First Man (2018)

The film is a serious, dour study of obsession and ambition that marks a giant leap in Chazelle's cinematic scope. It succeeds through immersive craft, visceral sequences and intimate focus on Armstrong's personal sacrifices, with Gosling and Foy excelling.

The critic praises Chazelle’s elegant, intimate approach that makes the familiar Moon landing story feel fresh, highlighting Gosling’s mature performance as Armstrong and the film’s focus on personal grief alongside technical peril.

Praises the sober, contemplative picture for its emotional involvement, visceral tension, suspense, and stunning technical craft. Singles out the film's refusal to engage in expected jingoistic self-celebration.

The critic calls it a full-bodied space weepie that reconstitutes Armstrong as a man riven with grief, delivering a visually exquisite period drama with an emotional payoff. They single out the ending's image of parental grief as a perfect apotheosis.

Describes it as laborious yet stupendous, the most grounded space movie ever made. Singles out the intimate focus on family tensions and the exultant silence of the lunar landing.

Calls it a thrilling Neil Armstrong biopic that meets sky-high expectations. Highlights the right stuff in Chazelle and Gosling's collaboration.

Gosling and Foy deliver magnificent performances in Chazelle’s elegantly drawn, intimate portrait that humanizes Armstrong’s motivations and the couple’s shared grief while balancing personal drama with tense space sequences.

Chazelle transforms the lunar landing into breathtaking visual poetry through Armstrong’s stoic reserve and internalized grief, creating a provocative statement about pursuing excellence and big dreams rather than flag-waving spectacle.

Chazelle delivers a buttoned-down but authentic account of the space race and Armstrong's story. The blend of kitchen-sink drama and science fact is ambitious and artful, leaving viewers in awe despite its sombre tone.

Notes the film's ambivalence toward American ambition and the space program, praising its portrayal of determination alongside the human costs. Singles out the chilling scene where Armstrong prepares his children for possible death.

Praises the tactile action set pieces that highlight the perils of the space race and the un-jingoistic appraisal. Complains about the script's over-fixation on the death of Armstrong's daughter.

The film is deliberately gruelling and claustrophobic, succeeding brilliantly at conveying the visceral experience of space flight but struggling to engage the heart. It commands admiration more than love through its technical achievements and focus on Armstrong's reserve.

The lunar landing sequence is a sublime, technically masterful highlight that evokes awe through visuals and sound design. The film is an idiosyncratic, viscerally intense portrait that thrills and moves through its focus on rupture, sacrifice, and one man's quiet reckoning, though it sometimes over-insists on emotional undercurrents.

A beautifully made film with an impeccable lead performance from Gosling, though it takes elegant flight but stalls in its extended closing sequences and neglects fuller development of supporting characters.

The critic describes the film as a sombre, low-key study of grief that turns the space adventure into a moving tale of loss and peril. They single out the empathetic performance by Claire Foy and the technical choices that evoke claustrophobia and isolation.

The film captures the otherness and risks of the Apollo missions effectively but fails to convey Neil Armstrong's Midwestern modesty, instead imposing modern emotional repression and sentimentality on him. Gosling's casting and the emphasis on personal grief undermine the historical authenticity of the stoic hero.

The critic finds the film a careful, earthbound character study that gets technical details right but falls short of deeper grandeur or meaning. It portrays Armstrong as an enigmatic, diffident figure whose inner life remains elusive despite strong performances.

The critic praises Chazelle's immersive character study of Neil Armstrong's quiet determination amid personal tragedy and the space race, highlighting Gosling and Foy's performances along with Sandgren's evocative cinematography.

The critic praises Chazelle's versatile direction in tackling the story of Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 mission. Gosling delivers a restrained, authentic performance that brings emotional depth to the otherwise sober film, supported by strong technical credits.

The review emphasizes the film's focus on grief, loneliness, and technical precision in depicting spaceflight, commending the direction, sound design, editing, and performances by Gosling and Foy as a compelling portrait beyond mere rockets.

The review highlights the film's technical magnificence and quiet, restrained approach to portraying Neil Armstrong's stoic dedication, contrasting it with more bombastic space films.

The critic lauds the film's immaculate craftsmanship, immersive recreation of the Apollo mission, and Chazelle's command of technique as a grand, classic epic that becomes the definitive moon-landing movie despite its reserved central figure.

The critic finds it a gripping account of the moon landing that emphasizes the brutal endurance test of space travel and the personal costs, praising the intense practical effects and performances especially Claire Foy, but notes the central character remains enigmatic.

The film is an immersive, nerve-wracking simulation of spaceflight that excels in its technical and visceral depiction of missions but falters in its handling of the protagonist's personal relationships.

The critic calls the film a haunting, thrilling space saga that reminds viewers of the risks and chaos involved in the moon landing. It stands out for its intimate portrait of Armstrong, visceral depiction of space travel, and impressive technical achievements.

The critic praises the film's immersive portrayal of the dangers and details of space missions but criticizes the distant portrayal of Neil Armstrong himself.

The review notes strong performances and stunning moon-landing sequences but finds the old-fashioned drama often inert and slow between set pieces, making it a mixed but worthwhile watch.