Evangelion Movie 3: Q

[Spoilers obviously]

I saw Rebuild 3.0 about a month ago, and during that time I didn't think much of it. It was just another movie in the series, and I didn't analyze it to any significant extent. The action was intense, the plot seemed interesting at the time, the animation quality was superb.
Recently however (coinciding with the UTW BD subs release), there has been an influx of discussion posts about 3.0, and I figured that there had to be a reason for such a community reaction to the movie; there must be more to think about. So I went to re-watch the movie again with a ... bit more acuity and that's when I came to a conclusion:

The movie was a huge cop-out.

Evangelion 3.0 answered no questions. I am in no way exaggerating when I say that the movie was better at taking away things that we previously knew rather than clarifying anything for us in the Rebuild series. This is itself is not a bad aspect of the movie, as it can be attributed to two things

a) Studio Khara wants us to ask a lot of questions and get curious so that we'll buy 4.0

b) Anno is trying to be clever and allow the viewers to emulate Shinji's confusion after 14 years in sleep by giving the viewers that same confusion.

The second option seems much more likely, and in such a case I could say that it was executed well. Shinji probably had no idea what in the world was going on during the entire movie, and I can reciprocate that feeling. If I had to make a list of everything that was left unanswered or simply pulled out of Khara's ass, it would have to be:

1. Why did there have to be a 14 year time skip? The teaser at the end of 2.0 did not imply a time skip in any way and I don't think there was even a need for such a long one. I expected the story to pick up immediately after Kaworu speared Shinji and it could have easily done so with much less clumsy exposition ("Hey Shinji, let's play play Shogi. Oh yeah by the way your mom is the soul of Unit 01 and all Reis are clones of your mom. Oh, and you suck at Shogi.")

2. Why was everyone a dick to Shinji when at the end of 2.0 it seemed like everyone was fine with him going all out and even egged him on? It was also clear at the end of 2.0 that Shinji did not cause enough damage to obliterate the Geofront as shown in 3.0, as Kaworu stopped him beforehand and everyone had evacuated to a shelter of some sort. The desolate wastelands and weird spinning moons and chalices were never explained and were most certainly not Shinji's fault (as the teaser in the end of 2.0 shows a clear afternoon sky and a calm Geofront shortly after Shinji gets speared).

3. Why did WILLE need to break from NERV? It was not NERV's fault that Shinji's supposed Third Impact happened, and it's not like anyone knew of Gendo's Human Instrumentality plan (which I assume was already on the way, because Kaworu seemed prepared enough). There's doesn't seem to have been a need for Misato to have broken from NERV, as NERV wasn't doing anything wrong. It feels like the existence of WILLE in 3.0 is just there to give a conflict without any real depth.

4.What's the significance of having the two spears be Longinus types? How does that even happen and why in the world did that make a difference?

5. Was there any reason to have Unit 06 to contain the Twelfth Angel? I thought Kaworu was pretty comfortable using Unit 06 and I'm not sure why the Twelfth Angel would even be needed to start Instrumentality. Also, how did Kaworu "fall" from the first Angel (which is supposed to be Adam) to the Twelfth Angel and why did that make a difference? Heck, I'll go as far as to say that the entire scene at the bottom of the Geofront was just pulled out of Khara's ass, there was literally no context for anything (Lilith is dead for some reason. Just go with it, we're not going to explain.)

Those are just five big ones that I named off the top of my head, but I'm sure there are plenty of other plot holes and unexplained things that I'm missing. 3.0 definitely had the well-choreographed fight scenes and beautiful animation to surpass it's predecessors in spectacle, but it was just that: spectacle. Every significant plot device (WILLE and Wunder, two Lances of Longinus, Adam's Vessel, etc.) just appeared out of thin air and was force-fed into our minds at a lightning-fast rate.

