Review : She-Hulk Attorney at Law

Jennifer Walters is my favorite female super-hero. With the Hulk being my all-time favorite. I bought the first issue of “Savage She-Hulk” when it came out in 1980. With that said, I have been looking forward to a live action adaptation. Though considering how Mavel has treated the source material up to this point, it has been balanced with well-deserved skepticism. Her comic in the 90s took a fourth wall breaking comedic turn. I knew this was the direction they were going with it. While comedy is not my thing the show felt like it got the job done in that regard without trying too hard like the most recent Thor movie. CGI was bound to be an issue. I would say it looks better than the Ang Lee Hulk movie, but not as good as Ed Norton's “the Incredible Hulk” . The visual fx issues Marvel has been plagued with since most notably the Black Panther movie, comes with therate at which they pump these things out with. I personally do not care how real my big green monsters are looking as the suspension of disbelief is already out the window, as it should be.

 I think actress Titiana Maslany does a great job as Jennifer Walters, perhaps better in her human form, but there is room for her to grow into her big green persona. The trailer made it look like they were going to try to elevate her character as better or stronger than the Hulk, which would be a deviation from the comics and this is not the case, even when they tussle, she is only fighting a Professor Hulk, or the merged version that feel more like the mid 80s version. Once again, the MCU tends to deviate, but they at least got that part right. There is plenty of social commentary that Disney/ Marvel and let's face it Hollywood in general panders to, but not enough to become a distraction. The villain situation might prove tricky despite hearing the Wrecking Crew will finally appear. Titania, who Jameela Jamil portrays, makes a brief appearance, and feels like she is on par with a villain from the Power Rangers. Not sure if a more comic book accurate look will come about for her, but perhaps it might aid in the feel of the character who is little more than a henchwoman to begin with. 

The series is very rooted in the Marvel Universe and feels less apologetic for being based on a comic book than the bulk of their output thus far. Ruffalo might be a little too comfortable in his role, and I have only found him as a passable Bruce Banner preferring Norton. I am sure budget wise that is more than likely his only appearance. I also do not like origin stories but feel this one was handled as best as they could and came close to the source material. The ship from planet Skaar has online buzzing about a World War Hulk set up, and I am fine with that not happening as key characters like the Sentry have not been introduced, then there is the whole no Tony Stark thing. But that is a future we are not in yet, and it is unlikely the world is even going to make it that far, so I am thankful for the first episode and if they maintain what they started here, that should make this the best Marvel show so far for sure.

Review : "the Sandman"

Neil Gaiman's 1989 take on the Sandman, was one of the first comic books I paid attention to that was not costumed superheroes fighting. It was darker and more surreal, which is what the Netflix adaption managed to capture the tone of. How true where they to the comics themselves, well that is another matter. The teleplay was adapted by Neil Gaiman, along with Allan Heinberg and David Goyer and a rotating room of writers handling the other 9 episodes, which speaks to the often hit or miss storytelling that plagues the show overall.  This results in the last four episodes to having the consistent momentum that powered the first few episodes that hooked me in at first even where things like gender flipping John Constantine was in play. Sure, Johanna is in the comics and the Victorian version of the character is shown, this version is used in place of the more popular male one in the modern timeline.  Like most comic book adaptation's if things had kept closer to the books, they would have been better as the further from the comics it drifted the worst it got as well. 

The shows strongest point was the casting of Tom Sturridge as Morpheus, which captured his look as well as generally feeling like the character.  The Corinthian was also well portrayed by Boyd Holbrook. Aside from that the only casting risk that worked was Gwendoline Christie's role as Lucifer. DC's take on this character was popular in the Television depiction, but Christie's performance was more in line with the comic books. But this did not work as well with the changes to John Constantine, who has already seen two previous incarnations brough to the screen. The most unfortunate mistake made was the casting of Death, which only worked in wardrobe but not on any other level, as the acting lacked the characters' charisma, and since this was one of the series most iconic characters. This might have been why they were only featured in one episode I do like John Cameron Mitchell as an actor since Hedwig is one of my favorite movies, I am not sure his role was all that needed. 

There were portions of episodes and themes from the comics that came across nicely such as Morpheus' 100-year friend and his trip to hell. Then there was character development too focused on character that were not part of the endless, which could have been edited down to make room for the more important comic in fact as the series progresses, we break away from the focus being on Morpheus and moves into trying to make you sympathize with characters who never show their worth to the story as a whole. Desire and Fiddler's Green. The series does allow them enough time to work in multiple stories from the comics, which readers will readily recognize, and people going in cold won't know either way what is accurate or not. There were engaging and entertaining episodes, but the show loses its momentum and focus as it progresses and uses magic to bandage the plot holes. You are going to read a lot from fans on social media who cannot find faults in the show, because they have waited so long to see this brought to life that they will watch this through rose colored glass and nostalgia will trump objectivity, when this take what we can get from Hollywood kind of thinking is what made this show suffer in the first place.