Visceral, Stunning, and Memorable

Rating: 8/10 (17 October 2018)

First Man is an incredibly special film and an excellent viewing experience that I highly recommend, particularly if you can see it in IMAX. What's impressive about Damien Chazelle is that he has shown great aptitude at directing incredibly different types of movies. La La Land and First Man have markedly different tones and visuals, each to its own benefit, and it's a clear indication of Chazelle's capabilities. Unlike La La Land which was a portrayal of fulfilling dreams, First Man is a much more humble, grounded, and human story. It isn't about the triumph of successfully landing a man on the moon, it's a very personal story about the man who sacrificed a lot in his single-minded pursuit to make his daughter proud and serve his country. However, that isn't to say that they don't do justice for the story of the Apollo missions, they do, they just don't glamorize the missions and portray them as something they weren't. Chazelle shows us what the missions were surely like, overwhelming, heart-pounding, and harrowing. He uses sound design and gritty visuals in combination excellently to portray how easily the moon landing could have failed. The way he brings it to the screen is unbelievably visceral and completely thrilling, giving the audience a very unique experience compared to most other movies about space travel. In general, all of the technical aspects of this movie were terrific, especially the sound mixing/edit and cinematograpy. The moon landing sequence and following shots on the moon are absolutely gripping, and in IMAX, blew my mind. However First Man isn't just a well written, well directed, and technically stunning film, it's also expertly acted. Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy both give it their all and add immense depth to each of their characters. Given that it could be a tight year at the Academy Awards, I hope that there's room for both Gosling and Foy in the best actor and best support actress categories, because they are certainly worthy of nomination. Over all, I strongly recommend seeing First Man on the biggest screen you can, it's an experience you won't forget!