Of course I don't go into anything in the Evangelion franchise expecting answers. In fact, answers are the opposite of what I usually expect from anything Evangelion. However, there is a difference between using unanswered questions in context with previously known facts to generate suspense and curiosity and just taking a bunch of haphazard ideas, animating them, and throwing them in no particular order or significance into a movie that was three years in the making. In fact, I walked into 3.0 fully anticipating a high level of suspense and ambiguity. I would have left satisfied, but instead all I got was Studio Khara telling me, "Hey, everything that we told you before doesn't mean shit. Now here, take all of these incidental plot lines and characters that we just came up with and expect you to care about with no context and go enjoy yourself a movie."

In fact, none of these things would even have effected me if it weren't for my biggest peeve with the movie: the way Rei was treated. Okay, sure I can buy that original Rei wasn't salvaged from Unit 01. But don't try to play off this new Rei clone as being developed in some way and expect us to care about her or feel anything when she makes the supposedly miraculous decision and decides to eject from Unit 09. No Hideaki Anno, we've spent two movies geting to know the first Rei and seeing her develop from the stoic white-haired nonchalant to a character that can actually warm up and make Shinji happy. It's perfectly fine if she gets killed off for shock factor and for another burden on Shinji's conscience, but that in no way works if you simply introduce another stoic white-haired nonchalant and try to develop her in the same way. Let me guess, this Rei dies/disintegrates/becomes an Instrumentality Trigger too? Big deal.

Maybe I had too many expectations of the movie. Maybe I shouldn't have gone into 3.0 with security in my thoughts. Maybe I'm simply not watching it properly or maybe I even missed everything important in the movie (What more can there be? We already know that the all the imagery and symbolism is just there to look flashy). But even if I had a complete and 100% understanding of everything that could have led up to and been in the movie (which is not really the intention of the Evangelion series, and is probably not possible), 3.0 still had a lazy and bullshit execution of a plot. Sure, anyone can go ahead and tell me that I am meant to be confused all I want, but a line must be drawn between confusing your viewers intentionally and failing to make a cohesive and coherent storyline.

TL;DR: Hideaki Anno pulled 3.0 out of Khara's ambiguous (albeit well-animated) ass.

Ah, Evangelion. I like to consider myself something of an Evangelion fanboy. I loved the first two rebuild movies so much, I went back and watched the original series as well as EOE. I bored to death anyone who would listen to my numerous theories and explanations behind the recurring symbolism and the less "cohesive" sections. And most of all, I would never pass up a chance to illustrate my excitement for the next rebuild movie. I spent four years waiting for the release, and another 4-5 months for the BDs. I watched, I took in, I digested, I frowned.

This wasn't what I was waiting ... for.

Evangelion 3.0 (technically I watched 3.33, but that's irrelevant) takes place a whole fourteen years after the events of 2.22. Shinji finds himself a prisoner of the anti-NERV organization Wille, led by his old friend Misato and countless other acquaintances. What was expected to be a happy, warm welcome turns out to be a cold rejection, as the entire crew seems to hold a grudge against Shinji for doing something terrible that he doesn't remember doing. From here on is a roller-coaster ride that will play with your mind and crush your preconceptions.

Not in a good way, mind you, but it will.

Every single character has changed, as to be expected after fourteen years. But the fact is that why they have changed ironically remains a mystery to Shinji until nearly half-way through the film. People frequently refuse to offer him an explanation for no good reason, seemingly only to make him (and the viewer) more and more confused. There is also no explanation of what happened within those fourteen years to bring the characters to where they currently are, and some very important characters (such as Gendo) are given such incredibly short roles that it's positively stupefying. A few terms are tossed around so liberally and then never used again (Key of Nebudchanezzar? L barrier?) and the climax of the movie was a haphazard (from my perspective) mess, nearly impossible to follow and increasingly difficult to care about. I watched and understood EOE, but ironically, this is what stumps me.

It's a good thing there are redeeming factors.

