She-Hulk: Attorney at Law — Review
by KJ Proulx
Ever since Marvel added television series’ to their franchise, my thoughts have admittedly been mixed. The main issue is that most of them feel like long films, cut up into episodes, which doesn’t work at all for me. I’ve still enjoyed them and look forward to the next, but I have felt like all of them so far should’ve been re-adapted as films instead. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is the latest Disney+ Marvel series to reach its conclusion, and while I’m not a big fan of it, there are a couple of great episodes. Here’s why, if you’ve been following the franchise from start to finish, this isn’t one to skip.
The series kicks off with Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) after she is in a car accident with her cousin Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and ended up receiving his blood in the process. Because of this, she can also now turn into a Hulk, just not quite as big or strong. As she does her best to juggle her civilian life as an attorney, her dating life, and being a superhero, her life becomes a little more complicated. Including a few familiar faces from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there are some clever uses of the law throughout this show. My biggest issue though is the fact that there are far too many episodes where nothing happens.
I absolutely loved Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters and I can’t wait to see more of her in this role. With that said, it was a little frustrating that entire episodes were either devoted to fashion or weddings, with no real progression of the story. Now, if these nine episodes had been condensed into a two-hour film, those moments where nothing happened would’ve felt like breathing room instead of dead space. Marvel has strayed too far away from the feature film aspect that made their franchise great in the first place. Still, with this being a major issue I had with this series, I still liked it.
There will be many viewers who will roll their eyes at a lot of the comedy, especially due to the fact that it’s playing to a younger audience and new-age humour/trends, but I thought it worked for this character. This character also breaks the fourth wall on multiple occasions and the final episode is basically one giant fourth wall break (which I enjoyed), but it felt a little out of place for this franchise, especially with Deadpool making an entrance soon. Viewers have also complained about the CGI in this show, but I honestly can’t complain about it. I was well aware that the Disney+ shows would have a smaller budget than the films, but this is also an issue in itself. If they didn’t have the budget, why do it? That’s a separate issue, but one that’s definitely on my mind.
With all the negatives out of the way, let’s talk about the moments that won me over. Her interaction with Bruce in the first episode was terrific and as of now, it’s the only episode I have revisited. With that said, easily my favourite episode of this season is the eighth episode where Daredevil (Charlie Cox) makes yet another MCU appearance. Tatiana Maslany and Charlie Cox have some great chemistry together and their storyline had me laughing very hard. There are some comedic moments in that episode that were absolute gold. I really hope we get to see more of those two on-screen together.
Overall, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law feels unfocused because it’s a series of nine episodes that feels like it could’ve been a two-hour film. For this reason, a lot of episodes feel like filler. Maslany is absolutely perfect in this role and a lot of the humour worked for me too. It was nice to see some familiar faces and there are some stand-out moments that all fans should witness. I just wish it wasn’t in a padded-out season. There’s far too much trendiness and filler within a show that didn’t need it. I honestly loved many aspects of this show, but the fact that it was a series, in general, is one of the biggest downsides. I can’t wait to see this character again, but I’m not super excited if it’s only going to be in season two of this series.
Rating: 3/5
Check out the trailer below:
