The Rocketeer Reviews

Joe Johnston clearly loved the serial adventure stories of the 30s-50s. He also clearly loved the daredevil adventure films of Errol Flynn. While The Rocketeer is an open-hearted tribute to both of these things, it manages to goof up its hero, substituting the rascals of Flynn or the tough-but-square types that populated serials with a bland leading man. Still, The Rocketeer manages to leave a lasting impression of a sweet-natured, thrilling spectacle thanks in no small part to Johnston’s clear devotion to his inspirations.

Based on the comics of Dave Stevens, itself a hodgepodge of influences thrown together into a delightful concoction, the film version captures much of that tone, even if it does lose some of the character along the way. Mainly, Cliff Secord, our Rocketeer, is a bit on the stiff and bland side. Is it that Billy Campbell’s performance is too stiff, or is it that some of the more unique and dynamic aspects of the character got a little lost in the editing room? Stevens claims the latter, and I’m inclined to believe him. Campbell’s good looks and awe-shucks persona feel right for the era and character, so something must have been lost in post-production.

It was probably interference from Disney, they wanted toys and merchandise after seeing the mountains of money and critical prestige that Tim Burton’s Batman and Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy amassed. Unfortunately for them, the film bombed. But sometimes works have curiously long lives after-the-fact. The Rocketeer is now embraced as a cult-film, and it deserves it. Despite the probable studio tinkering, the film glows with the warmth and humor of a retro-action/adventure film.

It was so nice coming into this film’s many and various action scenes and watching as they visibly displayed the spatial relations between characters and objects with clarity. I don’t know why modern blockbusters have fallen into such kinetic frenzy of blurred spatial relations and frantic editing, but being able to tell what was going on in The Rocketeer was admirable and endearing. It was also refreshingly lower-stakes in the big climax. Think of how many comic book films descend into a third-act which is nothing but mass destruction, rubble raining down from the sky, and the fate of the world resting on this battle.

All Cliff needs to do is stop the Nazi spy movie star from getting away. Aiding him along the way are Howard Hughes, a fatherly figure mechanic, his plucky girlfriend (who is blessedly not a damsel-in-distress), members of the Italian mafia, and the FBI. It’s a colorful group of supporting players, and it’s populated by an equally colorful group of character actors. Paul Sorvino is the head of the mafia, Terry O’Quinn is Howard Hughes, Alan Arkin as the fatherly mechanic, and Jennifer Connelly looks era perfect as the girlfriend.

Towering over all of them is Timothy Dalton’s work as the truly hissable villain Neville Sinclair. Patterned after Errol Flynn and a secret Nazi spy, Sinclair is the type of deliciously hammy villain that actors dream of playing. He runs circles around the hero in who’s a more memorable character, and Dalton plays him up with élan. Making the casting choice even better is knowing that Dalton was the James Bond of this particular time frame.

The Rocketeer is pure charm, and a quiet reminder of how homespun some of the earlier comic book movies could be before the template became hardened. Shame that they couldn’t get the formula right between story pacing, action scenes, and character development, often times leaning too hard on one or another. What emerges is a likable and endearing cult film, and one wonders what could have been if the intended franchise had taken off. Pity it didn’t. I’d love to visit this bunch of characters and their world once more.

"Peevy, you'd pay to see a man fly, wouldn't you?"

Before comic book adaptations became a dime a dozen in the 21st Century, such ventures were risky gambles for studios. Although 1978's Superman and Tim Burton's Batman were massive money-makers, other endeavours were less successful at the box office. One such financial flop was 1991's The Rocketeer, a Disney-produced adaptation of the series of graphic novels by Dave Stevens. Best described as Iron Man meets Captain America by way of Indiana Jones, it's easy to fall in love with this gem, as its sense of sincerity and spirit remains completely enchanting all these years on. With director Joe Johnston embracing the serial tone of the source material, The Rocketeer is a delightfully-assembled superhero feature, a robust demonstration of how to properly adapt a comic for the big screen.

Set in 1938, ambitious pilot Cliff Secord (Billy Campbell) and his loyal mechanic Peevy (Alan Arkin) seek to make it big in aerial racing, but their prized plane is destroyed. In the aftermath, the boys discover a stolen jetpack designed by Howard Hughes (Terry O'Quinn), and decide to use it for personal gain rather than returning it to the government. Before long, Secord straps on the jetpack, becoming a high-flying superhero known to the public as The Rocketeer. However, there are others who want the rocket - not only the government, but also a group of mobsters working for dashing Hollywood movie star Neville Sinclair (Timothy Dalton). Secord's actress girlfriend Jenny (Jennifer Connelly) also becomes unwittingly involved.

Luckily, the years have been extremely kind to The Rocketeer - it has lost none of its appeal over the past few decades. The movie's detractors often claim that nostalgia plays a large part in anyone's enjoyment of it, but I watched the movie for the first time as a 23-year-old, and found it enrapturing. The Rocketeer works because it's not an idiotic special effects demo reel, but rather a proper movie, with a fully-fleshed narrative which permits room for dramatic growth and character development. Sure, there's not much depth at play here or anything, but it excels in the areas which matter the most.

