The Rocketeer (PG, 1991)

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.

Visually elegant and fitfully exciting, THE ROCKETEER suffers for its formulaic and occasionally vague plot. As a Nazi-themed action-adventure, the film can't help but bring to mind the funnier and more exciting Raiders of the Lost Ark. While not on par with Raiders, 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. As a swashbuckling movie star and Nazi agent, Timothy Dalton oozes villainous charm, but Jennifer Connelly as 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.