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Jules Verne. One of the most
influential science fiction writers of all time from Journey to the
Center of the Earth to Around the World in Eighty Days. Note, both of
these books already exist as films.
{sidebar id=1}Which brings us to another Verne novel,
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Adapted to film in 1954 via Walt Disney
Pictures, the story is set for another go around with the Mouse
studio and director McG (hot off of Terminator Salvation).
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain
NEMO is next on McG's plate and IESB has got the scoop on the story!
Is it canon to the novel? Influenced at
all by the 1954 Disney film? Find out below in IESB's exclusive
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain NEMO Story Details!
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain
Nemo scripted by Bill Marsilli Second Draft 121
pages long dated May 24, 2008.
Oh and by the way, McG wants Will Smith for this thing? I don't see it.
Let it begin...
The film opens with CAPTAIN NEMO having
a dream. He's naked with fish swirling all around him. (Ok, we'll
see if this actually makes it into the film)
NEMO awakens, his ship is headed into
Mumbai Harbor circa 1850. He is welcomed by DAKKAR and a poorly
playing band. DAKKAR quickly extends his deepest sympathies about the
recent death of NEMO'S mother but instead of taking him to the grave
as NEMO wishes, DAKKAR is under orders to take him to the governor's
office immediately, something that NEMO isn't happy with.
NEMO and DAKKAR board a train, three
spies jump into the last car without notice.
NEMO is taken the the GOVERNOR
GENERAL'S office. The general is appalled that NEMO isn't in uniform.
We quickly find out that the general is actually NEMO's father.
After a confrontational conversation,
NEMO must take his post in Her Majesty's service as his father has
commanded. NEMO is unhappy at the treatment of the Indian people and
his father's insistence.
As NEMO supervises the artillery
drills. We see the three spies from earlier have infiltrated the army
and are in full uniform with rifles.
NEMO senses something is wrong. He uses an
elephant to get a lift to the top of the fortress wall and sees
hundreds of Indian insurgent soldiers ready to invade the fortress. He
sounds the alarm.
Chaos ensues as the soldiers open fire
on NEMO and the soldiers inside the fortress turn and fire on the
English officers and on each other.
Lots of fighting, explosions, deaths
and narrow escapes follow.
Suddenly a horse riding soldier
appears, the scarf falls away to reveal a woman, her name is RANI.
She rides like a warrior and heads down the hall full speed with the
reigns in her teeth, a sword in one hand and a pistol in the other.
NEMO quickly rides his horse to cut her
off at a pass. They collide and a horseback swordfight is on between
the two. NEMO is shot in the arm.
The description of the swordfight is so
full of sexual connotations and wild passion as these two have more
of a sword tryst than a swordfight. It's bit too Zorro
Catherine Zeta Jones versus Antonio Banderas for me.
After being close enough to kiss, she
headbutts NEMO and leaves him staring down the barrel of her pistol.
She motions him to move, he is up against a giant aquarium full of
exotic fish. He won't move, she leaps to get her sword instead, he
jumps and slides. She pulls out her sword, he pulls a book to stop
her and of course its the Kama Sutra and it opens to a descriptive
drawing. See what I mean, laced with sexual innuendo. Anyway, he ends
up punching her, they fight some more.
Plot, plot, plot and we find out the
rebellion was to free India from British rule. RANI is part of the
rebellion obviously.
NEMO finds out he knew her before as well when she was a
servant girl when they were little. But that's besides the point.
They overhear that the rebellion was crushed save for the Jhansi fort
where after being promised safe passage all the British men, women
and children were slaughtered. NEMO and Rani are devastated by the
news. Rani slips away. NEMO goes to see his father who was wounded in
the fight and was the target of the rebellion.
Cut to NEMO standing over his mother's
grave. We find Rani watching him, they agree to meet in a more secret
place.
Both swim to an island from opposite
ends, meet and talk on the shore while eating pomegranates.
Montage begins, we see Rani and NEMO
have been seeing each other secretly...music overlayed of course.
