Film Review: THE TOXIC AVENGER PART III: THE LAST TEMPTATION of TOXIE (1989)

If you're going to do a third film in any franchise you might as well go big which is exactly what happens in THE TOXIC AVENGER PART III: THE LAST TEMPTATION OF TOXIE (1989) which asks the question of what would Tromaville be like with an evil Toxic Avenger. Toxie's girl Claire has the opportunity to get her sight back but it will cost a lot of money and Toxie, being the superhero that he is, is not good at anything else other than saving people but he soon gets the opportunity for a quick buck if he goes to work for Apocalypse, Inc. He signs a contract with them and thus becomes a corporate pusher for the company which comes into Tromaville to turn it into a modern day polluted city.

Although Claire gets her sight back and Toxie realizes that she truly loves him just the way he is, Toxie begins to become a minion of Apocalypse, Inc. Toxie must face his greatest fears including his former self as Melvin in order to defeat Apocalypse, Inc. and save his beloved Tromaville.

Michael Herz & Lloyd Kaufman know how to deliver the goods for a Toxic Avenger film as this is bigger than all the previous films and manages to not repeat anything from the previous films while trying to craft a third film that will stand on its own. While most franchises (by the third film) just deliver the same old, same old this film decides to not only further develop the personae of Toxie (while also having him confront his fears of his former life as Melvin) but also have him confront his greatest evil which is not just Apocalypse, Inc. but also the temptation of evil as well allowing Toxie to truly learn what it means to be good and a true superhero.

Despite the very cult nature and indie creed of the film a lot of other superhero films and studios could learn a lot from how Troma Entertainment has developed their superhero franchise and continued to deliver films that not only speak to the fans but are highly entertaining as well.