I Am Toxic review: Mad Max meets The Walking Dead in this Argentinian action fest.
I Am Toxic
The year is 2021 DC, the place Buenos Aires, Argentina. The world has been scorched by ‘bacteriological warfare’; there’s conflict in the Northern hemisphere and hunger in the Southern hemisphere. There are also creatures known as ‘the dry ones’, which feast on the survivors. It is in this place that Esteban Prol’s nameless man awakens. He has lost his memories and is helped by a stranger known simply as Doctor (Horatio Fontova). His helper is soon revealed to be something more sinister however, and our hero finds himself on the run from Doctor and his clan of murderous maniacs.
I Am Toxic is essentially an Argentinian version of Mad Max with added zombies. It’s full of all the colourful, but not exactly deep characters, that filled the screen of Mad Max: Fury Road, with the costumes to match. Though visually stylish, capturing that post-apocalyptic Mad Max look perfectly, I Am Toxic can’t help but feel a little hollow inside. The problem is the lack of development and the abundance of people running around. Because the film fails to establish who everyone really is, at times it gets a little confusing to figure out who is who. Given the limited identities, the impact of deaths and outcomes of fights is diluted, and it’s hard to really invest much feeling into it.
I Am Toxic
The big issue I personally had with the film is that the two female characters are essentially mute. One is glimpsed only in flashbacks, the other is featured a fair amount, but she has taken a vow of silence. I understand the reasons within the story, but given they are the only female representations, and they have no voice, it makes for a rather sad watch in our current cultural climate.
I Am Toxic rushes along to its climax without ever really getting going. It’s a film that is only ever in one gear and it makes for a rather frustrating watch. If it could just slow down a little and enable us to learn more about what’s happening, we would have a much stronger film. Fans of breakneck chase films will embrace I Am Toxic, others may find themselves out in the cold.
I Am Toxic was reviewed at Arrow Video Frightfest 2019.
