SHE HULK: ATTORNEY AT LAW. Mean, green, and straight poured into these jeans [Review]
lf you’re wondering what kind of absurd the title of the review is, I just quoted an excerpt from the main character’s description on her profile on the Marvel equivalent of Tinder, which was read aloud at one point in the series to a full courtroom, while Jennifer was almost literally collapsing to the ground. If the quoted scene embarrasses you more than it makes you laugh, you can move on. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is not for you.
The series tells the story of a newly introduced character in the Marvel universe, Jennifer Walters, who is the cousin of Bruce Banner himself, the Hulk. In a rather pretextual way, Jen is given her cousin’s powers, and in the rest of the series we watch her struggle with her new role as a superheroine and as an attorney defending those involved in wide-ranging superhero affair..
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Another side of the universe
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law brings a number of novelties to the universe. First of all, it is a comedy series. And not with comedic elements like most of the other titles in the universe, but strictly comedic. Secondly, it flirts with another genre adapted for Marvel, in this case the courtroom series.
This mix makes She-Hulk: Attorney at Law closer to series like Sex in the City rather than the blockbuster formats signed by Kevin Feige’s name. The focus is on Jen’s daily life, which probably mirrors the life many representatives of the millennial generation, and the superhero elements here serve to mock, to entertain, to show a completely different side of the Marvel world. Here, on the other hand, the series goes more in the direction of The Boys or Kick-Ass, but treat these comparisons conventionally, because She-Hulk: Attorney at Law does not copy anything from them, it strongly relies on its own type of humor and play with superhero conventions, such as the perfectly used breaking of the fourth wall by the title character or the delicious pastiche of the cult series The Incredible Hulk present in the season (series?) finale.
Pros and cons
What delighted me most about Marvel’s latest series, however, was the lightness and accuracy with which it mocks all those who hated the series even before its release. The creators of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law make fun of opponents of so-called political correctness, strong women on screen or the diversification of Marvel’s cinematic-television universe in the fourth phase of its development, for example, literally quoting the actual tweets of these haters or leading the viewers who watched the series only for the Daredevil episode (by the way: GREAT introduction of this character to the universe!) by the nose. The creators also happen to take harder targets, for example, in the finale they mock Marvel Studios itself in a way so direct that it’s surprising. In all of this you can see freshness and idea, an absolute break up with every trumped-up element of this universe.
Without a doubt, Tatiana Maslany, who plays the title character, deserves a separate paragraph. The actress perfectly handles the duties entrusted to her and brilliantly plays both the somewhat lost and looking for life fulfillment Jennifer, and the strong and confident She-Hulk. She is extremely charismatic and draws you to the screen like a magnet, while having excellent chemistry with absolutely every supporting character (and the greatest – to my delight – with Charlie Cox, i.e. the on-screen Daredevil).
Flaws: I see them, of course, but in very low intensity. Certainly, at least a few jokes were not entirely successful, the subsequent court cases involving the main character or her colleagues are often resolved in a very convenient ex machina way, and the CGI She-Hulk character can still serve as the dictionary definition of the so-called uncanny valley, even if one can see a significant improvement over the first previews of the series.
In my opinion, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is not only a very successful series that has provided me with intelligent, original and daring entertainment for nine weeks, but also simply one of the best titles from both Marvel Studios and Disney+.
Give it a chance. It’s worth it. Even if it is certainly not a series for everyone.
This review was originally published on Film.org.pl and has been translated into English.
Filip Pęziński