She-Hulk Attorney At Law

Alright Marvel, you got me! I liked it.

It's hilarious how with the whole Phase 4 thing still going on it does seem like people are finally getting a bit tired of Marvel and are saying man they're starting to get in a rut, and I'm just over here like this isn't complete horseshit I quite like this! Sooner or later all things pass into my domain, when they're outdated and nobody likes it anymore. Real talk, when I heard we were getting a She-Hulk series I was on board hard fucking core, you don't need to tell me anything else, if I get more Hulk stuff I'm happy. So week after week I tuned in and watched and I have to say I thought it was a solid series, not perfect, but better than I think most of the internet (twats) give it credit for. Spread over a short span of 9 episode each roughly 35 minutes a piece, we follow the life of Jennifer Walters who after suffering a car crash with her cousin Bruce Banner, is infected by his blood and takes on a familiar shape. We see her get some Hulk training, how she's trying to juggle both identities and is incredibly reluctant to show her powers, some superhuman court cases, and a finale that made my brain melt a bit. First of all Tatiana Maslany is wonderful as Jen, terrific comedic timing, gets the emotion through, is a fun and interesting lead to follow, and a quite lovely lady woman. I think the reason why this show worked so well for me is just because it's so un-Marvel, it really feels like uncharted territory for them instead of what even fans of the MCU would deem formulaic, it's a comedy show first and is just a bit of entertainment fluff to enjoy. The effect of She-Hulk didn't at all bug me and I felt it was handled quite well, I know we haven't reached that point where we've left the uncanny valley but they did good with transformations and the look of her throughout. Being a character inherent of 4th wall breaking (sit and spin Deadpool you hack) also helps differentiate this show a great deal and it was a major highlight for me. All our supporting cast whether originally from this show or not must be applauded too, Ginger Gonzaga was awesome and you can effortlessly feel that friendship between Jen and Nikki, plus it lools like she's having a wild time in this role so rock on. Also thank you Marvel for legitimizing the only Hulk movie under your belt (rectify that shit by the by) with bringing Emil Blonsky back, Tim Roth really was one note in that movie and to see him bring a very enlightened aspect of this character into the forefront was very cool. And my guy, my home slice, my sweet cheese, my good-time boi Wong how I have missed you! He seems more grumpy in this show but that only makes me love him more, and I am saying this now and standing by it forever! Wong and Madisynn, best MCU couple, wind in the sails ship it, so let it be written so let it be done. I need a whole show of them, writers do your work, Wong has a girlfriend now and let's see more of his pad and his TV habits. And I know everybody was just pulling their dicks out for Daredevil in this show, but I never watched his show, he's not Ben Afflec so I don't know him. I may need to now! Charlie Cox really kinda swept me off my feet here, his energy, his performance, his chemistry with Jen, I was surprised how much I liked seeing him here so who knows I might buckle down and do the not-Netflix Marvel show sometime in the future. And slightly speaking of which, I'm proud of you Jen, you were getting some hey hey in this show and I for one fully believe in a level playing field so get you some, do a bit of female gazing, find a sexy man who you can also appreciate all aspects of and he can do the same for you. I do find it quite fascinating how this show takes a psychological view into a Hulk but not in an overt artsy way somewhat akin to the Ang Lee movie, Jen is trying to make peace with both her halves and finds it hard to see people rave about She-Hulk but care so little for herself and that sucks man, so fair props to the show for wanting to go there and make it much more personable. I mean yeah sure on the surface level it's just a person who can turn into this green rage beast, but there's a ton more to look at under the surface and I appreciate that in any variety. Talk about relationships, mental health, how women think and feel in this modern world, how Jen herself is handling everything. And people can bitch and moan all they want about, "Well I don't want this in my escapist fiction, oh it's just man hating feminism gone mad, blah...blah...blaaahhhh!", and I got news for you sunshine. Real people, real individuals, living in this real world make these stories. There is no stark bold line, there is no fourth wall, experiences and mindsets go into every single creation in media whether conscious or not, and Marvel has always had the identity of giving superheroes real world problems to make them seem closer to us the audience. And for the man hating thing, I give unto thee the examples of Wong the Sorcerer Supreme and keeper of my heart, Pug who may be an idiot but he's a nice idiot and gets along well with Nikki, Emil who quite literally has opened a help group dealing with emotions and working through negativity, Bruce who while has some conflict with Jen cares about her immensely and the brief talks they have about this beast inside them was extremely well done, and Matt who is a charming, nice, partner in crime solving friend with Jen, all quite human but ultimately nice. Is the season very cohesive? Mostly. Is the finale a bit out there? Absolutely, yet in my super brief research She-Hulk's comics often shatter the fourth wall into rubble very much like that episode. Will it stand the test of time decades from now in terms of social media, current mindsets, and it's particular storytelling? Well impermanence is the name of the game of life my friends, so I just don't know. But I can tell you this, in a sea of opinions I am just a grain of salt amongst countless others. I felt it was a light, fun, enjoyable series, I would not mind at all seeing a second season, and you bet your ass Imma' gonna be saving up for a She-Hulk omnibus. 3 stars, 7.5/10, and next time we must pay respects to our king.

