Director Damien Chazelle continues his exploration of human ambition and determination in his latest outing First Man. While Whiplash is about a mentor and student and La La Land is about a couple inspiring each other, First Man is about family and team work.
Lunar landing is a great achievement in human history, and the film handles it by presenting us with the facts, while compressing the emotion. Just like the way Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) handled the deaths around him, buries the feeling deep inside. He only lets his guard down and expresses his feelings when the goal is achieved. That is not to say the film is without emotions, it does not shy away the tragedies on the course to a successful lunar landing mission and that loss stirs up great sadness, and adds tons of pressure and importance of the final mission.
Ryan Gosling plays terrifically with his subtle acting, and Claire Foy's Janet Armstrong steals the show whenever she appears in a scene with her strong character that often challenges her husband.
The lunar sequence, which is shot on IMAX 70mm (unfortunately, no IMAX 70mm screenings in Hong Kong) is massive and epic, and gives you a sense of how little human is in the vast infinite space.