The new take keeps the story in a period setting and offers a fresh view on the characters. Set six years after the original Rocketeer and after Secord has vanished while fighting the Nazis, an unlikely new hero emerges: a young African–American female pilot, who takes up the mantle of Rocketeer in an attempt to stop an ambitious and corrupt rocket scientist from stealing jet-pack technology in what could prove to be a turning point in the Cold War.
So, of course, they’ll get to enjoy that whole discussion (and for the love of movies, can we keep its inevitable arrival here constrained to the “Identity Politics” thread even I won’t venture into?).
Still, if it manages to capture the delightful mixture of period-setting, campy-tastic writing, and dirigible-based battle choreography, I’ll probably be in for my $10.
You know, when I saw the thread title I was all OH-NOES. And then I read this, and I was all like hmmmm. If they can actually do this not as a reboot but as a sequel, and maybe the story ends up having her rescue Secord and they jet-pack battle Russian agents? Then hell, yeahs.
In fairness, the article seems to suggest it’s sort of both, somehow. I don’t really know how that works, but honestly, the more it stays in keeping with the original, the better, in my view.
It’s a sequel, not a reboot because it’s set in the same timeline. But I think a lot of people will shorthand it as a “reboot” because the lead is being recast as a new character, not just a new actor.
I’m interested. I’m not sure if the Rocketeer is a good movie, but I think it is a great movie. It hits squarely in a specific style of feel good Disney live action adventure movie that are surprisingly hard to pull off well.
Could somebody please explain why Rocketeer is such an awesome movie? Because based on the memory I had as a lad watching it on the tele, it is pretty meh apart from the heavenly Jennifer Connelly.
I’m optimistic… I quite liked the original. The plot could be blah unless they go full camp with the cold war imagery… the Nazi threat in the original was right on the edge of Wolfenstein, which was a good thing. The comics, which had a different take, have an “aw shucks” nostalgic earnestness and a country-bumpkin-vs-mob setup that will probably have to change for an African American actress, but it was that personality that made it an entertaining read. Hopefully they don’t try to make something too modern in its sensibilities, is all.
