The Rocketeer

In this comic book adaptation, chisel-faced pilot Cliff Secord (Campbell) discovers a rocket pack that enables him to zoom through the skies, only to find himself pursued by villains employed by film star Neville Sinclair (Dalton). Sinclair, a dastardly egomaniac, wants the rocket, but so do the Feds, since the Nazis are after it. Poor old Cliff can't tell the good guys from the bad. What's his actress girlfriend Jenny (Connelly) to do? Her man isn't earthbound long enough to finish a date. The late '30s are beautifully evoked, Hiro Narita's cinematography captures some lush images, and director Johnston has a freshness and lightness of touch. The rocket sequences are quite exhilarating, but the scenes in between are the problem; Cliff and Jenny make a bland couple, and the Fascist threat lacks real menace. Neat idea, peachy visuals, but there ain't much else to grip the imagination.