Review of First Man (2018) by Jake S — 13 Oct 2018

The film is as much about Neil Armstrong as it is about the moon mission itself. The portrayal of the man here is chiefly characterized by how the lunar voyage and years of preceding preparation, testing, and even personal afflictions affected and ultimately changed him.

The movie does not shy away from sensitive issues, emphasizing the extensive failures and close calls, astronaut fatalities, protests against NASA, and the mountainous tension and pressure invoked by the space race with Russia and the Vietnam War.

At the film's core, however, resides the Armstrong family and the tremendous turmoil it, as well as other astronaut families, must wield through years of consistent apprehension and grief. Amidst all this, though, the intensity still does not stop.

The launches and outer-world endeavors are filmed from a first-person point of view, allowing the audience a harrowing perspective as if actually accompanying the astronauts in the cockpits. These sequences are thrilling to say the least.

Overall, this movie carefully balances the man, the family, the mission, the events, and the aura of the times to deliver an intense and powerful snapshot of an era when the skies ceased to be the limit, and, combined with sensitive, commendable cast performances, this movie is deserving of its praise.