Honestly, I am getting the Captain NEMO
meets High School Musical vibe here mixed in with The Mask of Zorro.
There are several scenes that cut back
and forth between NEMO getting orders and fighting rebels during the
day and him and Rani having a contest underwater over who can hold
their breath the longest.
Rani tries her hardest to win but soon
passes out, NEMO grabs her and they both head for the water's
surface, she is coughing. He drags her to shore and hold her in his
arms...love, passion and all that jazz.
Seriously, this is more of a Harlequin
novel rather than 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea!
The two get married secretly and leave
India to travel the world.
Cut to however long later, NEMO is on a
steamship in the middle of a storm, his wife and their infant son at
his side.
A wave hits, the captain of the
steamship (not NEMO) is washed overboard.
Cut to the next morning, the storm has
subsided, the crew is struggling to figure out where they are, the
compass is spinning. Rani points...they've discovered VULCANIA
ISLAND!
They dock and find a mining facility
along with some fresh graves.
NEMO discovers a room that's boarded up
with the door nailed from the outside, he hears scratching. They
break down the door and a man, almost a skeleton, falls out onto the
floor. They pear into the room to find it full of dead bodies,
contorted in all different positions covered in strange burns.
The crew assumes it's a plague colony
they have discovered and run in fear.
The skeletal name dies in NEMO's arms.
Cut to a montage of NEMO figuring out
Vulcania's secrets...overlayed with music of course...again.
Cut to NEMO, Rani and son on steamship
deck again docking at Mumbai Harbor back in India, the place they
fled. NEMO says he's come back with a discovery we aren't sure
what this is, something he learned on the island how to create
power for free. He plans to share his discovery with the world.
He summons his father, the General, to
see what he's discovered. The General says it belongs to the Queen,
NEMO refuses and says he plans to share it with the rebels and the
world.
BONNEVILLE, the General's right hand
man, says NEMO has already shared it and stabs the General in the
back. He yells for the guards and blames NEMO for the killing.
The lake miraculously bubbles up into a
fog, just enough for NEMO to jump on his father's horse and escape.
He heads to the palace, finds Rani and the baby and tells her of
BONNEVILLE'S betrayal.
He tells her to flee with the child as
they will all be killed if found. After she leaves, DAKKAR enters the
room, NEMO assumes he's there to help but he pulls a gun on him and
shoots NEMO in the chest. The bullet pierces through NEMO and hits
the giant fish aquarium. NEMO falls to the ground, the aquarium
shatters and waters spills out everywhere.
Cut to NEMO hung by his wrists,
bandaged, breathing raggedly. BONNEVILLE is interrogating him. He
tells his men to find NEMO's wife and child and that is how they will
break him.
NEMO is soon sold into slavery. He
meets an American DR. CAHILL.
DAKKAR is out hunting for RANI and the
child. He finds her during a battle and captures her and the baby.
Guards throw her hair and tell him his
wife and son are dead. He cries uncontrollably.
Cut to his dream, the same one that
opened the film, nakes NEMO with fish swirling around him underwater.
This time RANI is there with him. The images in his mind turn into
diagrams and drawings of a whale's ribcage then an underwater vessel.
He is awakened by his name being yelled
by a guard. The guard stabs him in the side with no reaction, NEMO
has receded into his mind. As he's dragged out into the open he does
take notice of a few things and figures out a plan of escape.
He is dragged out to where the other
prisoners are held and left for dead as an example. The guards leave
but NEMO does the unimaginable. He gathers all his strength, takes a
deep breath and stands up. He tells the others to listen to him if
they want to live.
Time passes, the guards return, NEMO is
back in the position they left him in and assume he's dead.
Obviously not, and he proceeds to
escape and take everyone with him.
At the end, he gives a rousing
Braveheart slash Bill Pullman Independence Day inspired speech to the
prisoners he's freed. Cahill stands with him along with the men.
Cut to the rebels. We find out RANI and
the baby are truly dead. But they conceive a plan to convince NEMO
they are still alive as leverage against him. They are also
constructing a huge super ship the VIRAGO.
