Marvel
Joe Marvel is a night janitor at a corporate building in
downtown Minneapolis/St. Paul. Joe's life is a lousy life.
He wakes up, goes to work, eats, goes to bed, and so on. He
lives with his three nephews, all classified as juvenile
delinquents forced to live with their supposedly well-off,
tough uncle. The kids respect him, but they can't stay out
of trouble. He lives in suburban Minneapolis/St. Paul. The building Joe works at is Technology Empire on the
brink of discovering the key to enhance human performance,
but the project is under raps. Joe is only the janitor, but
one unlucky night, he is attacked, and after an attempted
struggle, rendered unconscious.
The next morning he wakes up
in his own bed, his window open and with a hand over (or at
least he thinks so). His nephews seem to think he buffer and
looks as good as ever, yet he feels horrible. As the day
goes on, Joe lies around the house, mopping, hoping for
something to do. Finally, he decides to go for a bike ride.
As he rides he begins to go down a hill at too fast a speed,
so he applies the brakes, only to fly off the bike and skid
head first down the hill. As he gets up, his face all bloody
yet not bruised, he notices that he has overturned the
asphalt on the hill, as if he dug his own dredge in the
road.
He returns home pondering what just happened to him. He
tells his nephews; they check out the hill, and come up with
this wild idea that their uncle has superhuman strength.
They go through several tests, such a breaking stuff,
flight, lifting heavy objects, and even telekinesis, and of
which he succeeds. One test also involves lifting a sunken
ship of the Lake Michigan. The next day a bank is being
robbed, yet Joe refuses to intervene, much to his nephews'
chagrin. Eventually they make a deal that the nephews must
wash the dishes and laundry for an entire month, and Joe
jumps his way to downtown Minneapolis to kick ass.
During this scene, Joe also meets the antagonist: an
invisible antagonist. (Later on, Joe discovers the invisible
villain is the president of the company he cleans for; a
CEO, and a jerk. Joe also discovers he was chosen at random
from the company staff to be a counterbalance in the
equation of human strength enhancement. The CEO was the
other end of the equation.) They both have unique powers,
none of which are the same, and they must get rid of each
other; mostly by battling throughout the Twin Cities. Joe
even finds a love interest in a sassy journalist, though he
isn't as warm to her as she is to him.
The ending: Obviously, Joe will prevail, but does he kill
the villain? Does he lose all his powers? Or does he keep
them and finally accept them as gift and not a curse? And
does he fall in love?
Cast:
Joe: a funny, yet off-beat type (Johnny Depp, Hugh Grant)
British CEO: Gary Oldman, Christopher Walken
Journalist: love interest - Kate Hudson, Jennifer Aniston,
Sandra Bullock
Nephews: maybe one of those boys from "Cheaper By the
Dozen".
This idea is an homage/throwback to the comic book genre
using all the usual clichιs, yet keeping the feeling of
original and innovative. Much like Kill Bill is to spaghetti
westerns and kung-fu films. It would be in the
comedy/superhero genre, though the themes would be dark and
not for all ages. Rating: PG-13. It would have more of an
independent feel to it.
-- Script Pitch III Co-Host Commentary
--
by Stephen Lucas
Stephen's Analysis:
While I admire the name of this film, because of the
film it captures, I think that the pitch may need to be
reworked a bit. While reading it I was compelled to remember
films "Unbreakable" and "Spiderman 2," two different movies
for almost the same reason. Both are about men with
superhuman strength and whom are coming to terms with that
power.
"Marvel" seems to carry those themes. I think that
this would make a good film for families or even pre-teens,
but in terms of adult appeal, its limited. If that
demographic would like to be reached, I would suggest a more
mellow approach, like the one taken in "Unbreakable." As of
now, "Marvel" seems very straightforward and "big."
Rating: C
