It's been a long time coming, but the world finally has its Toxic Avenger back—surely just the tonic comic book movies need.

Macon Blair steers Legendary Entertainment's attempt to bring Troma's superpowered poster boy screaming and ripping into the 21st century, along with an impressive cast and an ‘unrated' stamp. But while the noxious results will get whoops in the cinemas, it‘s hard to miss the smoking remains of a wasted opportunity.

Winston Gooze (Peter Dinklage) is a guy just trying to get by quietly. Working as a janitor for mega-polluter BTH, he's trying to be the best dad to his stepson Wade (Jacob Tremblay) until he gets a terrible health diagnosis and BTH supremo Bob Garbinger (Kevin Bacon) refuses to help. Unfortunately, desperate Winston decides to rob his employer just as fearless reporter J.J. Doherty (Taylour Paige) is searching for evidence that Garbinger is up to no good.

When the company's musical heavies, The Killer Nutz (managed by Elijah Wood's Fritz Garbinger), inevitably get the wrong guy, their main mistake is throwing Winston's corpse into toxic sludge. The mild-mannered janitor is soon reborn with rippling green skin, a removable blood clot of an eye, and superhuman abilities, but does he have what it takes to be the city's hero?

It's been a rocky road to get this blood splattering hero back on screen, but unrated will find a way. After a trippy transformation to Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain, Winston's journey to Avenger is about as short as slicing body parts with a radioactive mop suggests. It knowingly pokes fun at the blah, blah responsibility spiel, and the gruesome damage Toxie visits on hoods through visceral physical effects is fun. But that OTT violence tends to fly by—The Toxic Avenger has a mid-credit scene longer than its first bloodbath (which might be a relief for the CGI straining to enhance the blood flow).

Beyond the comic book violence, The Toxic Avenger‘s centre is as soft as the pink blisters on Toxie's head. It's just about a man trying to look after his son. Dinklage is all frazzled, hangdog looks you can't help feel for. But it's post-transformation, when Toxie's pocket rocket of pollutant power is brought to life in a brilliantly realised pantomime horse of Luisa Guerreiro's physicality and Dinklage's voiceover, that the bonding truly begins. A small mouth on a mutant Brussels sprout has never sold so much emotion. But that gooey family centre, matched by Bacon and Wood's sibling disagreements, needed more weirdness for balance.

While The Toxic Avenger packs a lot in, and its cast is clearly having a great time, it doesn't have enough Troma. The indie studio's exploitative tastes were about more than flying body parts, but for all the updates, the sensationalism has been dialled down (there are only a few seconds of gratuitous or simulated nudity). When it does lean into the weird, like the unmasking of a bulking guitarist, it shows where it could have gone.

The result on the way to a Mighty Morphin final punch-up—surprisingly tame until a ‘revolutionary' ending—is a tonal mishmash. The bad guys never find the same comedy seam as Toxie and Doherty's dysfunctional buddy relationship—which is particularly unfortunate considering Julia Davis plays Garbinger's associate. It's noticeable that the best gags fall to two minor roles: David Yow's wise hobo and Sunil Patel's hapless doctor.

Building on Troma's B-movie inspirations, the original Toxie parodied '70s Bronze Age comic book creations like Swamp Thing, but his latest mutation isn't likely to rip through the current glut of screen superheroes. It all feels a bit throwback and niche to capitalise on the genre's chase for R-rated box office.

For all the contemporary jabs like the Nasty Lads railing at Mr Meat becoming Miss Meat and two news anchors sparring over pronouns, it lacks an edge. One consequence is realising how little environmental issues have moved on since the original Toxic Avenger oddly fell into the glut of eco-themed kids cartoons in the 1990s.

With a punchier message, it could have been the best time. But Toxie urinating on his face and yanking intestines from a bad guy the hard way just makes it a good time.

The Toxic Avenger received its English Premiere at FrightFest on 22 August.