I thought it was an amazing technical achievement, and I really can't think of a legit "complaint" - it was told about as remarkably and perfectly as this specific story could have been told - but Armstrong was such a relatively "boring" subject that a good chunk of the movie unfortunately was as well. I hate even putting it in those terms, because that's not entirely fair or accurate to say, and doesn't translate to anything even remotely bad - huge chunks of it were fantastic - but it simply lacked the kind of emotion a more compelling central character could have conveyed and elicited.
That said, the moon sequence was absolutely jaw dropping. Especially in IMAX. It truly felt like being there, in that moment in history, and was accompanied by a sense of pride I wasn't quite prepared for. Just this utterly captivating sense of "Wow, we did that" while simultaneously feeling like I were experiencing it. It's almost hard to describe. It was somehow both visceral and nostalgic.
But yeah, overall, I don't even wish it was anything other than exactly what it was. It's just that there are certain (very) minor drawbacks in choosing someone like Neil Armstrong as the eyes through which to view this story. But at the same time, I don't know that I would have wanted to see it from anyone else's point of view, or would have wanted (yet again) the bigger macro view either.
All I know for sure is this... anyone who railed against this movie because of that idiotic flag raising "controversy" should be embarrassed. Who would have thought that actually waiting to see the final product - in all of its patriotic glory - would have been the wise thing to do? Gee, what a novel idea. All of the blowhards who huffed and puffed about what a liberal travesty this was going to be... it's sh*t like this that ultimately causes them to lose all credibility. Especially those who swore they weren't going to see it, and then of course did this weekend. I could not think of a more appropriate way to prove what bias hypocrites they are (which was obvious from the get go, but still).
For the sake of ending this on a more positive note, however, I'll say that this was the perfect topper to a phenomenal three-movie stretch over the past eight days, a stretch I can't quite compare to any other I've ever had. A Star is Born, Bad Times at the El Royale, and now First Man. Just an insane back-to-back-to-back run, in such a short period of time. All three of which might actually end up being my top three of the year. I love Oscar season so much, and partly because of First Man, this season in particular could very well prove to be an all-timer.