The art and animation are fantastic; not as good as the previous movies, of course, but still most definitely exceptional. The liberal use of CG distracts from it, but what is here is eye-catching, jaw-dropping, and simply brilliant. The sound is of similar caliber, but it's relegated to the side in the movie; I would not listen to a single song on this OST without visual accompaniment, which is truly a shame, as many songs on 2.22's OST were fantastic while standalone. The only exception to this is the ending theme, Sakura Nagashi, which captures the feel of the movie incredibly well, and shows why Utada Hikaru is very deserving of her widespread acclaim. Voice acting continues to set a high standard, particularly Megumi Ogata's performance as Shinji, which I thought was very well done and brought me farther into an otherwise broken movie.

The characters, on the other hand, do not deserve the same amount of praise, in my opinion. The interactions between Shinji and Kaworu were well executed and definitely entertaining to watch, but that's as far as I can go. Mari is a completely unnecessary character, and doesn't contribute anything of value to the overall story. Misato's new character isn't explored nearly enough, and is frequently very off-putting. Ritsuko has no role other than to deliver exposition, and Gendo's has about five lines in the entire movie and shares Misato's problem. Rei has been reset to, well, rei (I'm sorry), and has lost all of her characterization from the second film. And Asuka, well, I'm not sure what to say about her. That's the problem, really. Her character wasn't really developed or explored, but what was there wasn't taken away, and I at least appreciate that. Other than that, there isn't much to say.

Out of all the Rebuild movies, I believe that 3.0 is the closest to the original's psychological themes, even going so far as to say that it's trying to emulate them. But if that's the case, then it's failing spectacularly. There is no real psychology to see here, and the original series wasn't known just for being confusing. There was a message, an overarching story-line, characterization. This movie has none of these things. It is simply confusing, and just being confusing does not Neon Genesis Evangelion make.

There is much more that needs to be added.

I don't usually go into a movie expecting high things, and the things I've heard about this movie threw my expectations up in the sky and below in the darkest part of the ocean. When I went into this movie, I honestly didn't have any expectations. They were thrown around so much, I wasn't prepared for really anything. But, in the end, perhaps it took too many risks and it wasn't very coherent to what the other movies seemed to be building towards (which, is arguably a good thing) but ultimately failed to build towards to something worthwhile either.

STORY -

First, I want to ... talk about the story. This movie takes place 14 years after Evangelion 2.22, which--felt pretty gimmicky to be perfectly honest. I think this could have been handled well given the time...but it just came across as a rushed idea thrown in for some separation from the rest of the franchise. It would have been really cool to have seen a grown up Asuka, Rei, Mari and a young Shinji thrown into this new world full of total strangers that ultimately look down on him. It would have made for better chemistry with some of the other new characters. Secondly, the movie just doesn't make any sense. I didn't know what was going on. It didn't explain how Kaworu came into being, why Misato is in conflict with Gendo, why the world was even destroyed by an impact we have no real understanding of--much less explain the very confusing ending of 2.22 (which I'm still scratching my head over the details). It doesn't look like we'll get any explanation for any of these, and there's a lot more that I'm sure won't get explained. Eva is not one to hand answers on a silver platter, but it at least gives you something to go on. This threw new rules into the mix and it came across as unusually confusing for Eva as well as just plain sloppy in the story department. There is a fourteen year time gap between Evangelion 2.22 and 3.0 and yet there is no real sense of what happened in that fourteen year interim. Shinji seems confused, but even at the end of the film he still seems confused. There just wasn’t room in an hour and a half movie to tell the story they were trying to tell. Even Evangelion should not be excused for this. The movie was also pretty dull. With scenes involving star gazing and playing the piano and playing board games and trying to convince Rei to read books (despite the fact that Rei liking reading books was never even established in ANY form of Evangelion in the past)... The movies pacing was very fast, but also very bland. A lot of nothing happened, but a lot happened. It made it so that even the climax at the end was so un-compelling and quickly done, it seemed like a joke. The only part in the entire movie I felt was exciting was the first six minutes in space. Oh, and of course... There was the dreadful “exploding collar” plot device. Which was put on Shinji by Misato of all people and later removed... But instead of actually disposing of the collar, another character puts it on for some pointless reason in a fit of insanity I suppose. It’s decisions like these that make me stop believing these characters exist. Which Eva has never really been able to do before, I’ll give this story that. Also, the psychological nature of these Rebuild movies has been almost completely eradicated. There was one scene with Shinji tripping on acid for almost no reason... But these movies keep proving to me Anno had no idea what made the original series so special. There is no sacrifice. Kaworu’s introduction and conclusion is pointless. Shinji’s ultimate decision is also unrealistically foolish, even for him... I thought this was supposed to be a coming of age story? And yet... I’m not getting any of that from this movie. It’s boring action after boring action after mistake.