The Incredible Hulk

I liked it better than Iron Man.

Strangely, I've never watched The Incredible Hulk and if you should know anything about me and Marvel is that The Hulk is my guy, has been my favorite and will continue to be my favorite. So why have I just now watched it? I honestly don't know cause I thought it was pretty good. Yes it has problems, problems that make me very angry, but on the whole it gave me what I expected and wanted and did so in a entertaining way. So Bruce Banner has been overdosed with gamma radiation and after a little incident has lived off the radar in Brazil looking for some type of cure for his condition, but pretty soon the U.S. military is on his tracks as Bruce has to evade capture, control the beast within, and f*** stuff up. And what's weird is this is the black sheep of the MCU, it's not on any streaming service, Disney does not own it, and I think on every collection of these movies it is MIA (Could be wrong stay tuned to find out if I'm wrong.). Why? I don't know. So it kinda bugs the hell out of me that the one solo movie for The Hulk in this entire series isn't readily available with every other entry, it's kinda screwed up I mean at least Spider-Man got joint custody. But how's the movie? Quite good I'd say, it introduces interesting elements and yet subsequently shoots itself in the foot. I'll try to explain. Edward Norton is a good lead, I very much like his performance and I'll see how Mark Ruffalo does in the future. Liv Tyler is a bit basic in terms of character but the chemistry she has with Norton is nothing short of sweet and cute. The supporting cast is where it starts to fall apart, Tim Roth is a blah villain, William Hurt is that perfect prick character but his line deliveries are hard to make out so thank God I watch everything with subtitles, and the bit players are just okay. The action is honestly quite good, yet again using practical effects as much as possible so thank you for that movie but it did move a teeny tiny bit fast near the end to where I had to focus. And...okay here's the thing about Hulk's design, I hate it. This is gonna sound really friggin' stupid and weird, but he just looks too muscular. When it gets to the point where I can see every vein and muscle bundle, you went too far, the poor guy looks like he got injected with a gallon of steroids but thankfully I know the design gets a facelift and actually looks pretty good in the future. I adore the fan moments cause you know, the movie did not have to give us The Lonely Man Theme, it did not have to give us a Lou Ferigno cameo, it didn't have to give us the purple pants joke, but it did and for a Hulk fan I really enjoyed it! Now here comes the two biggest and strongest positives and negatives about the movie, it is a love/hate relationship zone we are entering. I love the idea of Bruce meditating, controlling his breathing and his body, getting more in tune with himself to control this force inside him. That is interesting, that is brilliant, it's such a fascinating and yet logical solution to control his emotions and to discipline his mind. That's rad! But here comes the big time stupid, Bruce can Hulk out due to an increased heart rate, not anger. I'm sorry, what?? The one golden, unfallable, engraved in stone rule about The Incredible Hulk is thrown out the window. This is made of stupid. An elevated heart rate should not trigger a physiological change in a person's biochemistry, because anything can set it off! If Bruce hits 200BPM he Hulks out, but man you can get your heart rate up just by going for a jog, that is not the same thing as anger. Anger, or aggravation, or rage, whatever you want to call it, is a biochemical reaction in your brain that does a multitude of things to your body, it does not just make your heart beat faster because it's more complex than that. The guy can't even get his rocks off with Liv Tyler because his heart rate gets so high, for obvious reasons, so he can't even pop a boner without growing 4 feet taller with the ability to throw a car like it's a paperweight. I mean what in the actual hell were you thinking? I just...I can't, I'm gonna give myself an aneurysm, I'm moving on. Stupid is as stupid does. It will be interesting to see the Hulk's progression and dynamic change with this Avenger's team so I'm always going to be happy to see him even if I don't like the movie. Find this one if you can, 3 stars, 7.5/10! And we got ourselves the first sequel coming in tomorrow.

Reservoir Dogs

Yeah...this movie was really good.

That's how you make your first movie! Reservoir Dogs was both written and directed by Quentin Tarantino and son of a mother it's good. The plot follows a group of bank robbers who after a diamond robbery goes wrong they all scramble together in a warehouse to figure out who ratted them out. The one element you might be shocked to see is that there is no heist. There is no footage of the bank robbery, it all deals with the aftermath of the botched robbery. I know! I was expecting some Hardboiled kind of action but no, it all takes place afterwards except for two scenes, one right before the heist and one like immediately after it. Now you may think this would be really boring but it is far from that, it keeps your attention throughout the entire film. As with any Tarantino film, the cast is excellent, the dialogue is both intense and funny sometimes both at the same time, the little action you do see is still well done, it's a very, very good movie. But man, Harvey Keitel is my hero in this movie. Stand up guy if I ever saw one and is just awesome cause well, it's Harvey Keitel that's kinda what he does. The infamous torture scene which is the most talked about part of the movie, is really grueling to watch. It isn't the intense action movie you expect but what it actually holds is still worth checking out. Definitely recommend it.

Okay so that is it for this week. Only two reviews, but we got two more next week still in this sort of genre. So I will see you then.