Movie Review on 'First Man'

First and foremost, I'm not a professional critic. I have had a passion for movies since I was young and even got my associates in digital media. For the last year and a half I have been going to a movie in theaters at least one once a week.

With that being said I would like to review my experience with this movie, along with movies to come. I also promise NOT to give out in any spoilers, so no spoiler alerts here.

To start I will break it down to some very key elements in what I think needs to be meet to make a good movie.

Cinematography

The overall experience with First Man's cinematography was lackluster and unappealing. The resolution was highly pixelated, and what I can only imagine was their best attempt at trying to recreate feeling of the 1960s in the film; this, however, only made for a confusing and unattractive viewing experience. The shooting angles of the scenes, being mostly close ups, gave an almost suffocating feeling, making you wish you had taken a seat in the back of the theater. The shots were poorly produced, and it reflected on the screen. The unsteadiness of the shots throughout the film was distracting and disruptive to the flow of the film, causing an unpleasant viewing experience.

Editing

The overall editing of the film was loose and chopped. There were many hard cuts through out the entire film. The B roll (for those who aren't aware, B roll is a type of filler when not focusing on a certain item, mostly the actors) was poorly edited in and highlighted when unnecessary.

Dialogue/Script

The overall Script was sparse and unrevealing. When there was dialogue, it was quick and hard to follow, making it impossible to form an attachment to any of the characters. Most of the dialogue came in towards the middle, forcing you to fill in the blanks while trying to understand the characters' shortcomings and determination to succeed. This, along with the hard cuts and poor cinematography, left myself feeling frustrated, looking at the clock, wondering how much longer this movie was.

Performance

The overall performance of the actors/actress was aloof and passionless. They were either over-acting in the scene or just plain. Moreover, the vibe from the actors was cold and stiff. With a script that was hard to follow, I'm sure it wasn't easy for the actors to create a character they could really get into and embody.

Plot

Though the plot was easy enough to figure out, it was dull and uninteresting to follow. What felt like hard rush to catch up to the current time, this film forgot the element that I figured was the point of the story, which is to tell the story of the main character. It simply became a hurry up and wait through out the film, hoping for some type of closure to this cluster of a film.

Overall Experience

The overall experience of this film was mediocre and unimpressive. They had the potential for a great story and an interesting film; however, it lacked quality in the main components of any film, creating simply a nightmare of a viewing experience. This film felt as though pulled from a high school 48 hour film festival contest. The only good quality of this film was lighting and sound.

Overall Rating:

1 star ... Worst movie of the year