First Man follows the years leading up to the very first moon landing from the perspective of Neil Armstrong, and takes a look into his personal life. It is directed by Damien Chazelle, the director of the wonderful La La Land as he works once again with Ryan Gosling, who plays the American icon, Neil Armstrong. This is a fantastic and exhilarating movie that is technically astounding and narratively rich.
This is by far one of the most immersive films I have seen in a while. Chazelle, as expected, directed this film exceptionally well, and utilized a lot of in-camera practical effects where he uses very little CGI to create a powerful sense of realism, and it pays off extremely well. His and the film’s production designer, Nathan Crowley’s attention to detail in presenting the technology that Armstrong and all the other astronauts used in the 60’s added so much in creating the realism. Chazelle shoots much of the space exploration sequences where Armstrong is in a spacecraft and rocket ship through his point of view, which made feel as though I was the one in that spacecraft and rocket ship going through space, and it gave me a better understanding of what Armstrong was experiencing. Every angle that Chazelle chooses in these sequences where Armstrong is in space are so meticulous and makes the film that much more visceral, as well as establish a feeling of claustrophobia where I was stuck with Armstrong in the spacecraft and rocket ship.
What I really admired about this movie is that Chazelle and the cinematographer, Linus Sandgren shot this film much like a documentary. The documentary style of shooting made the movie much more personal, and as though I was watching Armstrong, his fellow astronauts and his family live their lives, rather than watching a recreation of what their lives were like. To expand more on Sandgren, the cinematography in this film is marvelous. Every single shot in this movie is beautifully composed and lit, while perfectly capturing the time period. Sandgren and Chazelle in the spacecraft sequences shake the camera excessively to make us, the audience feel even more like we are in the spacecraft than already before. It was such a smart use of camera movement to create so much intensity and almost an uneasiness. While most of the film is shot in 16mm and 35mm film, Chazelle and Sandgren switch to 65mm IMAX when Armstrong finally lands on the moon in the film, and it is astounding to behold. Sandgren, like the rest of the film shoots this scene beautifully, and watching this entire sequence in an IMAX theatre was breathtaking and awe-inspiring. I felt as though I was on the moon with Armstrong.
Ryan Gosling is one of my favorite actors working today, and once again, with this movie delivers an outstanding performance as Neil Armstrong. I did not know much about Armstrong, other than him being the first man on the moon, but this film allowed me to get to know him a little better. Much of the film centers around Armstrong’s young daughter dying of cancer, and how her death was his motivation for going to the moon. In the film, Armstrong is a very reserved man who does not show a lot of emotion, and when he does, it is only when no one else is around. Gosling did a tremendous job playing a man that seems to lack emotion while still presenting himself in a way that shows that he has a lot of pain internally. I imagine it must be very challenging to strike that perfect balance as an actor, but Gosling knocked it out of the park. Claire Foy also gives an amazing performance as Janet Armstrong, Neil Armstrong’s wife. Her performance is so layered, and she did just such a phenomenal job revealing Janet’s pain and struggle living life through the years leading up to the moon landing and when the moon landing actually occurs. Through her performance, I understood how much Janet sacrificed when Neil decided that he wanted to go to the moon.
I really loved that Chazelle and Josh Singer, the writer of the film revealed how much heartbreak and sacrifice occurred leading up to finally getting to the moon and it was great to see Armstrong’s perspective through it all. Honestly, it is nothing short of a miracle that Armstrong actually made it too the moon with all the failure NASA faced and the limited technology they were using. That uncertainty is what makes this movie very inspiring. When Armstrong finally makes it to the moon in the film, I felt that accomplishment since I followed his journey in the 8 years it took him to get to the moon through the 2 hours and 21 minutes of the film.
While I do believe this movie is incredible, I do have some criticisms, one of them being that I felt the movie was a little rushed in the beginning. It is 2 hours and 21 minutes, and honestly, I think Chazelle could have added at least ten more minutes to flesh out the beginning a little more. So much happens in the beginning in such a short period of time, and it felt a little jarring and took me out of the movie. If they would have just took a little more time in developing the story in the beginning, the pacing would have been a lot more coherent in that first half. Another negative aspect of this film is that while I do feel like I know who Neil Armstrong is a little more now, I do not think the film showed enough of Armstrong’s relationship with his two son’s, Mark and Rick Armstrong. I had a strong grasp on Neil and Janet’s relationship, but never grasped what his relationship with his son’s was like because they did not show enough scenes of them together in the movie, which I found disappointing. Those were my only negatives with the film. Other than that, this film is excellent.
First Man is a marvelously directed movie by Damien Chazelle that made me feel as though I was in the spacecraft and rocket ship with Neil Armstrong. It also has breathtaking cinematography by Linus Sandgren that was heightened in IMAX. Even though the film does suffer from rough pacing in the beginning and a lack of screen time with Amrstrong and his son’s, it is still narratively rich with a great script by Josh Singer and brilliant performances by Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy. By far the biggest compliment I can give to Chazelle in how he directed this film was that he made me feel anxiety for the entire runtime even though I obviously know that Armstrong makes it to the moon. This film is definitely one that needs to be watched in a theatre, especially IMAX. Watching First Man in IMAX was an awe-inspiring immersive experience that I am joyful I was a part of.
GRADE: A-
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