Flu,head injuries and a cape

This is going to be harder than I expected, I’ve come down with the flu again I’ve been coughing and burning up over the past few days so it’s not been a good start to the New Year. Prior to Christmas, I banged my head at work and after managers had a look at where I was wounded they put a bandage on it but they recommended I go to the hospital. After a work colleague dropped me off there I had to wait almost two hours at an accident and emergency ward. In all fairness, it’s not as bad as it looks but at the time there was a lot of blood.

It’s left me with a small scar on my forehead. Ok I’m going to stop talking about scar tissues and man flu I’m going to completely change the subject.

With film adaptations of comics are now filling the box office, filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro is behind a new version of a new Hulk television series along with a Punisher TV show in the pre production stages. TV chiefs in the U.S as well as this country are scraping the barrel with endless reality TV shows. Could they have realised that viewers have had enough? But that’s another gripe for another time.

After the demise of Heroes and with Smallville in its last season, American TV networks are looking at filling the gap left by both shows. You’ve got “No Ordinary Family” which is about a family who end up with superpowers after a trip to Brazil goes wrong. I haven’t seen NOF yet but this brings me to the Cape.

In a nutshell, it’s about an honest cop and family man Vince Faraday (David Lyons) who ends up being framed by the big bad, Chess AKA billionaire Peter Fleming (James Frain). Not only does he frame him but Fleming also owns the police. Faraday manages to escape, but by faking his death he falls in with a circus troupe cum gang of thieves led by Malini (Keith David).

With the help of Malini and a cute blogger Orwell, played by Summer Glau. Faraday takes his inspiration from a comic book character his son reads and becomes the Cape, a super hero who not only fights crime but wants to clear his name so he can go back to his wife and son.

The opening credits features works by leading comics artists, especially John Cassaday best known for books like Planetary and Captain America. In doing so, it’s a shout out to the geek crowd. The whole story feels like a modern version of the Spirit now if you’ve never seen the film then don’t bother. Seriously I mean it.

Lyon’s does a passable job as Faraday, hopefully he’ll grow into the role. It’s the bad guys who really hog all the limelight, former Celebrity Big Brother housemate Vinnie Jones hams it up as Scales, a hoodlum with scaly skin. Fresh from playing a psychopathic vampire from True Blood Brit actor James Frain is now a psychopathic super villain. It’s had mixed response from critics but the Cape is lightweight fun. Time will tell if the show’s found any viewers but I’ll stick with it, it’ll fill my viewing schedule until Walking Dead and True Blood comes back.

Posted: 14/1/2011
Categories: Reviews / Life

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