She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is the 8th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) series, which is the last installment of the 4th phase. The film is directed by Jessica Gao and released on the Disney Plus platform, ending this week. The series has a total of 9 episodes that average 34 minutes. This film stars Tatiana Maslany with several regular MCU cast, including Mark Ruffalo, Benedict Wong, and Tim Roth. After so many series and superhero characters, now does She-Hulk offer something different according to the previous MCU tradition?
After a strange car accident that befell Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and her cousin, Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany), Jen was accidentally contaminated with Bruce’s blood which made her a Hulk, aka She-Hulk. One training process with Bruce showed that Jen could control her powers better than her mentor. In the process, Jen, more precisely She-Hulk, who attracted the public’s attention, was lined up to become the head of the attorney division of a law firm specifically for superhumans who need legal counsel. Within the scope of his work, Jen also intersects with familiar MCU characters, such as Wong and Abomination, and introduces Daredevil to other unknown superhuman figures. Jen’s personal life was also affected by this new identity.
The first two to three episodes did feel fun, with various impressive cinematic technic from other MCU’s. In particular, breaking the fourth wall technique is undoubtedly familiar in this genre (Deadpool). The figure of Jen/She-Hulk can arbitrarily dialogue with the audience by commenting on her mental situation at that time. Like in Deadpool, she not only commented on the situation in the story at that time but also even up to the script and production of the film, especially in the closing episode.
Continuing the next series, everything feels tiring. The story is often too trivial and unnecessary because it does not impact the continuity of the series plot. Several episodes were helped by the presence of cameos like Wong and Abomination. But this can not cover a story that is too “not serious” with outrageous comedy and forced stories. His battle with a super figure (read: not in a matter of life or death) arbitrarily destroys public facilities and even the surrounding vehicles. Don’t they realize this can harm other people? This is a different context from other MCU films, for example, the events of New York (Marvel’s Avenger) or Winter Soldier. It may not be a problem for other viewers, but this is ridiculous for me.
Playing around with various cinematic narratives is fun, but She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is too much in execution. She-Hulk may be meant to be different in the sense of “entertaining,” not like before. Yes, I agree 100%. It could be a lot of MCU fans are entertained. But for me, this is the worst MCU product that can kill its cinematic universe (hopefully not). The MCU has gone too long with immeasurable commercial success, and some of its films are some of the best in their genre. However, specifically for this one series, I agree with Martin Scorsese. This series is just a circus.
