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Posted in: Disney+, Kaitlyn Booth, Marvel, TV | Tagged: disney, Review, she-hulk, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, tv
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Improves A Lot After Rough Start: Review
The first four episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law are doing something that the Marvel shows don't do often enough; they actually feel like a television show. The binge era has caused many shows to divert from being stories told weekly with beginnings, middles, and endings with another season-wide story that would come to a close by the end of the season. It makes sense for a show that could be watched in a day or two, but it throws off the pacing with a show that is being watched weekly. That's why the show that has felt the most like a television show in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been WandaVision. That is a show that loved the concept of television and built itself around that from the ground up. In many ways, She-Hulk is the same way in that it is built on the foundation of a television formula; a slice-of-life courtroom drama comedy. The fact that superheroes and powers are involved has never been the point, but more the set dressing, and the moments when She-Hulk really leans into that are the moments when it shines.
That might be why the first episode is one of the weaker of the three released to critics. While the show doesn't spend the entire season dragging out Jennifer's origin story and the explanation of how she got her powers is covered in about two minutes, the first episode is dedicated to explaining how Jennifer became She-Hulk. She even turns to the camera and tells us that she knows that we won't be able to focus on any of this courtroom drama unless she explains this, so she does. Star Tatiana Maslany has great chemistry with Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, and the episode contains a really special moment that won't be spoiled here but is one of those "this was written by a woman" moments that matters. Incidentally, that moment has nothing to do with any of the courtroom drama and the She-Hulk-ing, but small moments like that are the things that elevate good shows to great. In the case of the pilot episode of She-Hulk, that scene and a few others are really the things that keep you going. Rest assured, the second and third are a vast improvement for anyone who is a bit lukewarm on the first episode.
The elephant in the room for She-Hulk and one that has been there from the moment they released a single frame of this show has been the VFX bringing Jennifer to life. The problem is that Jennifer has always looked much more human than Bruce does in his Hulk form, and that was always the point of her character. She didn't lose her personality, she was much better at changing at will, and in the comics, Jennifer can default to just staying in her Hulk form because why not? She loses nothing, so why not be a seven-foot-tall green goddess? However, that more human look means that her design in the show tends to fall into the uncanny valley much more than Bruce does. Bruce, when he is in his Hulk form, isn't trying to look human aside from maybe his face. His body and proportions are so out of the realm of reality that our brains don't even bother to try and see him as a human, he's a Hulk, so it's easier to bypass any flaws in VFX.
However, Jennifer looks more human, which is her issue. The hair was the most distracting thing for me, much like the cape was the most distracting part of the VFX for Moon Knight's costume. When Jennifer is allowed to have her hair up, she looks better, but they seem to have it down a lot which is distracting. Hair and eyes are always the hardest things to animate and make look real, and they are trying to make this hair look at least mostly real because Jennifer is supposed to look mostly real. The VFX will be a point of discussion for people for a good reason, and there is a chance it could be a dealbreaker for some. However, you do settle into it as the episodes go on, and you notice it less much in the same way you noticed the cape in Moon Knight or any of the other dodgy VFX we see in Marvel.
As for what the show is about, it's still a little unclear what the actual overall villain of the series will be. We have only gotten a tease of Titania (Jameela Jamil), and there are some hints that there is something sinister lurking around, but these first four episodes aren't focused on that. We see Jennifer having to try and argue why a villain from a previous movie deserves a chance at parole, and the show even takes the opportunity to try and see how said villain might have been the victim in some ways. We see Jennifer dealing with dating and the idea that someone might want her for the part of her that is She-Hulk, but not the part of her that is Jennifer. She wants to be a lawyer because she worked her ass off to become one, and the idea that all of this superhero nonsense might undo all of that is something she doesn't even want to grapple with. We haven't explored the idea that someone wants to make an impact on the world, and the superpowers might be hindering, not helping.
The cast around Maslany is game for it, with standouts being Ginger Gonzaga as best friend and indispensable paralegal, Nikki Ramos. It's lovely to see genuine female friendship with nothing but love and respect between the two women with no bullshit or backstabby cattiness. The other standout is Benedict Wong proving that Wong improves everything he is in. So far, within these first four episodes, the scope of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has been small, which is in no way a bad thing. The Marvel television shows that have worked (WandaVision, Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel) the best are the ones that kept the scope of everything they were dealing with smaller so they could focus on the internal battle the characters were going for.
These shows, much like the solo movies, are here to help move character beats along so the team-ups can continue to be the firework shows. The world-ending stuff should be limited to those firework shows, so you aren't wondering where the Avengers are when shit is going down. Jennifer just wants to be a lawyer, and now she is a lawyer for the increasing amount of superpowered individuals running around. It's not the job she wanted, but it's the one she's got, and now she's going to put on her big girl pants and make the best of it. The real question for these Marvel shows always becomes, "can She-Hulk stick the landing?" Considering Marvel's track record, you could flip a coin to guess at this point, but it is certainly set out to be its own thing.
Also, stay through the credits of every episode.
She-Hulk: Attorney At Law Episodes 1-4
7.5/10
While the first episode of Disney+ & Marvel Studios' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is a bit rough, the next three episodes do find their footing as this show establishes itself as something new.
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