Wednesday Film Review - The Toxic Avenger

So for my first Wednesday Bad Film Review I decided to start with a real classic. This film is one that I remember best from my childhood, not that I saw this film as a kid but I owned an annual of the Cartoon series that came from it. I talk of “The Toxic Avenger” a film created by the B movie studio Troma and the film which they use as their studio logo! To be honest I had not even seen the film till a couple of days ago and you know what, that was a real shame. Yes, it is a god awful but that is its charm. The only real problem with the film is the acting but again that is half of the joy, it creates most of the comedy and that is what makes it so watchable. The hammed up, cheesy characters make you want to know what they will do next, and breaking the characters up and giving them all an average time on screen allows none of them to become too annoying.

I loved what I took as comments on society, like comparing the police to Nazi Germany and hinting that psycho paths are Christians!! The homemade effort was also something that worked for the film and built on the character of the piece, my favorite part being the Mushy Pea nuclear waste, with other close competitors including the breathing dead dog and the montage of building the house in the swarm. 

The special effects, I loved!! Maybe because it reminds me of the fun we have on “I am Tim” with the slow cost effects, but like “Tim” they still looked pretty impressive, like the head crushing weights and the transformation from Melvin to the Toxic Avenger.

True it made no sense why the policeman’s hands caught fire when touching Melvin, why the Toxic Avenger’s voice changed so much and the fact that at the end no one questioned if the Major was evil or not! Apart from that the story was reasonably solid and never became boring. I look forward to checking out the sequels and over Troma Films!

Acting 4/5

Cheesiness 4/5

Overall 4/5 

Comic Book Monday - Captain America - The New Deal Review

When I started University, I did not really have an interest for the world of comic books. Yes I was a fan of comic book films, but I had never really explored the original source material. It was not till I met people at Uni and in my places of work that I started to read all types of comics. At the beginning of this year Marvel released a fortnightly graphic novel collection that features 60 of the comic book giants best work. As soon as I saw this I was interested and thought it was a great way to read a lot of the Marvel Universe. I have not been mistaken so far, as I have read some great tales, but have also struggled with some boring and uninteresting yarns. As a new comer to this world I thought I would share my thoughts on some of these books for other new comers and anyone who is interested in the colourful worlds of comics. I have decided to start with "The New Deal" a story involving Captain America. 

Captain America is a soldier, a war hero and an icon of justice for America. So it makes total sense that you 
would create a story arc around September 11^th, but of course you would not have the Cap (big mates) breaking through the cave ceiling of Bin Laden’s hideout and beat the living crap out of him that is too obvious! But what happens in “The New Deal” is just a little lame, it is too picture heavy and there is not enough dialogue, and to be honest by the time I made it to the last chapter and the reveal of the big bad, I was bored and did not really care, so much I had already forgotten most the story and what the point was (and it was a quick read)!

The opening was good, seeing the Cap stand amongst the rubble of the fallen towers and trying to help find the people trapped is what you would expected from an American Icon. To then turn around to Nick Fury and tell him that being part of the rescue at ground zero is more important than the mission he is being told to leave New York for, makes you realise how much his home country means to him. It sums up the character in a nutshell and makes him a very powerful image for the United States. It’s a shame then that the rest of the book falls flat, giving none of the other characters any depth at all! Nick Fury just seems a bit of a bastard and like I said before I find it hard to recap on anyone else as they were so forgettable.

So to sum it up there are much better Captain America comics, like the "Winter Soldier", and maybe they should have just had the Cap find Bin Laden and beat the crap out of him, it would have been so much more entertaining!! 

New Look, New Title, More Blogs

Welcome to the new look of Fan of Bad Movies! 

While I still watch films that most people would not second glance at, I do a lot of other things too, and I have decided to widen the things I write on here. I have re-named the blog “Life of a Fan of Bad Movies” which will now focus on lots of different things including weekly reviews of Films, Graphic Novels and thoughts. So check back tomorrow for the first Graphic Novel post.