First Man Review: 8 Ups & 2 Downs

By Jack Pooley / October 12, 2018

2. The Gritty, Stunning Cinematography

Bar those aforementioned shaky cam annoyances, cinematographer Linus Sandgren - who won an Oscar for La La Land - does a splendid job rooting Chazelle's film in its period.

While many films opt to evoke the period feel by digitally adding garish grain effects in post-production, First Man's vintage look and feel was achieved in-camera, and if not for the presence of contemporary actors, it'd be easy to believe the movie was genuinely shot decades ago.

It would've also been easy for the state-of-the-art visual effects to clash harshly with the gritty cinematography, yet ultimately they're meticulously integrated into the staggeringly consistent aesthetic.