NEMO and the men head to VULCANIA
ISLAND to start construction on the NAUTILUS.
Another montage...I swear there are
more montages in here than The Breakfast Club!
The NAUTILUS is complete.
Just so you understand the, not to be
mean but immaturity of this script let me break down the launching of
the famous Captain NEMO ship NAUTILUS, it goes something like this -
NEMO breaks a champagne bottle to celebrate... the NAUTILUS is
launched to sea...cut to the men cheering...cut to the NAUTILUS as it
sinks...cut to the men with jaws dropped dumbstruck...cut to the
NAUTILUS as it pops back out of the water....cut back to the men
cheering. Whew! A close one!
Wow....
The mean board the skiff to get on
board the mighty ship. The nuclear reactor is live. It's a jolly,
good time all around.
They traverse the underwater grotto and
encounter a giant sea monster in the form of a spider crab, Battle,
battle battle, war ship, war ship, war ship, collision after
collision and so on.
NEMO soon tells Cahill and others of
his plan to stay out at sea forever, exploring the depths of the
ocean....you see the foreshadowing here don'tcha.
BONNEVILLE sees the NAUTILUS and plans
to follow NEMO to his base to take it over and build his own version.
He tricks NEMO into thinking his wife and son are still alive by
planting a buoy in the water with a map with VULCANIA ISLAND circled
and her hair clip saying to find them there.
NEMO figures out a point at the straits
where all of BONEVILLE'S war ships will have to converge and plans an
attack.
The warships lauch torpedo like
explosives that cover the NAUTILUS in glowing paint so it can be seen
underwater.
The NAUTILUS rams several of the ships
underwater and rips the bellies apart.
BONNEVILLE and DAKKAR scan the ocean
for signs of the NAUTILUS. Suddenly it breaks the waters surface in
all its glory. They are alongside the VIRAGO as NEMO and his men
invade the other ship trying to disable their weapons.
Oh wait there's more, giant mutant
monster fish arrive to save the day biting the boats etc. ramming the
war ships.
BONNEVILLE and NEMO are fighting. NEMO
is stabbed by a dagger. He falls. The NAUTILUS is hit by a turret
gun. The men scurry back to NAUTILUS.
NEMO is trying to get back but is
plagued by the troubles of slow motion and flashbacks to his wife's
death. He jumps aboard just as it's pulling away from the VIRAGO.
Three war ships are left.
Through a series of explosions and hot
ocean steam acting as a cannon (don't ask) and a giant sinkhole that
swallows up a boat plus a volcanic eruption that creates a tidal
wave.
The NAUTILUS is underwater and quickly
surfaces, Cahill is thrown and is hurt. NEMO goes to his side, he is
bleeding heavily almost dead he is disappointed that NEMO killed
thousands of people leading them all to their death through war. He
dies in NEMO'S arms.
A part with a seal that climbs stairs
(I kid you not) follows, I won't go into detail here.
They give Cahill an underwater burial
and form a pact to keep the secret of the island, the free power from
nature, to themselves, a secret to their grave.
The NAUTILUS heads back to VULCANIA
ISLAND to dock and repair the ship.
Dissolve to find the NAUTILUS
completely repaired looking like a yellow eyed sea monster with
Captain NEMO at the helm!
THE END
I don't know about you guys but this
story is full of holes and needs as many repairs as the NAUTILUS
after it's last battle.
Did you have a hard time understanding a few parts? Don't worry, so did I. I found myself going back several times saying, "Wait, what?"
It's like a live action ALADDIN but with way
too many voice-overs and montages. I swear there must be like 10
montages in this thing! Plus all the character voice over tells me
one thing, the story is not being told properly if you need someone
to tell you what's going on.
Hopefully the story has changed
dramatically before it fell into the lap of McG, I can't see him seeing
anything potentially worthwhile out of this one.
Jules Verne is spinning in his grave
but not with all the colorful fish fluttering around him!
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