Every once in a while an anime movie is released to enormous widespread acclaim; the likes of Akira, Ghost in the Shell and Spirited Away were hailed as sublime, game-changing features. Evangelion 2.0 is no exception, a film perhaps not as innovative now as the original series was at the time of its release, but nevertheless an awe-inspiring work that raises the bar ever higher - an anime feature up there with the greats.
While the first Rebuild of Evangelion movie followed the series closely, events are drastically changed in 2.0. The plot vaguely follows episodes 8 to 19 of the series (and picks up from
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where the first Rebuild movie left off), but it's during this film that the 'remake' starts becoming the 'reimagining' Anno said the Rebuild tetralogy would be. A treat for fans new and old, the new canon material does not disappoint. Twists and turns - as expected - are ever present, new characters enter the fray and the plot takes fresh, astonishing directions while retaining its mysterious, engrossing aura. The pace is near flawless and both veteran fans and new audiences alike will be able to watch with wide-eyed excitement and suspense as the new plot unravels.
The animation and art are one of the absolute stand-out elements in Evangelion 2.0. As in the first film, the Angels have been given a make-over, along with the Evangelion units, the futuristic, ever wondrous city Tokyo-3 and even the characters. Between them, the animation staff for the Rebuild tetralogy have worked on a huge number of highly acclaimed works, which includes the original Evangelion series. The team create an alarmingly beautiful world among all the chaos and destruction, with such intricate attention to detail, stunningly complex designs and action set pieces unlike anything before it. The art style is bold, clean and dazzling, and the animation is dynamic, majestic, smooth and ever fluid. Studio Khara have set a frighteningly faultless example to other animation studios - they've outdone themselves.
The music was composed and arranged by Shiro Sagisu - who scored not only the first Rebuild film, but also the original series and The End of Evangelion - and recorded at the famous Abbey Road Studios with the London Studio Orchestra. Music has always been a very innate part of Evangelion; as integral as the Evangelion units themselves, and it's no different in Rebuild. Sagisu creates a fine amount of stunning compositions that further bring to life Tokyo-3, the characters and the phenomenal action sequences. Rebuild 2.0 even has it's own 'Komm, süsser Tod' moment where an upbeat song is played in contrast to a brutal sequence, with the lyrics adding a welcomed sense of irony, which is what we've come to expect and delight over from the Evangelion franchise. The ending song is provided by Japanese sensation Utada Hikaru, who offers a beautiful acoustic rendition of her famous track 'Beautiful World', a perfect companion piece to the ending, again in contrast.
Rebuild 2.0 excels in its characterisation. The charismatic Asuka is introduced, who adds a whole different vibe to the film and there is yet more original material for fans of the series, as established characters such as Shinji and Rei develop significantly, the latter in directions you may not expect. A completely new character - Mari - also joins the fray. Much of her motivations are shrouded in mystery, which allows the film to stay at a consistent pace and prevents it from becoming bloated, considering the amount of characters and plot developments already at hand, but her presence adds yet another exciting new element, along with some comic relief. Despite a cast of characters that were established almost fifteen years ago, they come across in Rebuild as very fresh, very unpredictable. These aren't the same characters from the Evangelion series, they're new interpretations, new versions; with a clean slate comes new directions, new experiences - in areas the film becomes as fresh to long-time fans as it is to new audiences.
Rebuild of Evangelion 2.0 is an absolute spectacle, as astonishing to the eyes as it is the ears. The second film is able to out-do the first installment in every aspect, all the while taking the story in thrilling new directions for fans both new and old. A remake would have been too easy for Anno and his team - instead they have gone above and beyond, recreating the Evangelion universe we've come to know and love, offering us new interpretations fifteen years on, proving - with some ferocity - that Evangelion is far from gone. Rebuild solidifies Evangelion as an absolutely exceptional franchise, continuing to awe-inspire fans the world over, reminding us all why we fell in love with it in the first place.
Alternative Titles
Synonyms: Evangelion Shin Gekijouban: Ha, Rebuild of Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, Evangelion 2.22
Japanese: ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版:破
More titlesInformation
Type:
Movie
Episodes:
1
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Jul 27, 2009
Producers:
None found, add some
Licensors:
Funimation
Studios:
Khara
Source:
Original
Duration:
1 hr. 52 min.
Rating:
R+ - Mild Nudity
Statistics
Ranked:
#2662
2
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Popularity:
#408
Members:
543,654
Favorites:
3,466
Available AtResources | Reviews
Filtered Results: 82 / 84
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Your Feelings Categories Aug 11, 2009
Every once in a while an anime movie is released to enormous widespread acclaim; the likes of Akira, Ghost in the Shell and Spirited Away were hailed as sublime, game-changing features. Evangelion 2.0 is no exception, a film perhaps not as innovative now as the original series was at the time of its release, but nevertheless an awe-inspiring work that raises the bar ever higher - an anime feature up there with the greats.
While the first Rebuild of Evangelion movie followed the series closely, events are drastically changed in 2.0. The plot vaguely follows episodes 8 to 19 of the series (and picks up from ... Apr 10, 2011
I've been trying to overcome the 'great depression 2.22' that came over me and lasted for over a week now after watching this movie and the only way I can do it is by writing this review. I hope you'll bear with me here, this is going to be a bit of a personal review, but I'll try to be fair. My anger has vanished in most parts although if someone says the words "sabisu sabisu" for a tease I still feel like kicking his butt delinquent-style.
There never was an anime series in my entire life as an anime-consumer that moved, influenced and fascinated me ... Jun 27, 2009
Firstly, as if it needs to be pointed out, things in this movie have irrevocably changed from the TV Series. So different are the events in this movie, that, even with the 30 second preview at the end of the film, I have no clue what’s going to happen in the next movie (which will be called Evangelion Q, Quickening). Another thing is that things that were considered mysteries of the original TV series and movies are either gone altogether, changed, or spelled out.
A lot of the visuals were eye popping stunning. However, there were times that it looked a bit grainy, kind of like ... Mar 28, 2015
Yup, that's a hot row of 10s right there, blatant and unabashed praise for the Evangelion Rebuild series, or as it should really be called; "Anno's Attack on Anime". Here's the truth: as an out-of-context standalone, this movie is a sack of shit. It's essentially harem-shonen-mecha-explosions with shallow characters all defined by their unexplained and nonsensical heart throbbings for Shinji, God of War. It doesn't present itself in this way, though: it's actually incredibly smart about it, sticking close to the original series in regards to content but constantly cutting and changing small things so that the end result is something that appears to be
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Sep 4, 2012
I know the Evangelion World since i was 11, and watched the whole serie for over 10 times, and when i knew that 4 more movies were about to come out, i couldn't wait for watch them.
The only thing i have to say, is that this movies are PATHETIC. The real goal of the serie is to do a psychological analysis of the characters, ad in the movies that is simply ignored, the personalities changed, the music is simply awful, and the animation effects used are simply exaggerated. This movies will be enyojed only by people who didn't understand the serie. Sep 18, 2010
I liked Evangelion 1.0, the "cube" angel had a great development and made the movie worth.
Evangelion 2.0 was really poor...Introduced a new character, killed other...and repeated everything else... When i watched Zeruel's episode in the anime series it was the series' high peak for me. But Zeruel in Evangelion 2.0 it's nearly unwatchable...it didn't excited me like before...it was like they grabbed the original concept and simply distorted into a freak crap. This movie doesn't justify any high rating some ppl are giving it, if you rate this movie high than you're not a real fan of what Evangelion used to be. May 27, 2010
I have waited for the opportunity to watch the new Evangelion for the long time. Today I have to admit that I am strongly surprised because of the enthusiastic reception of this movie. This is certainly a good position but it lacks a lot to be called a masterpiece.
The latest Evangelion is above all very chaotic project, which makes it difficult to watch at times. It has also some difficulties in creating the atmosphere that has enchanted me in the manga. It surprises me even more when I recall that You Are (Not) Alone has not had these kind of problems. In this case, there ... Jun 8, 2010
“Happiness doesn’t walk up to me,
so I have to walk there to make it mine.” In 2007, Gainax treated fans of the 90’s anime with the release of Evangelion 1.0. The although the first film was enjoyable enough, it offered little more than crisper visuals compared to the original series, and understandably, some saw it as simply another attempt to further milk the franchise. Two years later, Hideaki Anno and Co. prove once again that they’ve still got their magic by unleashing the beast known as Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance. With the premise of the show already (re)established in the previous movie, the second ... Jun 1, 2010
If you haven't seen the original Evangelion TV-series nor the first Rebuild-film, go watch them now. If you would like to read a potent critical view on the newest effort by Studio Khara and Gainax, read Liberal's rant a few reviews below. And if you feel like you're up to hearing another fanboy declaring his newfound love for this legendary mecha-anime, then read on.
As I'm sure you know since you're reading this, You Can (Not) Advance is a follow-up to 2007's You Are (Not) Alone, the first installment in a series of four films re-telling the original TV-anime from 1995. And whereas "Not Alone" was ... Sep 29, 2010
I literally hate reviewing Evangelion. It's one of those series that you have to fully understand to enjoy it the most. Many people fail to do it. They tend to see only the shallow part of this show - mecha battles and romance (?) between some characters. Wrong. But it's not my cup of tea (yet) to change your mind on that dear fellas ;].
The first series was... a success. That's what most would say about it. It sold itself well enough to earn for two more movies (Death and Rebirth/EoE). All fine and well, but GAINAX did not stop on that. They are the ... May 30, 2010
So, I've heard that this film lost out to Summer Wars in many festivals. Now, if that was a fair assessment, then Summer Wars must be one of the greatest movies ever made, because Evangelion 2.0 has set a new bar. Never in my life have I seen such great animation, this beautiful mix of 2D and 3D by sheer technical prowess has left other anime in the dust. Also, it is still one of the greatest stories ever told in anime. The subtle reimagining of the characters is brilliant, although I think it went a bit too far in making the characters more likable.
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Jun 23, 2010
I know many won't like this review, but I'm going to say my feelings anyway. However, I will point out that I'm looking at this in comparison to the TV series as I haven't read the manga.
Firstly, the story. Continuation of the first Eva movie, where we are introduced to Asuka and Mari (who I'll get onto later) and Angel's continue to attack Tokyo-3. However (without revealing spoilers), it gets very messy later, with Shinji having to save the day, although not as you'd expect. The problem with this is that it doesn't go into nearly as much depth as the TV series. Yes, the ... May 25, 2010
Evangelion 2.0 is the second part of the rewrite of the popular NGE series, dubbed the "Reubuild" of Eva. It picks up after 1.0 and episode 8 or so of the original series. Now I remember watching 1.0 and I wasn't particularly impressed with it. Sure it had new shiny animation, soundtrack and so on, but it didn't really bring anything new to the table. In fact it followed the original series painstakingly to the mark, so it made me kinda skeptical about the whole rewrite aspect of this 4-part series. In hindsight, it was probably for the best since 1.0 slowly eases us back
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Sep 5, 2009
Some people may already know this, but the original Evangelion series is my favorite anime of all time. I often consider it and End of Evangelion (yeah, screw the original TV ending) to be landmarks in anime story-telling and character development. When I first saw the first movie in the Rebuild of Evangelion series, I thought it was a great movie, but I thought this new series would never reach the peaks that the original series did. Having watched this second film, You Can (Not) Advance, I revoke that statement. This new series has proved to be just as thought provoking
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Jul 31, 2015
There are many English idioms about third attempts. Third time lucky, third time's the charm, and I'm sure there's a third one. The first time you try something, you inevitably screw up because you've never done it before. The second time you have a better grasp of what you're doing but perhaps haven't developed the expertise yet. Surely this next time around, you'll be able to get it right?
"Evangelion 2.0: You Can(not) Advance" is the second part of Hideaki Anno's third attempt at cracking his popular magnum opus, and he'd better get it right this time. Particularly since he already managed to get it right ... Jul 18, 2017
What is the worst anime of all times? What is the criteria to even consider, a piece of fiction to such an infamous title? Those are questions I hopefully can end up answering, while giving insight to the colossal mess, that is eva 2.0. Many will take certain approach with some reserves, a worst anime of all times discussion usually is only warranted to a certain type of titles. You probably know them by now, those ultra-trashy, low budget ovas, the likes of mars of destruction, skelter heaven, garzeys wing (at least that is because everybody flipped their shit, whenever I tried to argue shows
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May 26, 2010
Ok let me just say right off the bat this is by far one of the most amazing anime movies I have ever seen. Normally, I do not like anime movies. There are very few exceptions to this rule for example Howl's moving castle, Girl who leaps through time etc, but this movie got me more hyped up than I have ever been in a very long time.
The story is fantastic, it kept me engaged through out the entire movie. The are is simply amazing, all of the characters look awesome and the details in the backgrounds, evas, and cities are top notch. ... Nov 14, 2017
Evangelion 2.0 is where the descent of the Evangelion brand begins. The plot is nonsensical from beginning to end. The movie appears to have no sense of purpose or direction other than exhaust all of its budget in a few select fight scenes and spend the rest of its time haphazardly trying to be a standard slice of life anime. It's honestly hard to stomach. The only redeeming factor is the ending, which is a complete rip off of episode 18 from the series. To its credit, it is better done here than in episode 18. However, this does not make up for the other
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Feb 6, 2014
Let's get one thing straight. Evangelion was the first anime I ever watched (talk about jumping in at the deep end), and so the element of bias is gonna be there. That said, I gave Eva (The original series and End of Eva) an 8, so while I do like it, I don't LOVE it. My problems were three-fold with the original show: The ending sucked (both of them), the animation is dated and shinji was an absolute LOSER. Seriously, that kid needed a slap! 2.0, however, both fixes my problems with the original show, and builds upon the solid base 1.0 set down. Boy,
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