First Man | Film Review

Hey Guys x

I remember wanting to see this in the cinema when it first came out, but I think it came out at a time when a lot of movies were coming out (A Star Is Born, for one) and I had to prioritise because the cinema isn't cheap! So it fell by the wayside and I didn't actually remember it until it came out on the Sky Premiere channels.

This is a film about NASA's mission to put a man on the moon, and focuses on the life of Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling), including his family and everything that came together for him to be the first man on the moon.

For a start, everything about the first scene is great - the visuals, the atmosphere, everything. It sets the film up really well, and I noticed that it used sound really well - which would definitely have been great if I'd seen it in the cinema.

Even though the majority of people know at least a little bit of the story of Neil Armstrong, it's so easy to see Gosling's character as completely original. You can't help but warm to him and root for him as if you know nothing of his life or his mission.

The film makes something as obscure as space travel feel like a team sport. The group's losses are also the audience's losses and vice versa. You really feel invested in this story.

It won the Oscar for 'Best Visual Effects' at the 91st Academy Awards, and this was completely deserved, because the best thing about the film is the fact that it's visually stunning.

However, there were some things about the film that I didn't like.

For one, the film doesn't make you care about any of the characters apart from Neil and his family. This makes the copious tragedies throughout the movie less impactful, and most of them (with the exception of the first) are forgotten as soon as the characters leave the screen.

In addition to this, the domestic scenes with Neil and his family are more entertaining and profound than a lot of the space travel scenes. Once you see one instance of space travel, the rest aren't that exciting.

And lastly, because we know Neil's story, the stakes are really low because we know exactly how it will turn out, and we know that he makes it back home. So when his wife is worried about him, we don't feel the same fears that she does.

Overall, a visually stunning, entertaining film that most people will definitely enjoy.

7.5/10

Lou