ART –

The art doesn’t feel like Evangelion. The character designs are slightly different now. The contour of the face on Shinji for example is more warped. The art design actually looks like it’s weaving its way towards Gurren Lagann. Especially with “Leeron Ritsuko”. The new character designs are abysmal, pink haired random girl with big lips... I’m looking at you. But there’s also the addition of the hulking beard guy, weird afro dude and latino girl... The only positive addition was that of Touji’s sister Sakura, who looks like she could easily slip into the Eva cast no problem. But for the most part, these characters are so unmemorable it’s kind of sad. Especially since Eva is known for it’s cast of diverse character designs. These new additions don’t even look like they’re from Eva. They look just like dropped character concepts for another anime. In fact, the whole movie’s art doesn’t feel like Eva. Gone are the heavy mech battles of the End of Evangelion, gone even the flashy flips of 2.22... The battles in this movie were not very well choreographed and were just kind of there. The camera angles Anno is so well known for, weren’t that good. One scene in particular, when Kaworu and Shinji were playing the piano utilized still frame shots and cheap, noticeable 3d animation. Another sign the movie was rushed in production and while some of the new designs were interesting, they really did not seem like the characters had grown fourteen years older, merely gone on a bad trip to the hairdresser. It’s disappointing seeing as these new Rebuild movies are supposed to be so outstanding in the animation department. Hopefully some of these problems will be fixed in the final version of the release since studio Kahara has a nasty habit of patching animation hitches later on. The color pallets remain nice, and some scenes are very well done however.

CHARACTERS –

Mari, Mari, Mari. Beloved for no reason. And continues to disappoint. Her blatant existence for nothing but fan service is made abundantly clear in this film when her breasts flapped like two rag dolls attached to the front of her chest near the ending of the movie. I was expecting her to transform above her generic “Mari Sue” and become a true member of the Eva cast, though she was reduced to nothing more than a busty fanservice sidekick for Asuka. Speaking of Asuka, she and the rest of the crew at Willie have an irrational hatred for Shinji which wasn’t justified given that Asuka hardly knew him--and Misato was so eager to cheer him on in the last movie. The characters are in fact...SO different from their 2.22 counterparts and their transformation so unjustified, it comes down to nothing more than poor writing. One of the advantages that the original Evangelion movie: the End of Evangelion had, was that it had characters who people had grown to love and know through out 26 episodes of the television series. Their relationships had been built, and while they might fight sometimes, they still obviously cared for one another. This movie brings new characters to the harem, including Touji’s underdeveloped younger sister who has maybe three lines of dialogue. What was the point? The cast of Willie... The latino woman, the bearded guy, the pink annoying Gurren Lagann character? What was the point? Perhaps they intend to develop these characters further in the final movie. But there’s just no time to do that. The characters that were newly introduced in the last film, don’t get developed in this one. Mari and Asuka aren’t touched upon. Kaji died off screen. Kensuke and Touji died off screen! What was the purpose in the last two movies? All these characters were left unresolved. Introduced for no reason. Suspended in writer’s hell. Rei’s now back to her robotic state and is a throw away. Gendo likewise just did nothing (some things never change I suppose) and Seele even less. While the relationship between Kaworu and Shinji is sweet, it’s a lot of fluff really. In the original series, part of the reason Shinji is so taken with Kaworu is that he’s a sweet guy who’s there when Shinji really needs a friend, because his whole world has just been turned upside down. That is the case in this movie as well, but the desperation of Shinji’s situation is kind of marginalized by the hopeful nature of these scenes. It feels like Shinji is on vacation. In the series there’s none of this. Of course the greatest sin this movie commits is the massacre of Misato. Venomous, unwilling to listen or care, she has been warped off screen by 14 years of loathing for Shinji. The only mercy she shows is slight bits of hesitation about KILLING Shinji. The whole movie probably wouldn’t have happened if her character wasn’t so different. If she sat with Shinji, asked his some questions, they talked and hugged it out... None of the events in the movie would have taken place. In fact, none of the events in the movie actually matter in the outcome. It’s THE MOST unjustified change the movie makes to the cast. And it’s unforgivable. She was the character to ground the rest of the characters, and now she’s a simple antagonistic bi*ch. She was one of my favorites. Now she’s one of my least favorites. I hate hating characters I love.

SOUND –

The music was fantastic! I just don’t think it was used very well in this movie. In the climax, it was one song after another and really didn’t do anything for me. That being said, the music itself was moving and quite extraordinary with songs like Ode to Joy and Wrath of God in All it’s Fury (but again, used pointlessly and Ode to Joy only as a callback to the original series and nothing more). Voice acting pulls it’s way in the lead with Shinji being AMAZINGLY well performed by Megumi Ogata. The rest of the cast likewise, astonishing in all its beauty. The new actors for Sakura and the rest of Willie were also good, though they were not in it long enough for me to tell just how good. Sound effects are nice as well. Click and bleeps where they should be in the ship. But honestly, who watches anything for the sound effects?

ENJOYMENT and OVERALL –

Despite all the negative things I’ve said so far about this movie, it isn’t all that bad. It’s actually better than 2.22 in my opinion! It’s still fun to watch when the Eva units are zooping around doing their thing. It’s also interesting to see a new world ravaged by time. AND IT’S A BREATH OF FRESH AIR TO HAVE A NEW STORY! Thank god for that! There was SO much potential here. But the movie was far too slow. I would have liked to have seen more heavenly battles of epic proportions since it would have made this movie a lot more interesting to watch... Even if that’s not what Eva’s been about for years. Instead, it tried to do something different this time, and it really didn't work.

Evangelion 3.0 you can not (redo) haha fitting title for such a mediocre movie of evangelion don't get me wrong l don't hate the rebuilds they are rather enjoyable and fun
but 3.0 trys to hard to be the original and fails in that aspect let me tell you why



Story 5/10 ohh the story how awful you are :/ the 14 year time skipped was an awful plot point to begin with and nothing is literally explained in this film what happened after shinji saved rei in 2.0 nope he didn't old rei is dead and another clone is to take ... her place this movie puts you into shinji's shoes. Anno you don't have to focus on shinji throughout the whole movie you can switch perspectives to another point this whole plot is confusing as hell common excuse ohhhh original evangelion was like that no not really if you sat down and thought about what you saw you understood it well l did anyway anyway i don't wanna give away too much on to the art.



Art 8/10 one of the nicest things about the rebuilds is how good the animation is like fuck l know that they milked this series of the original but l am still seriously impressed the action scenes are fantastic for the movie and the characters desgins are very cool as well except for misatos.... and gendo's anyhow the art is one of the highest points of the show onto the sound.

sound 8/10
Ahh the sound l love the music in 3.0 its seriously one of the best sound tracks l have heard in an ost here is a youtube link to my favourite ost in the movie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r49GgrC0_EY
yes the ost suits the action and does its job and l love it now onto the worst part of the movie........

Characters 4/0
Jesus fuck what the fuck did they do to my beloved misato well she wasn't very good in the rebuilds in general but still the movie gives us no explanation about what the fuck shinji did wrong asuka is more of a cunt with a less justified reason without her tragic back story mari dosen' do shit again and mari is just mari shinji is the only good character in the whole movie all the characters are butchered and soulless it really hurts saying this ....
the relationship between shinji and kaworu is still nice and its probably one of the highest points of the show to me dat piano scene lol anyway the characters are all awful except for shinji really upsetting l know :C anyway onto enjoyment.


