Common Sense Note
Parents should know this movie is too violent and adult in its themes for young viewers. The movie is larded with plenty of car chases, aviation disasters, gunfire, and explosions. A mobster holds a character's head close to a restaurant grill, but doesn't cause injury. Evil-doers are killed off mainly by gunfire, with the exception of the two nastiest characters who are incinerated by an exploding rocketpack and a burning zeppelin. Lots of lingering shots of cleavage as the drugged heroine is revived and (unsuccessfully) seduced in the villain's bedroom; she escapes his lustful clutches by knocking him out cold with a vase. And there is some mild cussing and few racy period expressions kids aren't likely to recognize.
Families who watch this film might want to talk about action movies as a genre. What makes for a good action film? Are they limited in any way? What are the female characters often like? Is action more important than plot?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Ellen MacKay
Visually elegant and fitfully exciting, THE ROCKETEER suffers for its formulaic and occasionally vague plot.
Amid the beautifully rendered landscape of 1938 Los Angeles, wholesome Cliff (Bill Campbell), a talented pilot, has his hopes dashed when the plane he has spent three years developing is destroyed during its maiden voyage. When he discovers a rocket pack stowed away in the local hangar, he thinks he has found a way to salvage his flying career.
Instead, the FBI, the Mob, and a debonair Nazi all suddenly want what he's got. After some suspenseful chase sequences, Cliff discovers that his new toy is actually America's attempt to catch up to the German war machine. He transforms himself into a jet-powered superhero and saves the world and his girl in the final showdown.
As a Nazi-themed action-adventure,The Rocketeer can't help but bring to mind the funnier and more exciting Indiana Jones series. But if it doesn't succeed as well as Raiders of the Lost Ark, it is, nonetheless, an enjoyable movie that takes some unexpected jabs at old Hollywood. Amusing performances parody the acting styles of depression-era Saturday matinee serials. The bulk of this comic relief is supplied by Neville Sinclair (Timothy Dalton), a swashbuckling movie star and Nazi agent who oozes villainous charm. Jenny (Jennifer Connelly), the aspiring starlet and love interest, is less lively than this brand of heroine can be. More winning are Cliff and his aw-shucks brand of American charm.
Kids will thrill as Cliff rockets to superhero status. Not as well realized is the mobster subplot. It ends with the unconvincing conversion of these murderous thugs into American patriots, eager (in pre-war 1938, no less) to quash the Nazi threat. For the viewer who is more interested in the stylish elegance of film noir than the sci-fi fantasy land of the higher tech Men in Black-type movie, The Rocketeer does offer a compelling, if hokey, story told against a gorgeous backdrop.
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Sexual ContentLots of lingering shots of cleavage as the drugged heroine is revived and (unsuccessfully) seduced in the villain's bedroom; she escapes his lustful clutches by knocking him out cold with a vase. |
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ViolencePlenty of car chases, aviation disasters, gunfire, and explosions. A mobster holds a character's head close to a restaurant grill, but doesn't cause injury. Evildoers are killed off mainly by gunfire, with the exception of the two nastiest characters who are incinerated by an exploding rocketpack and a burning zeppelin. |
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LanguageMild. Also some slightly racy period expressions that kids won't understand. |
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