Johnston worked behind the scenes on Raiders of the Lost Ark, and was visibly aiming for an Indiana Jones vibe here. He also doesn't baulk from firearms or shootouts, and such sequences have genuine punch (as opposed to the PG-13 shite of today). Some of the grisly deaths are a bit unexpected since this is a Disney movie, but The Rocketeer was produced in the 1990s, back before the studio's over-the-top political correctness resulted in live-action movies like John Carter and Old Dogs. But although it's hard-edged, The Rocketeer knows how to have fun, and a "dark and gritty" take on the source material would be utterly boring. Johnston maintains a sugary matinee vibe that's thoroughly infectious, and there's a smattering of intentional cheese which helps to make the movie so damn entertaining. Johnston also embraces several staples of old-school Hollywood - there are gangsters, Tommy guns, moustache-twirling villains, feds, and even Nazis.

Disney wound up spending more money than expected on the flick, and every cent appears on-screen, with lavish production values and stylish visuals, not to mention competent filmmaking right down the line. When Cliff straps on the jetpack, The Rocketeer undeniably roars to life - the solid direction coupled with James Horner's hugely flavoursome score provokes goosebumps with seemingly little effort. These are the types of action sequences which make you stand up and cheer with a big dumb grin on your face, and they're every bit as entertaining today as they were over twenty years ago. Although ILM's special effects look a tad dated at times, it hardly matters. And besides, the old-school effects contribute to the film's retro charm. However, the lack of action is a bit disappointing. There's a lot of build-up as Cliff gets accustomed to his flaming backpack, but the heroic payoff is rather minuscule. The picture does work on its own terms, but more scenes of confident rocketeeting would've made for a more satisfying experience.

As Cliff, the little-known Billy Campbell was always an odd choice, but he nails it, showing he had the chops to become an A-list star. Campbell comes across as a sweet guy, but he also has a rougher side to him, and looks believable as he throws punches and flies around with the jetpack. As the token love interest, Connelly is drool-worthy eye candy. She was only 20 years old at the time of filming, and looks absolutely gorgeous, not to mention she has talent to boot. Added to this, Connelly looks every bit like a '30s-era starlet, making her an ideal pick for the role. Also great is former 007 Timothy Dalton, who's pitch-perfect as the arrogant Errol Flynn-esque star, while also succeeding as a moustache-twirling bad guy. It's a hammy performance and his German accent is questionable, but Dalton fits in with the tone of the enterprise beautifully. In the supporting cast, Arkin is terrific, while the likes of Terry O'Quinn and Paul Sorvino make a great impression.

Disney wanted The Rocketeer to become a franchise, but it barely recouped its production costs at the box office and sequel plans were killed, much to the disappointment of many. Ultimately, severe mismarketing is to blame for The Rocketeer's humiliating box office death, as the House of Mouse portrayed the picture as too much of a kiddie fare. The widely used one-sheet poster was beautifully retro but niche, and even the Blu-ray cover art makes the movie out to be far softer than it is. Indeed, Disney's marketing needed to emphasise the material's harder edge to make it an easier sell for the adults. Since the lack of jetpack action is perhaps the movie's only disappointment, it's a true cinematic crime that the planned trilogy never came to pass. It's particularly deflating since the movie would lead directly into a sequel, and you walk away wanting to spend more time with these characters. Nevertheless, it's at least comforting to know that we'll always have this 1991 gem in our video libraries for many years to come.

8.1/10

I don't get it... No disrespect but when you have Superman, Spider-man, Batman or the X-men why would you bother with the Rocketeer to make a comic-book adaptation ?!? Even though, nowadays, super-heroes are immensely popular and big business in the box-office, they actually made some of those also in the 90's but they always flopped. Somehow, instead of focusing on the popular characters I mentioned before, they preferred to make movies with Spawn, Judge Dredd, the Shadow or the Phantom. Again, I have nothing against those guys but since the mainstream audience is not familiar with those, unless you make a really amazing flick, there is a pretty good chance they will flop (which happened in all those cases). Anyway, Roger Ebert loved this movie but I was just bored during the whole thing. I guess I wasn't the only one because after this introduction to the Rocketeer, he never came back... It is one of the very few times I really disagree with the great Roger but I guess we don’t have to agree every time around. According to him, it was a great depiction of that time period, a fun and goofy action flick. Personally, I thought it was seriously tedious. Even the lovely Jennifer Connelly didn't manage to make it more interesting but since she was just the love interest, I couldn't expect much from her. To conclude, it is a really rather average flick and it is not really worth a look, even if you love the genre.

Good comic book movies are still the exception and this movie is one of those exceptions. I never read the comics so I don't know how literally faithful it is, but in spirit it's as faithful an adaption as you could have hoped. It's as much an homage to the time as it is the the pulp movies/fictions of the time. The art-deco mini movie poster is a classic, too.

All the actors do a bang up job, with Jennifer Connelly standing out as a Betty Page look alike and Timothy Dalton as Erroll Flynn in everything but name. Also, any movie that references Rondo Hatton deserves a viewing.

The special effects still hold up nicely (the movie will be 20 years old in a couple of years!). Definitely in the top ten of comic book/superhero movies.