The Cape

With classic comic book characters being reinvented for the 21st century with the new Iron Man and Batman films, I was happy to hear that a new series was being created based around a fictional comic book character called The Cape.

After watching the two hour special though I had mixed feelings. Even though the cape has a great cast and great acting (with a few exceptions) including David Lyons, James Frain, Summer Glau and Keith David, I felt it was just a bit too cheesy and it felt like it belonged back in the 60's with Adam West and Batman. The camera cuts were fast and the odd tilted shots with cheesy one liners really put the icing on the cake. All it was missing was a few "Splat" or "Kaboom" stickers appearing in the middle of a fight.

Now don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed seeing a new, if somewhat albeit, original character with a good mysterious background and great acting. David Lyons (who is new to me) suits the character well and puts a good deal of emotion and wit into his character. James Frain (TRON: Legacy) portrays a great bad guy, even though I thought he slipped once or twice. Summer Glau (Serenity, Firefly) and Keith David (He's in a lot) like usual acted amazingly with Summer Glau bringing the sex appeal and Keith David bringing his hard hitting attitude with wit. The only down side to the acting (this is being a bit harsh and a bit nitpicky) but I thought Ryan Wynott (Trip Faraday) let the side down with his poor acting. You can't forget the great cameo appearances though of Vinnie Jones as Scales and Ken Davitian as a shop clerk. I especially loved the little line shouted at Ken, "Hurry up Borat!".

Overall I thought it was a pretty bad start to the series with it being quite rushed and pretty cheesy, but then again I had expectations that it would be more like the new Batman or Iron Man films and not like the original 60's Batman.

I will keep watching hoping it gets better but this series really isn't for me.

ABC's new show "The Cape" has a lot of good things going for it; especially with it's 1940's pulp-inspired superhero atmosphere, suspense, and hints at the mystical, which I really liked and hope in the near future, gets further explored. However, I felt the plot went by WAY too quickly. It would've been nice to see the plot unfold at a reasonably slower pace and get the audience to become more accustomed to the characters and proceedings. But there are some decent plot twists that made me smile though there are few between as the premiere episode was two hours long so even at that length, not everything can be fully explained.

I must say that it was a good start to a series that's hopefully getting better and better at the moment but I won't get my hopes up too soon as NBC's more recent superhero show, which had so much potential in which to build on(as evidenced by it's stellar first season) but with writer's strikes and the realization that Tim Kring and co really had no foundation for the subsequent seasons, the show died a tragic death. I'm hoping that with more polish and sophistication that this series will be a hit unless NBC and those on board learn their lessons and not screw it up.

This show has received a lot of bad reviews thus far, and I find that uncalled for. Sure, many people may not see the appeal in this show, what with it being a superhero story that we have seen before, but I think this is a great show. If you did not enjoy the first episode, DO NOT GIVE UP, as the show gains a firmer footing even as soon as the second episode. The story gets deeper, the characters more pronounced, and the plot thickens. I am somewhat disappointed that they introduced Cape's sidekick so soon, as seeing Vince struggle through the trials of becoming a superhero would have been more believable.

This show attempts to capture the grandiose story of a hero such as Batman, but without our hero having the benefits of unending cash and gadgets. It also keeps the storytelling style gritty and dark, but without going completely film noir.

While this show's debut has many in doubt, I have throughly enjoyed it so far, and I look forward to the continued adventures of the Cape.

Good: Cast is very solid especially Summer Glau and Keith David. They both seemed to fit very naturally into their characters. Interesting premise with a good cop turned vigilante with a comic book bent. Has great elements of tension, drama, comedy and a little flair for the theatrics throughout.

Bad: Writing (maybe directing? I'm not at distinguishing the two) was inconsistent throughout the pilot episode. The pacing was an issue. There was no clear progression of time so I was confused a lot about how much time had passed between scenes. A lot of the characters feel shallow and little time was concentrated on their depth, especially with the villains. World struggles to straddle the lines between campy, comic book world and the real world.

The bottom line: I would continue to watch the series.There's enough that grabbed me in the pilot episode to make me come back to it.Clean up the writing and allow for more development of characters and plots and you have a hit. Summer Glau and Keith David are good, not in love with the main guy. I think he's OK, maybe will get better as the series goes on. But compared to other shows that have been premiered in the past year this one looks way more promising. Give this show a chance.

I do not know why good shows are given a short period of time to make it on a network and other shows that are corny and have very little value are given not only a whole season but two or more seasons. This is a good entertaining show that anyone in the family can watch. In a time when Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Green Hornet, Green Lantern, Fantastic Four, The Hulk, Wonder Woman, Ironman, and now Captain America, I think we have room for another superhero and this one does a great job of defending the American way. Why is the network talking cancellation when the show has barely had a chance to get started. Most shows don't find their groove until the second season when they have time to work out all the bugs and find out what works and what doesn't. I think NBC needs to give The Cape a reprieve and lets see what the show can with a few more shows under its "cape".