An excerpt from my script review for the 2015 unproduced Gambit script which will be available 08/08/24:
2.) Plot Stability
Okay, so here’s a little background from SK’s review of the Gambit script…
Gambit was one of a handful of X-Men related projects that Fox announced not long after the release of X-Men: Days of Future Past, with Channing Tatum attached to star. It went through at least three directors, several writers, and many, many delays, before finally getting put out of its misery by Disney after their purchase of Fox finally went through in 2019. This draft specifically is one of the earlier iterations, headed up by director Rupert Wyatt, who would eventually pull out, and years later cited the reason as Fox getting cold feet over the budget after the Fantastic Four reboot flopped.
That’s not great when re-pitching a project…
My issue with this script, having read X-Men and Gambit comics in the past, is it didn’t feel true to the character.
(One of the things that probably helped SK like it for his review.)
First and foremost were his cards. In the script he has a lucky Tarot card deck that he charges and throws.
As far as I’ve ever known it’s only playing cards, Aces being his go to.
Second, his dad’s name was Jean-Luc LeBeau, not Luke, and on top of that he was the head of the New Orleans Thieves Guild, something that was more like royalty than the ragtag bunch of petty crooks we’re presented here.
(Like Remy, the Thieves in the guild were people wanted to be with, if not be themselves.)
Lastly, and this was a good start for a solo film, he did marry Bella Donna, merging the Thieves and Assassins Guilds for a short time, until he killed his brother-in-law in self defense, and was forced to leave New Orleans as punishment.
Or something along those lines…
(We’ll talk about it more in the next section, but the script seems to confuse whether Julian is Bella’s brother or cousin.)
So one of the issue for me, in addition to the whole generic “heist” plot, is that there wasn’t enough in this to make it feel original.
That’s why so many folks were excited to see Gambit in Deadpool & Wolverine, because not only did it deliver on the dashed dream Channing Tatum had, but we got to see Gambit use his powers in live action which hasn’t been done to date.
Put it this way…
The Youngest and I watched X-Men ’97 together, and SPOILER, Gambit sacrifices himself this season. My daughter was sobbing with how noble it all was, and she knew nothing of Gambit before we started.
(I tricked her into watching by saying we’d only watch the super cool intro, but she was hooked 5 minutes in.)
Now fast forward a few months, and we’re in the theater watching Deadpool & Wolverine and the scene pops up where you only see fingers and a playing card spinning in the air…she tugged my arm and whispered, “Dad!” with pure excitement.
She knew exactly who it was going to be and was happy to see him alive in a movie she was already enjoying.
That’s the kind of heart this story deserves, and right now this script ain’t got it.
What I did like…
The opening.
I enjoyed seeing the world deal with Remy as a prisoner. Everything and anything is a weapon given his powers, so it was cool to see the guards take this seriously and adds mystery for the audience that aren’t familiar with him.
And the female jury members. Remy was the mutant version of Doc Holliday without tuberculosis, and women were generally smitten by him.
The tie-ins to other Marvel films.
This is set in the 1980s, so connections like Future Past are made in this world which is good. It is an X-Men story after all.
Similar to that, there’s a tie-in to the Apocalypse film, mentioning that Magneto messed up the poles, so now New Orleans is flooded.
Something like this is good, but you need to stay consistent with it. In the script, you’ll have areas that are devastated and underwater, while other times Mardi Gras is in full swing like nothing happened.
The script tries to reference this by saying the French Quarter is still intact, but it must be more consistent.
(Think back to after Katrina. People weren’t “earning beads” on Bourbon Street while dead bodies were still floating in the stagnant water.)
What I didn’t care for…
In terms of plot?
The main issue was the convoluted heist story.
It’s almost like a heist before a heist within a heist.
Think of the lackluster Ocean’s 12, and you’re on the right track, except in this one it was all too easy and Gambit himself never seemed to be in any real danger.
After that, I didn’t care for all the flash forwards in time.
You want to do a New Orleans origin story? Fine, but we don’t need The Wonder Years of Remy going through life.
Pick a point in time where he and Bella are together and then have it go horribly wrong.
Then you can have one flash forward to the present story.
Anything more and we’re getting jarred through time and space, and not in a fun Wolverine montage kind of way.
Closing out this section…
I very much hope Tatum is able to capitalize on the Gambit cameo from the newest Deadpool film.
But I hope he and his team take the time to present the character in a film fans and general audiences want to see.
What this project needs is heart.
Similar to the character of Deadpool, we want the Gambit from Deadpool & Wolverine, not the Gambit from Wolverine: Origins.
(And if, along the journey, you get discouraged or begin to doubt yourselves, remember…Fox didn’t want to make Deadpool initially either.)
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