From now on, I'll give up the grand overviews of Marvel's phases, and will instead adopt my Star Wars stance: one post per film/TV show, if and when I feel so inclined. The reason? Well, apart from the sheer scope of MCU content, there are some Marvel properties I have more to say about than others, as will be made clear below. Though I enjoyed the TV Halloween and Christmas specials, I would probably not have blogged about them if they weren't part of an overview. As for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, perhaps it's the kind of show I shouldn't blog about...
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
Series set-up: Jennifer Walters is an ace attorney who also happens to be the cousin of Bruce Banner aka The Hulk. She accidentally acquires Hulk powers during a car accident, and she's not happy about it. Bruce tries to show her the ropes, but she just wants to get back to her normal life and be a good lawyer. Besides, she doesn't have the same issues with a split personality and uncontrollable rage in Hulk form as her cousin does, so going green once in a while should be a breeze. Right?
Additional
genres (apart from the super-hero genre) channelled: Light-hearted legal comedy in the Ally McBeal style.
Overall impression: Oh dear. Look, I have tried defending the odd show or film I find overhated. But this... this is just so bad. I'm not against trying on a legal comedy within the MCU bracket on principle. I rather like the way Phase Four has experimented with different genres. But a legal comedy without interesting cases or good laughs?
I enjoyed Ally McBeal (showing my age a bit here) because it was funny and inventive, and that made me put up with some odd messaging here and there. During the first episode of She-Hulk, in contrast, I didn't laugh once, and the second episode raised only two chuckles. And so it continued. The satire was clunky, the protagonist (in spite of the innate charisma of Tatiana Maslany) annoying at times, and the writing surprisingly amateurish for an MCU product. Say what you like about Ms Marvel – it wasn't really my cup of tea, but at least it was professionally made.
There was one episode of She-Hulk I liked all the way through, and that was "The Retreat", where Jennifer, ghosted by a guy she was really interested in, visits her client Emil Blonsky (more on him in a bit) on his expensive retreat and is unwittingly roped into one of his therapy sessions. There she shows some vulnerability, and we get to the core of her troubles with her She-Hulk personality: She-Hulk is like the popular girls she used to envy at school, and no-one seems to be interested in "just Jen". I liked how Blonsky's therapy, though completely bogus, nevertheless managed to help Jennifer; that was funny and also a bit touching.
The next episode, where Jennifer meets Matt Murdock aka Daredevil, in and out of the courtroom, was also enjoyable for the most part, though by the end the clumsy satire made a reappearance. And then the finale was a complete train-wreck. Fourth-wall-breaking, apparently prominent in the comics, is also a part of the TV series, and I don't mind that. But the way it's used in the finale makes sure the series ends in a huge anticlimax and messes up MCU lore (unless the implications are ignored in future shows and films, which I'm pretty confident they will be) for the sake of a lame joke.
And then, there's the messaging. I usually have a higher tolerance for misandry than perhaps I should have. Not being much for the macho ideal, there are few things I'd consider "unmanly", but whining victimhood might just be one of them. Blokes should be able to take for instance the odd mildly sexist jibe from River Song in Doctor Who on their chin like – well, like a man.
Having said that, I don't approve of consistent man-bashing, and that's what we get here. Men in bars, men at the workplace, men on the dating scene, men in long-term relationships, men on the internet – they all get dumped on, and it's not even done in a witty way. I confess that if the comedy had been brilliant, I'd probably have swallowed the sexism happily and not been so harrumphing. But the question is academic. Unsubtle messaging and less-than-stellar quality tend to go hand in hand for some reason.
OK, enough ranting. What about villains? You mentioned Blonsky. Isn't he from The Incredible Hulk? He is indeed. I have by now watched The Incredible Hulk, and found it soporific – with the exception of Tim Roth as Blonsky aka Abomination. Though his motivations were disappointingly macho (wanting to be the best soldier there was), he had that character-actor-playing-clever-villain look which kept my eyes glued to the screen, and he's still a peach to look at.
This Blonsky has little in common with the testosterone-fuelled mercenary of the film, though. Now he's more interested in making easy money with therapy mumbo-jumbo. I quite liked this version of Blonsky as well, but it didn't seem like the same character, and if Wong hadn't shown up to spring him out of jail at the end, the show would have painted itself into a corner with him. A cheat, but a necessary one.
However, it's not Blonsky who's the villain of this show, but a group who calls itself the "Intelligentia", but is in fact a bunch of... male internet trolls.
Look, I could go on about how She-Hulk has nothing interesting to say about "toxic" men on the web, but instead opts for pointing at them and basically saying "ha ha, you dumb". But I have to get to the two specials some time today. Let's just say, internet trolls do not make for compelling villains. And don't get me started on the underlying message that anyone who doesn't approve of She-Hulk the character or the show must, by definition, be a troll.
Werewolf by Night
Set-up: A group of renowned monster hunters meet up, after the death of the most prominent hunter, to compete for a prized gem with magical properties. The one who catches a dangerous monster will be rewarded with the gem. The dead man's estranged daughter is also in the running. The complication? One of the hunters is, you guessed it, a werewolf. He's also the hero.
Additional genres (apart from the super-hero genre) channelled: Classic horror.
Overall impression: I don't know much about classic horror of the endearingly hokey variety, but I'm guessing if you like that sort of thing, this is the sort of thing you like. It feels like a very loving pastiche, with plenty of practical effects instead of CGI overload, and the labyrinthine set where the monster hunt takes place is a delight. I confess I wouldn't have watched it if I hadn't been bitten by the Marvel bug, but it's a nice length and quite fun.
It must be said, there are some story beats that feel distinctly of the twenty-twenties: the standard "who are the monsters here" plot line, for instance (guess what – the monster hunters are the bad guys), and the fact that Elsa Bloodstone, the estranged daughter, is of course the most competent of the hunters although she wasn't trained by bad old dad. Nevertheless, if you have any lingering fondness for scenarios where characters look at a shadowy creature out of frame and go "Aaaaah!", you could do worse than to put this on next Halloween.
Villains? Over-the-top, which I guess is in keeping with the genre. It's a bit of a pity, because Elsa's stepmother has a legitimate reason to resent the chit who comes to claim her inheritance without showing any grief over her father's death. However, this is isn't a psychological family drama, and so the stepmother is mostly played for laughs.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
Set-up: The Guardians are hanging out at their new base, but their leader, Peter Quill, is still sad about losing the love of his life. Drax and Mantis have heard stories about an Earth holiday called Christmas and, although they haven't much grasp of what it's really about, they decide to give Peter a special present to cheer him up: "the legendary Kevin Bacon", who they think is a real hero and not an actor. Shenanigans ensue.
Additional genres (apart from the super-hero genre) channelled: Sci-fi (of course, it's the Guardians), heartwarming Christmas story.
Overall impression: This is a charming Christmas-tree bauble of a show. The humour is a little twisted at times, but not so much that it takes away from the warm, fuzzy feeling you get at the end. Mantis and Drax are a great duo, and Kevin Bacon impressively game. If you haven't seen the Guardians films, this is probably not the right place to start making their acquaintance, but if you have seen them and liked them, you'll probably enjoy this a great deal.
Villains? No.