Enjoyment 8/0 despite the shit characters and story this movie is still a very fun movie to watch l highly recommend grabbing some buddies and having a beer while watching the movie as its very big block buster popcorn material i have seen this movie 4 times btw its very rewatchable and still very enjoyable.


overall 5/10 Despite the nice animation and amazing music that does not save this movie the characters suck the story sucks for evangelion at least really upsetting to me at least hopefully 4.0 is better anyway thanks for reading my review. :D

Evangelion 3.0 is certainly has fans squarely divided. Some will even go as far to say this is either a love it or hate it film. However, is this film as bad many would tell you? To be honestly that is completely up to you but I will give you my opinions on this whole ordeal.

This movie takes place nearly fourteen years after the events of the last film. While the Third Impact was nearly averted it still had some lasting effects on the world. Now it been almost half a decade and the world is still bitter and slowly rebuilding. War is now ... being waged not only between humanity and the Angels but of Wille and Nerv. Plenty were turned off by the numerous changes from the previous film and by extension the original series. This film really does separate the Rebuild movies apart from the rest of the franchise. However this isn’t necessary something to cheer about. It feels that the time-skip was just there to give the franchise a face-lift as oppose there actually being meaning behind it. Why did they make such a big leap ahead in time? Couldn’t they just have done two or three years? I mean as much I adore everyone’s new looks don’t really see why such a huge time-skip necessary?

This is a surprising dark film and that saying much giving the source material and leaves only a glimmer of hope. This is also not as much action as the last film with the film giving more attention to the plot and characters. Shinji eventually wakes up obviously all lost and confused much to like we the viewers are. He thrown into new world where he is completely unfamiliar with and he doesn’t know who to trust or to turn to. Everyone blames him for the current state on the world and the majority of them are cleaning up after his mess regardless of whether it was intentional or not. Even those who were previously all for him don’t give much more than a glance. That is where Kaowru comes in and become what is essentially his guiding light through it all. One of the film’s few strengths is that it all about Shinji and his plight to the cope with the consequences of his actions. That in life even when you’re doing what you believe is right that it doesn't always guarantee that it will turn out for the best. We really don’t get much development from the rest of the cast and especially many of the new characters. To say that many of the new characters don’t really leave much of an impression is an understatement. I don’t remember or care whatever their names were. Almost forgot to mention Mari who really adds nothing to this film really save for the usual witty banter and of course the fan-service. Which is sad really because we really don’t know much about her.

The Rebuild movies continues to impress with its stunning visuals as you can really feel that effects of the Third Impact and its consequences. All the new character designs really do separate this film from the rest of the franchise but in a good way. I especially love all the new mecha designs present here and to see them in battle was a feast for the eyes. Shiro Sagisu's score proves just how lighting can strike twice. The music really does wonders to a already good film acting as a necessary supplement as it should be. The ending theme especially is quite beautiful and really gives me to the feels. Then again I expected nothing less from Utada Hikaru who became famous for her work the Kingdom Hearts franchise.

This movie gives you plenty of questions and not many answers and by the end you are still in bewilderment. This is glaring problem with the film and is many of the reasons why the movie incites so much anger from people including myself. By the end, none of our questions are answered and the lot of us will be left scratching our heads wondering the heck just happened. Hopefully the people at Studo Khara know what they are doing.

To put it mildly, this film was not quite the masterpiece as the last two films. To many unanswered questions and was quite literally a mess. There were moments where I genuinely enjoyed this film though. I was generally interested in main character’s struggle to right his wrongs and the huge spectacle the movie presents. However, this is sadly one of the movie few strengths. While the last two films try to consolidate the story of the original this films tells an almost entirely new story. Helping this film franchise feel more than just a mere reboot. Overall this is not worst film I've seen but not necessary a great one. It look and sounds great though I'll give it that. Now we have to wait who knows how long until the next film and hopefully it clean the mess that was this film.

