Movie Review: ***^The Rocketeer

I remember really enjoying this movie, and Natalia and Mark really enjoying it when they were little.  However in watching it again, I wasn't as impressed.  This is a hero vs Nazi spy movie, and on that level it works.  However it lacks some of the punch and story line some subsequent movies have.  Cliff (Billy Campbell) is a test pilot, who dreams of participating in air races.  His dream goes south when his prototype plane crashes after he is shot by a fleeing criminal.  The criminal is also caught, but not before hiding his bounty in a plane in the hangar.  Turns out he had stolen a new people propelling rocket.  He and his friend, mentor, Peevy (Alan Arkin) test the prototype, and decide to use it.  This only gets them into trouble.  First the criminals who want it, and the Nazi spy, Neville Sinclair (Timothy Dalton) who is paying them to steal it.  Then also the federals who want to recover it.  You add to the mix Cliff's pretty girlfriend, Jenny (Jennifer Connelly) and you have the makings of a pretty fun jaunt.  It is kidnapping the girl that turns things in the Nazi spy's favor, but when they criminals discover who they are working for, things change.  This movie even adds a German dirigible, which crashes into the Hollywood sign and destroys the "land" ending.  This movie is fun, but just lacks that extra oomph.