“TV REVIEW: Hero series 'The Cape' not all that super - Everything Alabama Blog” |
| TV REVIEW: Hero series 'The Cape' not all that super - Everything Alabama Blog Posted: 09 Jan 2011 07:29 AM PST Three stars out of five. "The Cape" isn't a complete failure. No, that's not a ringing endorsement for the new superhero drama, which debuts with a special two-hour series premiere tonight at 8 on NBC, but given the network's recent history with the fantasy and adventure genres ("Heroes," "The Event," "Undercovers," "Knight Rider"), anything that isn't a complete ratings or creative failure could be a relative hit. And the network needs a hit. "The Cape's" origin story is nothing unique. Vince Faraday (David Lyons) is one of the few remaining good cops in Palm City (think Metropolis, Gotham, etc.). After stumbling onto a grand conspiracy that involves privatizing the metropolitan police force, he's framed for crimes he didn't commit and is thought dead. To keep his wife and son safe, Faraday keeps to the shadows and takes on the super-heroic identity of The Cape, a comic book favorite of his son's, to make the city a safer place. So far, so good. But that's only the first act. Where the series begins to break apart is in its B- and C-grade subplots that help make The Cape a hero. Bank-robbing carnival folk led by Max Malini (Keith David) hold Faraday hostage, use him in stick-ups and eventually train him in his quest to bring down the man that took everything from him, corporate shark Peter Fleming (the excellent James Frain, "True Blood"), who moonlights as super villain Chess. Unfortunately, these scenes often play out like a Joel Schumacher "Batman" movie. And what superhero these days is complete without his own Big Brother to guide him (or her) from crime to crime? The Cape has Orwell (Summer Glau), an independently wealthy Watchtower with seemingly unlimited resources and boss cars whose convenience to the story is a little too unapologetically convenient. The physical properties of the cape (it's made from spider silk and stronger than Kevlar) is often hard to swallow, even for a fantasy series. Its fabric can be thrown from great distances, latch onto a 170-pound bad guy and yank him backwards with the force of being roped to a speeding car. It's easy to understand the desire to keep things grounded in reality with a series like this, especially with the success of Christopher Nolan's "Batman" films. But the wardrobe's feats of improbability mount quickly. So will "The Cape" succeed? It's doubtful, unless the writers' room can be reigned in quickly. Inspiration seems to be drawn from the two-dimensional comic cliches of the mid-20th century when scripts should be written for those hip to a 21st century hero. Still, the performances, notably those of Lyons and Frain, are quality. Even David seems to enjoy his circus showman enough to demand attention in the center ring. Let's hope the actors can keep the audience's attention long enough for a quality story to unfold. "The Cape" will move to its regular timeslot on Mondays at 8 p.m. starting January 17th. Twitter: @davesharpontv  THE BIRMINGHAM NEWS This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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