Thursday, January 13, 2011
THE CAPE
The Cape is an exciting TV superhero/avenger/crimefighter/corruption-buster show, stylish, and deriving, of course, from a comic book, (which has a vanity/tribute role in the show).
The show has some weaknesses. It seems to have a lot of the too-familiar superman/batman/etc gotham-city-type crime milieu; the plotting stoops from time to time to events that are cringingly implausible, even for a comic book turned TV show; and, while the men are interesting actors and characters, the women are kind of lame.
In terms of level, it is more intense than a comic show like Chuck, but not really a serious, gritty drama. It had, I think, one joke.
I'll watch it again, but it will take some momentum to really get off the ground, I'm afraid.
Note (1/15): How to invigorate THE CAPE with the magic of MAGIC!:
I was thinking about this show, and I realized that it has -- within its own basic premise -- the means to be really exciting, different, and successful. "The cape" itself, that physical cape, is important because it is at the center of the magic that the hero is supposed to be a master of.
Yet little was done with magic. Oh, he goes POOF from time to time and disappears in a cloud of smoke, and he uses the cape like a tricky whip, but that doesn't come close to exploiting the possibilities of magic and illusion in telling truly original stories. The Hero should have some truly inventive skills, to foil some inventive villians, described by the show with brilliant style!
THE CAPE should get itself some master illusionists to invent real (or illusionary, through the magic of television) magic illusions that enable the hero to escape the ordinary crime drama in which he is now mired.
Labels: The Cape