Considering the cult following of Evangelion, this review is more from an objective point of view. It will be short and brief with as little spoilers as I can possibly make it.

Story:
This movie seems to almost discount what happened in the first two movies and the viewer is left completely in the dark as to what's going on. Nothing seems to make sense and it begs for another movie. (Reminds me of the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie, lots of action, no idea what's going on, gotta wait till the next one)

Art:
Amazing (as expected from a big budget and a ridiculous ... amount of time to make)

Sound:
Amazing (as expected from a big budget and a ridiculous amount of time to make)

Character:
Just like the story, there is no character development. It doesn't explain things, and it begs the question, why are you watching it (other than because you are a fan or you've watched the other two)

Overall:
I honestly cannot say this is a good movie. The character development is terrible, it discounts the first two movies. The story is confusing because it leaves the viewer in the dark making me wonder what their original idea was for this movie was. The "previews" they showed ended up not being in the final cut at all. Overall, the art and music is what saves this movie from being a complete "why do I care about watching it other than it being an eva movie?" If it didn't have it's amazing art, sound, and brand "Evangelion" this movie could be passed on as a B list or C list movie.

Opinion (spoilers, kinda, you've been warned?):
I am hoping the fourth explains a lot. It annoyed me quite a bit that everyone in this movie is an a**hole without explaining anything till about an hour into the movie to a clueless main character that has been in a coma the whole time (honestly can't stress this enough). The character development, there really is none other than the one friendship the main character gains in the movie. If anything, it's more of a character underdevelopment and the main character regressed beyond the first movie (so I guess that's a development?) Sorry if you are a hardcore eva fan and dislike this review, I tried to review this solely as a movie in a quadrilogy instead of as a fan of the Eva series or hater of the Eva series. People should be honest with themselves instead of giving 10 star ratings on series or movies that really don't deserve it.

Wow the Evangelion Rebuild Duology was awesome, right guys? What an ending! Kaworu piercing Unit 1 with the lance of longinus, preventing the third impact and saving the world for good. Full credit should go to the writers for ending the series in a way that satisfied everyone this time.

For some reason some people have started trolling us by pretending that a 3rd film for the series has been released called "Evangelion 3.0 You can (not) redo" But I can confirm this is all lies. It was a two film series that ended.

Repeat after me everyone: "There was no Eva 3.0, There was ... no Eva 3.0, There was no Eva 3.0, There was no Eva 3.0, There was no Eva 3.0........."

*Cries himself to sleep* "What did you do to Eva?" *sobs* "Why?, Why?" *Sobs*

The story is ok and plot holes for our cash for next movie but the most thing i hate is the art but animation is really good though but it seems they rely on cgi way too much in the movie. The character design and looks aren't good it look like your typical mainstream modern look which doesn't fit well because of the sharp edge look design and also character exsperesion look cartoony like i can't even tell if its drama or comedy like asuka giving a corny piss off face look. Its like star war episode 3 revenge of the sith were story is ... good but some part doesn't look right or doesn't belong. Music score eehhh its there Shiro Sagisu direction is like lets make it cool with guitar riff and shit but there some part that felt epic in it like the begining part of the fighting scene with the vocal and orchestra which felt like your iconic evagelion vibe.

Overall it felt like a cashcow money grab but feel like a mixture rating of a 5 or 6/10

I'll be honest here, the first time i watched NGE a month ago, I bought the concept of 'Neon Genesis' of the world brought through Evangelion units and thought it was pretty damn cool, but after plowing through the whole series, End of Evangelion, and then THIS, It left a pretty bad taste in my mouth.


First, the story is haphazardly paced, but i think that was obvious from the way they handled the final fight in 2.0 - so go figure. The movie makes VERY little attempt to bridge the gap between the abrupt ending where Shinji gets speared with the Longinus by Kaworu ... and the events leading up to the situation in 3.0 - to the disdain of many rebuild fans.

How about the trend of Anno being incredibly cryptic with his stories ?You will find that his realization is still going on strong here - the climax sequence of the film was pretty much End Of Evangelion 0.5. