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.

If The Cape were aimed at children or as a program to be watched by the whole family, it's campiness and cheese would be appropriate. It would be a GREAT show to enjoy as a family and in that enjoyment I could get past some of the overly clichéd acting, directing, and dialogue. However, some of the language, some of the violence, and the current time slot seem to indicate that the producers aren't interested in a preteen audience... and the silliness, plot holes, and overall feel presented in the Pilot lead me to believe they won't be able to develop a loyal audience of mature viewers. I can't imagine The Cape lasting much beyond an initial order of episodes. For all of the potential the show has, it misses on too many levels and fails to properly reach any defined audience.

An extremely intelligent but nefarious ex-stockbroker convicted of embezzling millions from his clients spends 7 years of his 15 year sentence studying the law and planning his appeal. Though guilty, he concealed his crimes so well that only a technical slip-up by his bungling defense attorney caused his conviction. The bitter, brilliant convict achieves the overturn of his conviction the same way- on a tech- nicality. He vows revenge on the judicial system and passes the bar exam with flying colors. The press takes notice of this "ex-con" lawyer, and his notoriety gets the attention of Dana Faraday's law firm. Seeing the opportunity for free publicity, they hire him on a trial basis. The un- scrupulous lawyer proceeds to get every criminal he defends an acquital by unethical, often illegal means, without getting caught. His successes and his questionable methods come to the attention of Peter Fleming, who, though he controls much of the police dept., is still looking for inroads to control the courts and prisons. He also sees, and seizes apon, the opportunity to identify and recruit the smartest, most ruth- less criminals to create a street syndicate under his control to go after the Cape, Orwell, and any other public or judicial figures that get in his way. He does this through the manipulation of "the Lawyer" who is hell-bent on wreaking havoc on the judicial system, hiding behind the guise of a 'champion of the oppressed' defense attorney. Suspicions of Orwell, The Cape, and even Dana, working together, lead to the exposure and ultimate downfall of "The Lawyer", and the thwarting but not defeat, of Peter Flemming. Just an idea. Awesome show, but try to keep the plots and villains believable, though a little stretching doesn't hurt.

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.

Vince(David Lyons) is an honest cop, and is happily married with a son. But Vince's good life is quickly taken away from him, when he is framed for crimes by a certain criminal, and is believed to be killed in an explosion. But Vince is quickly taken in by a circus act led by Max(Keith David). Once Vince gets his strength back, he is eager to taken down the people that framed him. He finds a cape with awesome abilities, Max trains Vince on how to use it. Now crime has a new enemy, a superhero known as "The Cape".

A good show, a little flawed, but still entertaining. I hope it doesn't suffer the same fate as M.A.N.T.I.S.(1994) and Birds Of Prey(2002). The actors do well, and the action scenes are alright. I hope it will last a while, but if it doesn't, can't say they didn't try.