The love child of Elvira and Raul Julia.
On a side note, where's the Dr Doom film?Genre: Action (In the blockbuster sense of the word. There are also traces of drama, comedy, and leans a bit towards science fiction).
Premise: Dr. Strange is pretty much an origin story (before these were done) about how Dr. Strange got his costume and came to power. This sounds a lot cooler than it actually is. The actual story involves Strange’s affiliation with The Ancient One, which is one of those B-line Marvel stories that never took of because it’s boring.
About: Remember how all screenwriting teachers and books tell you to never use artwork in your scripts? This thing has a big, awesome drawing of Dr. Strange on the cover page. The script was written 1986 right after the success of Back to the Future, and was commissioned by Marvel. The Dr. Strange story went into development hell, and Dimension films almost did a version in 2001. This makes sense because The Dr. Strange story is not a terrible one, but it’s definitely not as irresistible as The Spiderman or X-Men films.
Writers: Bob Gale (who worked exclusively with Zemekis on all his projects for a long time including the Back to the Future series). Gale has become sort of a mega dork since then and has done on to write adaptations and panels for many comic book.
I had no idea how I was going to feel about this film. Gale is a hardcore, comic nerd who has an erratic (1941 to Back to the Future) output. And from the get go, this script reads like a very esoteric adaptation of a comic legend. But, as the script moves along it becomes a pretty solid little script, if lacking the thrills
The story is something like this: the power is unleashed thousands of years ago, Strange is set up as a smug surgeon yuppie, he’s in an accident that prevents the use of his hands, Strange spends a fortune trying to heal himself, Strange goes to Tibet to heal his hands, Strange becomes an apprentice, Strange attacks and kills his mentor’s enemy (Mordo).
My main problem, and I think inevitably the main problem with Dr. Strange is he’s a goofy looking character and he’s hard to relate to because inevitably, whether revealed or not, he’s not a good guy. I know they’re doing a Magneto origin story, but Magneto is somebody who has a sympathetic back story who sides against the x-men on a well grounded belief. But Strange? Well, he looks like a guy with a gas mask on. It’s not that the story fails, it’s actually okay but if I can’t side with the protagonist the story will always become much less enjoyable.
It also, feels like Gale doesn’t quite get how to make the audience sympathize with the film or embrace it. Characters talk in awfully, long convoluted ways that are hard to follow. Big chunks of dialogue. It kind of reminds me of Star Wars. And then, Gale also tries to re-introduce Strange’s love interest at the start of the 3rd Act, which is just way too late to bring anybody into the script we’re supposed to identify with. Many times, as a result, it feels as if Gale is just caught up in all this uber-nerd babble.
I think part of the reason why this project may have never panned out, and why the subsequent attempts to launch this title failed are that it’s very difficult to get behind Dr. Strange as he’s established. The story, like many Marvel B-grade pieces, doesn’t allow for a lot of human elements or development so while the action may be awesome and the story may be interesting, I’m not sure if a clear cut story like this would make a good film.
Scooby Doo (Complete Crap)
Atilla (Poor, Few Redeeming Qualities)
[X] - Wedding Crashers (Mediocre)
Hot Rod (Good)
Definitely Maybe (Pretty Darn Good
Isla Prospects: No. There’s a quasi-love interest for Dr. Strange, but I don’t really see this as a good Isla role.
What I Learned: The script opens with a 10 page sequence that takes place several thousand years ago and explains the untapped power Strange is about to tap into. It’s weird, easy to follow, and makes a good deal of sense. And just another reminder of how probably the only place in your script you can open up with an unrelated scene is the opening. So why not, when you can take the chance, craft a really creative opening?
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