Scratching underneath the surface of modern, live-action dreck Disney now offers, it is only with nostalgia goggles the size of jam jars that the likes of The Rocketeer can be enjoyed. That is a good thing. Taking to the skies with a jetpack-clad pilot with a heart of gold and a penchant for gunfights is impressive, fun and broadly likeable, if a bit sickly. Still, anything with Timothy Dalton and Alan Arkin in supporting roles is bound to draw some attention, and rightly so. Murderous, family-friendly features that had a bit of an edge to them, that edge being gunfights and fallouts, fascinating jetpack rides and legitimate fun. That much features in this forgettable Joe Johnston feature, although his shtick of family-friendly entertainment has lasted far longer than his contemporaries could hope for.
That does come from being the mastermind behind the likes of Jumanji and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, bedfellows of early-afternoon television on weekends that feel dry, warm and boring. They are placeholder films for the UK public, and The Rocketeer has not managed the same success. It has also not managed to give itself the respectable, untapped market that Treasure Planet or those other mid-to-late 90s animated features have acclimatised to. The Rocketeer is just plain solid, neither harmless nor invigorating. It is also pumped full of the action and storytelling abilities that are usually catering to those that enjoyed those heavier, animated features. Clunky storytelling is made up for by the period piece setting and nicely-built designs that surround it.
But with the hammy lead performances and the terribly Indiana Jones-like back and forth, but without the warmth or intrigue of such adventures, The Rocketeer begins to stumble. Howard Hughes-clad storylines for a Disney feature are rather strange, but they do provide a layer of exceptionalism. It is the Richie Rich appeal and feel, of the camerawork, of the qualities found throughout and also the many shortcomings that flow through it. Dalton’s caricature is an absolutely passable villain that, again, has all the remnants of a leftover piece of the Indiana Jones puzzle. Even then, it gets away with that blasé style of the early-1990s, where death and destruction are pretty much part and parcel of a stock standard romantic feature that sees Jennifer Connelly and Billy Campbell chew at the scenery.
But for all those horrifying moments of people being blown to smithereens and daring escapes, the attempt at capturing a pre-war caricature comes with a notable slate of downsides. The Rocketeer manages to flex its budget, and showcase some big thrills but it amounts to relatively placid moments. It is the happy ending, the slow pan out as people gather around a new plane that represents the starting pistol that fired off this story, that feels most empty of all. Its pulpy action feel is buried underneath the loose charms and intermittent spats of a B-Movie feel. Bruce Campbell could have easily starred as Cliff Secord. There are only a few letters between Bruce and Billy. Make the change, and The Rocketeer becomes a different, self-mocking beast. No chances of that with this iteration though, a completely fine piece that does little more than exist.
