Review of The Rocketeer (1991) by Seth S — 29 Sep 2013

The Rocketeer opens very well, creating a mix of stylish pulp sepia film mixed with bright aesthetic colours to create a nostalgic and classical gangster feel simultaneously, setting The Rocketeer up to be an interesting addition to the superhero genre.

It also works to set its classical gangster feel by casting Jon Polito, the excellent acting who created an Academy Award worthy character in the masterful gangster piece. His performance is routine, and routinely great, and so The Rocketeer is immediately nothing short of succeeding as a gangster film, and it does.

And for the right viewers, a sense of nostalgia is conveyed by the casting of Jennifer Connelly. As she made her film debut in Sergio Leone's masterful gangster epic Once Upon a Time in America, seeing her in another gangster film, albeit only part gangster, emits a sense of nostalgia to the right viewer of her cinematic past.

And there's a flood of nostalgia for anyone whose a fan of Flash Gordon to see Timothy Dalton returning to the role of a villain for a science fiction film, and he uses his ability of manipulation as an actor to perform trickery for the benefit of The Rocketeer. He's a charismatic villain, and it's great to see him using his wit and charm again.

Alan Arkin was also fun to have on board as he provided a sense of comedic wisdom to the story and supported the characters and theme of the titular Rocketeer with well developed skill.

And lastly, the leading man himself, Billy Campbell fits the criteria for the titular Rocketeer perfectly because he captures the determination of Cliff Secord and an understanding of his functioning during the more comedic moments as well so that the classical serial feel of this cheesy science fiction superhero joint is fun yet serious, and so his performance is constantly relevant to the situation and greatly befitting to the role of The Rocketeer.

So lined up with a good cast, The Rocketeer is set up to succeed. And to an extent, it does.

This is also because of the colourful production design and strong cartoonish feel which makes it a fun journey which has some good action but never becomes excessive with it and renders it to be appropriate fun for all ages and entertaining in such a fun and silly yet serious manner.

The costumes and locations are good and give the story the colour needed, and the cinematography, editing and visual effects are all good, although the visual effects could have been better for a film with such a budget. But it's used for some entertaining sequences and good action, so it's obvious that the budget is not wasted, and so Joe Johnston's debut into the superhero genre is patriotic and entertaining.

Unfortunately, in an attempt to be both a gangster film and superhero film, The Rocketeer fails to find a balance, therefore not taking advantage of its high concept plot by leaning more into a family friendly section of cinema for the majority of its running time. This makes it feature very inconsistent action with little climactic action until the films final scene, while just showing off technology until that point, as in shots of The Rocketeer or just his jet pack flying over rural locations for a short time period. It doesn't become just what you'd hope for until it's climactic and action packed final scene in which the fun really skyrockets, but until then it's boring for a film with such a concept to its relevance. Basically, the pacing is inconsistent, and therefore so is the entertainment value.

But overall, The Rocketeer is a fun success with some wit, some charm, and some fun action, even though it's scattered.