The Toxic Avenger Part II (1989)

 

When I wrote my review for The Toxic Avenger I admitted that the first film was all I have ever seen of the series.  So what better time to rectify that situation than right now.  Five years after the first film, Lloyd Kaufman presented the world with the second film in the series.  Michael Herz also co-wrote as well as co-directed with Kaufman.  Ron Fazio plays Toxie, New Jersey's first superhero.  Originally John Altalura was cast to play the part but he was deemed too difficult to work with and was fired after just a few weeks.  Also back is  Toxie's beautiful but blind girlfriend Claire who is played by Phoebe Legere this time.  The Toxic Avenger 2 is a horror comedy splatter film that doesn't skimp on the blood and gore.  Lots of that can be found here.  Toxie and Claire are living in the Tromaville Dump for what they hoped would be their happily ever after.  But as we all know things can't be that easy.

 

 

After becoming Tromaville's hero, Toxie stomped, kicked, and punched his way through crime in the town.  After destroying nearly all crime in the city, Toxie's life becomes boring but a corrupt company called Apocalypse Inc is trying to take over Tromaville and turning it into Apocalypseville.  They will never succeed with Toxie still around so they try to kill him and when that doesn't work they decide to have his psychiatrist tell him his father has been found in Japan.  Toxie takes off alone to find his estranged father.  Shortly after arriving in Japan he finds his father but is devastated when he finds out he is a Yakuza leader and is smuggling cocaine in shipments of fish.  Toxie has no choice but to wage a war against crime in Japan as well as facing off with his father who has come up with a way to kill Toxie. 

 

 

Making his film debut was Michael Jai White (Black Dynamite, Dragged Across Concrete, and Spawn) as one of the Apocalypse Inc.'s Executives.  White also served as an assistant choreographer for the fight scenes in the film.  Now I thought the first film was insane, but part two is bat shit crazy.  There is even more blood and guts in this one than was in the first film.  While it's not better than the original The Toxic Avenger made a costly error in that they senselessly killed a dog in the first film.  That cost them a half of a star and ending up getting three out of five.  I will also go three barrels of nuclear waste out of five.  I also have to point out Troma films are an acquired taste so YMMV.