Boring and long but the effects are decent! 2/10

Rating: 2/10 (21 February 2019)

Review:
Man, this movie was boring! I know that it's based on a historical moment which will never be forgotten, especially in America, but from an entertainment point of view, it sent me straight to sleep. None of the characters had a personality worth watching, and Gosling just seemed to be his usual moody self. Most of the missions into space are documented, and we all are well aware of the famous Apollo 11 flight, so we don't get to see anything that we don't really know. The scenes concerning his daughter were a total surprise, and extremely emotional, and you can see that it made a big impact on the Armstrong's, but the movie is mostly based on the first manned mission to the moon, which I found quite dull to watch. It's not in the same league as Apollo 13, which was 100 times better because the characters were actually interesting, but the director did capture the period well, and the scenes in space did look realistic. After watching the bonus material, a lot of the people surrounding Armstrong said that he was a funny character, who was fun to be around, but this film didn't show that side of him at all. Anyway, In 1961, NASA test pilot Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) is flying the X-15 rocket plane when it inadvertently bounces off the atmosphere. Although he managed to land the plane in the Mojave Desert, his colleagues express concern that his recent record of mishaps is due to distraction and he is grounded. His two-and-a-half year daughter, Karen, is undergoing treatment for a brain tumour. Desperate to save her, Neil keeps a detailed log of her symptoms and feverishly tries to find possible treatments, but she dies soon afterwards. Grief-stricken, Neil applies for Project Gemini and is accepted to NASA Astronaut Group 2. Neil then moves to Houston with his son and wife, Janet (Claire Foy), alongside other astronaut families. After the Soviet Union reaches every milestone in the Space Race, ahead of the United States, the pressure is on for the new Americans astronauts to impress with the new Gemini program. After the Soviets complete the first extravehicular activity, Neil is informed that he will be the commander of the Gemini 8, with David Scott (Christopher Abbott) as the pilot. Prior to the mission, two of his friends are killed in a T-38 crash, deepening Neil's grief at the string of recent losses. After another mission fails, Neil initially faces criticism, but NASA determines the crew is not at fault. During a launch rehearsal test on January 27, 1967, a fire kills the Apollo 1 crew, and Neil hears the news while representing NASA at the White House. Neil is selected to command Apollo 11, and he is informed that it will likely be the first lunar landing. When Apollo 11 successfully launches, it finally arrives at the Moon on the fourth day. Neil is forced to take manual control of the spacecraft, after realising the landing area is full of large boulders. When the lunar module successfully lands, with minimal fuel remaining, Neil sets foot on the Moon and he drops Karen's bracelet into Little West Crater. After returning home, the crew are placed in quarantine, where a rerun of JFK's 1962 speech "We Choose To Go To The Moon" is shown. Boring! Boring! Boring! On the plus side, the director chose not to pack the film with technical jargon, which would have made the film worse, but it did feel like it jumped from one mission to another without much explanation. Although the achievement was truly amazing, I personally think that Neil Armstrong's true-life story needs to be remade by a director who will help the audience to connect to characters because this director failed to make this picture interesting. Boring!
Round-Up:
This movie was directed by Damien Chazelle, who brought you Whiplash and La La Land. After the success of his previous movies, I did think that he was the perfect choice for this film, but he made a right shambles of it. Ryan Gosling tried his utmost to be authentic throughout the film, but he seemed distant and pretty dull. I don't blame him for his performance because Neil Armstrong might have actually been like that, but from an entertainment point of view, I couldn't wait for the movie to finish. It was written by Josh Singer, who brought you The Post starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, Spotlight and the Fifth Estate, so the movie was in good hands, but they just failed to execute. As the movie was also based on a book, called First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong, I would have to read it to see how close this film is to the story. Anyway, it's been nominated for 4 Oscars, which are Visual Effects, Sound Editing, Production Design and Sound Mixing, which proves that this historical concept didn't go down too well with the big players in Hollywood.
Budget: $59million
Worldwide Gross: $104million
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll, Patrick Fugit, Christopher Abbott, Ciaran Hinds, Olivia Hamilton, Pablo Schreiber and Lukas Haas. 2/10