The Rocketeer is a surprisingly good action/adventure film with wonderful pulp nostalgia. The film is based on an old comic book character and that's exactly how it feels, in the best possible way. It simply just reeks that old American nostalgia where men were men and woman had enough sass and spunk to power whole steamboats.
For me it's the characters that make this film. Timothy Dalton plays the perfect guile villain, Neville Sinclair, the most charismatically slimy Hollywood lead actor of all time. Every time he flashed that billion dollar toothpaste smile of his, you just want to punch the guy, while hiding your girlfriend and shaking his hand. In a sense, a villain you love to hate and hate to love. Wonderful role performance, easily the best in the whole film.
I was also pleasantly surprised by the side characters. Alan Arkin's Peevy Peabody is what I would imagine a poor and more down to earth Tony Stark to be like. A genius engineer, yet his presence fills the screen and when he starts talking, you stop and listen. The same with Jennifer Connelly's Jenny Blake, but in a whole different way. I can see why Neville falls for the girl instantly, and not just because she has some information that he wants. I mean that face and that smile... Good heavens.
Unfortunately pretty much the only character that did very little to me is the main character, The Rocketeer himself, played by Billy Campbell. He has this whole nice neighborhood guy thing going for him, but it's a bit too nice, if you follow. The man leaves very small impression and isn't quite identifiable or unique enough to stand apart from other adventure stock characters just like him.
But luckily the rest of the cast and the rest of the movie as a whole are more than capable to keep your interests raised and to provide you with a charming adventure with surprisingly decent special effects for their time, some great action sequences and that whole early 20th century charisma. If you like pulp settings, great adventure films and charismatic actors, this is definitely a film worth checking out.
For me it's the characters that make this film. Timothy Dalton plays the perfect guile villain, Neville Sinclair, the most charismatically slimy Hollywood lead actor of all time. Every time he flashed that billion dollar toothpaste smile of his, you just want to punch the guy, while hiding your girlfriend and shaking his hand. In a sense, a villain you love to hate and hate to love. Wonderful role performance, easily the best in the whole film.
I was also pleasantly surprised by the side characters. Alan Arkin's Peevy Peabody is what I would imagine a poor and more down to earth Tony Stark to be like. A genius engineer, yet his presence fills the screen and when he starts talking, you stop and listen. The same with Jennifer Connelly's Jenny Blake, but in a whole different way. I can see why Neville falls for the girl instantly, and not just because she has some information that he wants. I mean that face and that smile... Good heavens.
Unfortunately pretty much the only character that did very little to me is the main character, The Rocketeer himself, played by Billy Campbell. He has this whole nice neighborhood guy thing going for him, but it's a bit too nice, if you follow. The man leaves very small impression and isn't quite identifiable or unique enough to stand apart from other adventure stock characters just like him.
But luckily the rest of the cast and the rest of the movie as a whole are more than capable to keep your interests raised and to provide you with a charming adventure with surprisingly decent special effects for their time, some great action sequences and that whole early 20th century charisma. If you like pulp settings, great adventure films and charismatic actors, this is definitely a film worth checking out.