Mediocre - Fails to Deliver Where and How You Would Expect It

Rating: 5/10 (15 December 2018)

I don't normally write movie reviews, but being a huge fan of the Space Program and having watched nearly every documentary and movie there is about it, I felt an urge to say my piece.
First Man is what is says it is, the time and moments leading to what is supposed to be, one of the most historic and triumphant accomplishments of NASA and humanity, however this movie falls very short in conveying that.
The movie focuses around the Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling), while he was an experimental test pilot on an X-15 outer atmosphere rocket plane and his selection for the Gemini and later Apollo program, and the personal loss he had dealt with in the loss of his young daughter and fellow colleagues throughout.
And that is what is mainly was, a focus more on the personal trials of Neil Armstrong, the test pilot, the friend and the family man. Ryan Gosling's performance was great as the unassuming Neil, who was never really your typical image of a NASA astronaut, confident, loud, the centre of attention maybe. Neil was quite the opposite and always stayed away from the limelight when possible.
I hate to draw on comparisons, but where this movie lacks, Apollo 13 shines and Apollo 13 it is not. Apollo 13 hit the mark in showing the challenges that NASA and the crew faced and how they overcame them as a team, with a victoriously triumphant ending that left you rooting for them and excited at the same time.
First Man's take was more form a subdued perspective, although seeing the landing through the lens of Neil himself, everything leading up to that moment and afterwards were just lacklustre and stale, boring if you will.
In summary, this movie is more of a personal drama related to Neil and not NASA or the first moon landing. Those aspects came second in this movie.