‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’ Episode 1 Review — ‘A Normal Amount of Rage’
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is the latest Marvel Studios show on Disney Plus, a legal comedy inspired by Fleabag and created by Rick and Morty alum Jessica Gao.
Starring Tatiana Maslany, the project has been the source of many online conversations for the last few months, especially those surrounding the look and the visual effects for the main character. The first episode, titled A Normal Amount of Rage, is now out, so let’s discuss it properly.
Spoilers ahead for She-Hulk episode 1
So far, the strongest side of the series is the writing. Gao and her team put together a clever script that relies on snappy dialogue and a fresh perspective on some things that most of us have never (or rarely) thought of — Steve Rogers’ virginity or the Hulk’s ability to process alcohol, for example. (I still can’t believe they think that’s a plus, drinking alcohol without getting drunk, really?) But overall, the show revolves around the differences between the way men and women channel anger, a topic that hasn’t really been explored on screen by Marvel before, and that, no doubt, will continue to develop as the following episodes come in.
In many ways, She-Hulk just feels refreshing. While Bruce/Smart Hulk is trying to remind Jennifer and the audience that this takes place in the Avengers’ world, Jennifer is not here for it. Not only does she not want any part of it, but it also seems like she’s only interested in the superheroes for the jokes she can make about them. And I appreciated that side of it. Now, looking back, her personality is completely different from what we’ve come to expect from the latest Marvel heroes, and it will be an interesting arc to follow for sure. We have also seen the majority, if not all, of the Hulk we saw in the trailers, so I’m left wondering how big of a role Mark Ruffalo will have in the rest of the series. He is listed as a “guest star” in the credits, which hints that he may not be around much.
The biggest downside of the episode for me was the editing, which felt at times very choppy. I appreciate Kat Coiro, who directed the episode, wanting to fast forward through a bunch of familiar stuff, but we jump around in the timeline a lot, and it really felt like the episode was repurposed in post-production. And that’s because it was — Gao herself confirmed to Variety that at least parts of this were originally going to be in episode 8. I imagine they reshot the first fourth-wall break scene to contextualize the rest of the episode, because even the final moments seemed strange. I appreciate non-linear storytelling when done well, but it just didn’t feel organic to me. And maybe I’m wrong and this was always the plan, but the editing didn’t seem natural.
Also, while I enjoyed pretty much every minute Tatiana Maslany is on screen, there was something about the way Mark Ruffalo portrayed Smart Hulk in the early moments of the bunker scene that didn’t feel quite right. I don’t know if it was a choice by the filmmakers, but his comedy wasn’t on point for me (something Ruffalo usually excels at), and his deliveries felt phoned in at best. Sadly, after watching this episode, I won’t be sorry if we don’t get to see Smart Hulk again in the series — or if we do, I hope it’s a better version of him. I’m still holding out hope for Marvel ditching the whole Smart Hulk plotline and going back to the original “Smash!” version of the character.
Before I wrap up, I would like to address the scene where Jennifer gets the blood cells from Bruce. First of all, having a random Sakaar spaceship pop up from nowhere was very funny, but Hulk’s later (non-)explanation for it had me rolling on the floor. However, and I know this is nitpicking, I did find it very convenient that she suddenly transforms into She-Hulk after (literally) three drops of Bruce’s blood mix in with her own. I get that you can’t show that much blood on a Disney Plus series, plus you have to get the show on the road as soon as possible, but the comic books’ explanation of a blood transfusion seemed much more realistic. This way, it seems like She-Hulk is not Jennifer’s alter ego — even though she appears to be in full control — because the amount of blood she collected from Bruce was negligible, which is definitely not the point the series was trying to make.
Overall, the debut of She-Hulk was flawed fun, but at the end of the day, it was exactly what the trailer promised it would be. The CGI may be a bit clunky in certain spots, but I have already accepted that this is what we’re getting from vastly underpaid VFX artists who have to work on the tightest of schedules and on a (sizable but tight) TV budget. Plus, it’s not like there’s a realistic-looking She-Hulk we all would be satisfied with. We must accept her and move on.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
