Synopsis
After the hit that was The Toxic Avenger and getting a million dollar video distribution deal, Lloyd Kaufman and co. did not sell out. Just like the original, the sequel challenges audience taste not once, not twice, but three times. The scale of their film has gotten bigger thanks to the success of the first and while the first film had a dark and silly sense of humor, this sequel is more cartoony and goofy. Since the happy ending of the first movie, Toxie has cleaned up Tromaville and made it a nice place to live. His relationship with his blind girlfriend (whose name has been changed to Claire for unexplained reasons), has continued and because he’s cleaned up all of the crime, the only thing he has to do is help her work at the Tromaville Center for the Blind. However, unbeknownst to Toxie, an evil conglomerate company called Apocalypse Inc., has plans to take over Tromaville. But first, Apocalypse need to get rid of Toxie, so they send him on a wild goose chase to Japan to find his long-lost father. Wackiness ensues while The Toxic Avenger learns about the Japanese culture. The majority of the film is spent educating the audience about the Japanese culture, while still keeping up with the gore by having pretty nice special effects. While Troma fans may not be able to get into the different style of humor of the film, this is not an entire loss. Fans of the series should definitely see it, even if just for the historical value it has in the Troma timeline. (KIM Ji-hoon)