Review of First Man (2018) by Taylord99 — 02 Nov 2018

Just over a week ago, I got to see First Man, which is directed by Damien Chazelle. He is known for directing La La Land and Whiplash, two films that I loved. Unlike his previous films, First Man is not about music and is about real events, specifically Neill Armstrong’s trials to become the first man to walk on the moon.

The film focuses mainly on his family life and how he balances that with being an astronaut. This film surprised me as there were many details about Neill Armstrong that I never knew about before and apparently this film is very accurate as well.

First of all, the acting in this film is top notch. Ryan Gosling gives a very grounded performance as Neill Armstrong and continues to convince me every year that he is a fantastic actor. I saw his incredible acting ability in Blade Runner 2049, The Nice Guys, and La La Land over the past two years.

He made me feel attached to Neill Armstrong and made me sympathize and root for him throughout the movie. Claire Foy is also fantastic as Janet Armstrong and gives a very emotional and grounded performance.

Like Gosling, she is convincing in every scene she is in. The supporting cast does a great job as well. The special effects and sound design are also extremely praise-worthy. There hasn’t been any other spaceflight movie quite like this one before.

You hear every creak and every rattle in the spacecrafts and it feels very claustrophobic and sometimes even scary. This movie really captures the claustrophobia and fear that the astronauts surely experience during spaceflight, especially during this time period, I’m sure.

In the 60s, spacecrafts were basically metal cans that were shot up into space and were not made for comfortability, only for function, so it would make sense that they wouldn’t be the quietest or safest things out there.

The exterior space shots also look extremely realistic, especially the moon landing scene, which absolutely blew me away. The musical score is also done well by Justin Hurwitz, who also composed La La Land.

On all levels, this film is masterful. It takes you on a soaring journey with a perfect balance of drama and suspense. I was glued to the screen from start to finish. The ending will surely dazzle you and may even make you shed a tear.

Damien Chazelle proves that he is a very versatile director considering that he can direct movies with completely different themes, such as music and space, and do them both extremely well. I can’t wait to see what Damien Chazelle and Ryan Gosling due next.