'First Man' didn't quite had the right stuff. Regardless, this movie was still somewhat a stoic out of this world experience.

Rating: 7/10 (8 September 2019)

When retelling the story how astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to step foot on the moon. Filmmaker Damielle Chazelle took a different approach to the subject. He aim for the celestial dark side. Without spoiling the film too much, the movie subject is less about the exploring the epic yet deadly adventurous dream-like wonders of space and more about learning to cope with death around you. Because of that, the journey toward the Moon Landings by Apollo 11 undeniably got really cold and distanced. Causing some audience members to complain about its melancholia tone. They wanted a more positive & awe inspirational dream-like feel good space exploration approach with some adventurous struggle, similar in the way, they felt when watching 1995 'Apollo 13' or 2007 'In the Shadow of the Moon'. For me, I have to somewhat agree. The magic in this movie was never not quite there. It didn't felt like grand escapism. It felt like we never left the ground. For most of the movie, the audience couldn't really feel starstruck with much of the visuals or the music, because how much the filmmakers wanted to concentration on the astronaut's plain near silence depressing home life. The final version of the film didn't even focus on even some of the exciting moments that happen there like the house fire in 1964. It could had made the whole Apollo 1 scene even stronger in contrast, even if the real life pilots weren't killed in seconds by getting burn followed by a large explosion, but instead from smoke inhalation & asphyxiation. Regardless some of the household conflicts seem a little forced. One such example is the fight between Armstrong's wife Janet (Claire Foy) and Neil (Ryan Gosling) about the dangers of the Apollo 11 mission. While Foy gives a pretty good emotional delivery about what Neil's kids should know. In reality, by this time, everybody in the family knew the dangers & risk, especially after them having to deal with Neil's near brushes with death before during previous missions like X-15, Gemini 8 and Lunar Landing Research Vehicle. It wasn't anything new. Apollo 11 was just another mission at the Armstrong household. Another thing, I hate that throughout the movie, the filmmakers made it look like Janet & Neil's marriage is always on the rock because of the death of their daughter. Even the closing moments of the film with the separate glass make it look like they were doom. In truth, the couple stay together for nearly 38 years before they finally got divorce in 1994. For the most part, they were a happily married. As for dealing with his associates. Yes, he was indeed an introverted person of a few words. However, he wasn't always robotic and depress reticent outwardly boring person that the film and Gosling recycling plainly portrayal him out to be. In truth, the man whose one small step changed history forever had more than a very close relationship with his friends besides Ed White (Jason Clarke), often making small talk, smiling or joking with them. He even hang out with Buzz Aldrin (Corey Stoll) at times whom in the film made it seem like they didn't get along much. In truth, Armstrong truly never uttered a negative word about the man with whom he walked on the Moon. Along with that, it just sucks that we don't really get to know much about anybody else like Elliott See (Patrick Fugit), Jim Lovell (Pablo Schreiber) and their families. It's a shame because it could had made the scenes involving certain tragedies so much stronger than it turn out to. As for scientific accuracies. It's pretty shape. As a result, the movie frequently contains detailed explanations of engineering and physics. These scenes made for somewhat an arduous sitting. I frequently found myself rewatching scenes in an attempt to understand the information being conveyed. It doesn't help that the film overuse vintage color palette shaky cam and endless close up. It make the action somewhat harder to see.
Regardless, it wasn't until the moon landing that the film got bombastic and loud. It was there that it really lift our spirits & imagination. I like those moon scenes, very much. The way, they intermixed actual NASA archival footage, some that has never been released before, with the computer animation backdrop with the actors was amazing! However the lunar footprint in the famous photo doesn't really belong to Armstrong. It's honestly Aldrin. As for the Litter West Crater scene. It's possible that something was indeed drop there in real life. After all, it's not that uncommon for many astronauts to placed mementos or tokens of loved ones on the moon, so it's not unreasonable to suspect such an event occurred. However, I never really got the context, in how his daughter's death relate to his quest to get in the moon missions. It's not really established. As for the criticisms for the film omitting the astronauts planting the flag on the moon's surface. The Stars & Stripes still does appear onscreen in the background. However I do get what Chazelle was going for. It's an achievement for the whole of mankind rather than one single country. After all, a lot of NASA spaceflight capability were built upon, years upon years from innovations from scientists from both Western and Eastern Countries. While, the US is the first to make it to the Moon. It's the whole world that push the limits of explorations. Nevertheless, the movie was still somewhat holding back the adventure. I would love to see more action involving the rocket planes or his time in the Korean War. Things like that, could had made the movie so much more exciting. Overall: While not quite a blast to watch. It didn't alienation me too much. It's still worth checking out even if parts of it are over the moon.