She-Hulk Attorney at Law – A Normal Amount of Rage review S1 E1
Marvel Studios’ Phase 4 hasn’t been that enthusiastically received compared to its predecessors. If the first episode is any indication, She-Hulk Attorney at Law won’t be the show to swing the momentum in a positive direction.
Was James Cameron just totally off the mark by not having Ellen Ripley or Sarah Connor humiliate Hicks or Kyle Reese to make them look better? Why didn’t Katniss one-up the dudes in The Hunger Games in every scene to spotlight her prowess? Or more recently, why did Prey’s Naru have to learn to overcome her fear to stop the Predator?
Showrunner Jessica Gao takes the common approach of too many writers of modern action shows/movies featuring a woman. Ditch any and all potential learning opportunities for the heroine, immediately make them superior to male counterparts and include some self-congratulatory speech about the struggles of being a woman. Maybe that was the missing element from Kill Bill Vol. 1?
Jennifer Walters (a perfectly cast Tatiana Maslany) is prepping for a big courtroom case before breaking the fourth wall to tell viewers how she became a hulk. After multiple MCU series took the long route to having the hero in action, it was refreshing to see She-Hulk jump right into what viewers actually want to see.
Not that the adventures of attorney Jennifer Walters aren’t interesting, but not compelling enough for a series. Jen is hanging with her cousin, Bruce Banner aka The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). Bruce has set up a device to allow him to be human again, which proves to be good news for him and bad news for Jen.
At the expense of spoiling crucial plot points, Jen wakes up to find she’s a She-Hulk. Unlike her cousin, Jen hasn’t fought through years of learning to control her rage-filled alter ego. Fascinated and a little jealous, Bruce wants to train Jen in the art of being a hulk hero.
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Jennifer is immediately amazingly proficient at all things (She)Hulk. There’s no real learning curve and she’s able to equal or surpass Hulk at nearly every turn. This is a boring approach to She-Hulk as she covers Bruce’s 15+ year journey in a couple of weeks.
Maslany is so good in the role it’s somewhat easier to go along with some of the cringey empowerment dialogue. These scenes rarely come off as well as the writer intends. The She-Hulk audience doesn’t need to be told she’s better because she’s a woman or other random just because digs at men.
While this isn’t The Hulk’s show, it felt like Gao missed obvious moments to have Bruce — in a non-joking manner — reflect on losing so many of his Avengers friends in the battle against Thanos. This could have been a reason why Bruce was pushing Jennifer so hard to be a hero — he simply missed the tight bond he enjoyed with the Avengers. And who better to fill that void of his superhero family than his actual family?
Maslany and Ruffalo have such a quick rapport that it’s easy to buy them as family. For the grief it endured with the initial trailers, the CGI for She-Hulk is fine in this episode.
The more lighthearted tone fits the spirit of the comic book, but it’s going to be a case where I can see the writers trying too hard to make scenes funny could become a problem.
There’s exactly one action scene beyond Hulk training, which is resolved so quickly that it doesn’t bode well for She-Hulk having breakneck exhilarating fight scenes.
This first episode is an audacious start, but there’s some reason for optimism. If the rest of the season thrives it’s going to be due to Maslany’s charm and showcasing a confident, fun-loving character. Make sure to sit through the post-credit scene, which is a fun extra.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Photo Credit: Disney