for the Very Special (aka Retarded) hostage! Toxie and his side-kick (who I don’t remember him ever having before but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen part 1) Lard Ass rush in to save the day! In the middle of this blood bath a bomb is set off opening up a worm whole in time and galaxy and thus tossing Toxie in the bizarro world version of Tromaville and landing the evil version of The Toxic Avenger (The Noxious Offender) in the real Tromaville to reek havoc! It’s a bit of a mess, but it’s a good mess that is soaked with crude humor and blood!
Sooo yeah, I’m not sure if Troma themselves are acting like 2 and 3 never happened here or not. I also find it pretty sad on my part that Toxie’s woman in the original was called Sarah and then called Claire in 2 and 3 and I never noticed. For the record she’s back to Sarah here and she’s blind again. But to add even a bigger cloud of confusion over the whole thing the alternate universe version of Toxie’s woman here is named Claire. So I could sit here and really try to make sense of this or I could toss my hands up and say “F it! It’s a Troma movie” and I think that’s just what I’ll do.
I won’t try to lie to you guys about it, I really loved this movie. The movie is as crazy as you’d expect from all Troma films but somehow it manages to not only keep with the tone of the original Toxic Avenger but it somewhat surpasses it in a lot of ways. This movie is over flowing with blood and gore and while some effects don’t look as great as others, it’s still great fun to watch and unlike the previous two films it’s really funny even if it is offensive in a lot of ways..But who cares about that!? We like offensive stuff right???
The film also is on a much larger level than the previous films. We got guest spots left and right. One of which I find hilarious in Ron Jeremy’s spot as the mayor/preacher of Tromaville. But you just don’t get him, there’s lots more. You get Corey Feldman, Stan Lee (in voice only), Lemmy, and probably more I’m forgetting about. Also take into account that the movie is very stylish. It looks really good and it has a style to it. Not just mindless stuff this time around, I’d dare say it’s almost genius in a lot of ways. Also while I’ve never seen a stand alone film for the drunk Troma hero, Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD. I found him to be a real treat in this movie.
So at the end of the day I can say I may almost like this one better than the original. Maybe due to nostalgic reasons part 1 might take a slight edge, but I think more people might enjoy this one overall..if they aren’t easily offended and like lots of gore. When talking about Troma films (both ones they’ve made and just put out) you can hear names such as the original Toxie Avenger, Combat Shock, Troma War, and Poultrygeist pop up as the overall favorite, I may just have to give my vote to Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV as my personal choice.
The Conclusion
So yeah, part 2 and 3 are now officially dead to me. It would at least help me understand the whole Sarah/Claire thing that puts a giant plot and logic hole in this franchise. I hear a Toxice Avenger 5 is on the way and I’ll be sure I see that when it comes out because I love Troma, but it may have a hard time topping this one. I’d for sure recommended you see this movie and the original, skip the rest.
The Rating (7/10)
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