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The cast also includes Ginger Gonzaga, Josh Segarra, Jameela Jamil, Jon Bass and Renée Elise Goldsberry.

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The nine-episode series welcomes a host of MCU vets, including Mark Ruffalo as Smart Hulk, Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky/the Abomination, and Benedict Wong as Wong. Directed by Kat Coiro (Episodes 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9) and Anu Valia (Episodes 5, 6, 7) with Jessica Gao as head writer, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law follows Jennifer Walters as she navigates the complicated life of a single, 30-something attorney who also happens to be a green 6-foot-7-inch superpowered hulk. Streaming exclusively on Disney+ beginning August 17, the new comedy series stars Tatiana Maslany as She-Hulk/Jennifer Walters, a lawyer who specializes in superhuman-oriented legal cases. If an outside trip to see a feature-length cartoon is in your near future, and you find yourself wanting to remain Minion-free, then Paws of Fury isn't the worst alternative.ĭisney+ has released a new trailer for Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk: Attorney at Law at San Diego Comic-Con 2022. The hero's journey aspect is rote and the meta elements are exhausting but there's a glow behind it all that shines as a reverent beacon for Mel Brooks in what might be the last of this particular type of film. Paws of Fury's bizarre existence and inspired goofiness allows it to eke out a soft victory in the crowded realm of derivative animation. It's almost like this film was created as a Mel Brooks primer for parents whose kids aren't at all interested in watching the movies their folks grew up with. Paws of Fury feels like the final evolutionary stage of this. Over time, the gags grew increasingly further and further away from being grounded in the story itself, as if two separate films were struggling to coexist. The goal was to entertain the children with the colors and grown ups, who many wrongly assume don't want to watch an animated film, with the jokes. Throw in an homage to the iconic fart scene and there's not much of Blazing Saddles that doesn't get reconfigured in this ridiculous reskin.Įver since Shrek, many animated films have filled their ranks with celebrity voices and pop-culture references.

Jackson plays Jimbo, a disgraced aging samurai who reluctantly mentors Hank, in the same way Blazing Saddles' 'Jim' (Gene Wilder) helps Cleavon Little's Bart.Įven the racism Bart encounters in Blazing Saddles as a Black sheriff is handled here, masked behind the cats' presumed hatred of dogs. It doesn't help it soar but it stops it from sinking.Ĭera's wide-eyed pooch is fast-tracked into samurai status by a scheming local cat lord (Ricky Gervais, naturally venomous) who wants Hank to fail and plots to have the local villagers vacate because the town is an eyesore. This also happens to be Paws of Fury's lone saving grace, as it does, in the end, help differentiate it from something that could have been a run-of-the-mill celebrity-stuffed cartoon calamity. This all makes for an extremely oddball project, where the target audience - namely kids - remain wholly unaware of the Brooks-ian layers as they view an animated adventure created by people seemingly out to only amuse themselves by honoring their comedy idol. So the humor here, in this simple story of a hapless dog, Hank (Michael Cera), being made the protector of a cat village, is literally forced through the lens of Brooks as if every potential guffaw was born of a 'What would Mel do?' philosophy. is to throw a hundred jokes at the wall in the hope 30 of them will stick. All that aside, it's still good for a chuckle or two if not only because Mel Brooks' entire M.O. The story is tired and many of the jokes fall flat. Paws of Fury is a touch clumsy, a bit hacky, and not exactly an animated treat for the eyes.

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To clarify, Brooks himself is involved with Paws of Fury, as the voice of the Shogun, and the movie itself is more or less a reworked version of Blazing Saddles (it was even titled Blazing Samurai at one point in its development), so this is the closest thing you'll get to an actual Mel Brooks film here in 2022, for better or worse. Not an actual one, written and directed by comedy legend Brooks, but one that emulates Brooks' style, tone, and gags while also referencing Brooks' own movies.

Relentlessly committed to the bit, Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, for all intents and purposes, is a Mel Brooks movie.

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