First Man

“That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Filmology Rating: 2.75 out of 4

First Man is a desperate attempt at an Oscar film and stars Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong and his journey to the moon. But this movie focuses on the family aspect of his life and the troubles he had emotionally before the moon landing. You know, a hack plot.

Most of this film had me confused and angry, mainly because critics are loving this film and it's because this movie puts "history on the screen" which is another term for "Oscar film." That aspect is what frustrated me the most because this film can be described as a drama facade.

The issue with pitching a movie like this is that you already know how the movie is going to end, so some hack screenwriter wrote in the "emotional core" to the movie. Basically it's to not make the movie boring when the audience knows how it will end. This emotional core was Neil Armstrong's daughter. I am not dis-respecting Neil or his family or the amazing thing he did for mankind, but the filmmaker gives us literally 45 seconds of screen time with the daughter and we're all the sudden supposed to care for her because she is the protagonist's daughter. She is literally the emotional crutch of the entire film.

Also this film has some of the worst pacing in an "Oscar movie" I have witnessed in the previous years. The first act of the movie is some of the most nonsensical kind of film making I've seen in a while. The movie jumps all over the place with dates, locations, time and it gives you no time to digest anything in the movie. The film is also way too long. I was mostly bored throughout the movie, saying "What?" a lot, and trying to keep myself awake.

This film also has obnoxious camera work. The entire film is handheld camera work, so the camera is shaking so much, almost violently sometimes. And again, this is nothing, but handheld closeups of characters and feels so claustrophobic. But, the acting is good I guess and the moon looks great along with all the other effects, whatever. But this is a film that lacks an emotional core when it desperately needed one. If you want to sit for over two hours just to see the moon landing, then go ahead, but there are no tears to be had here.

Rating: Rent It

-Nolan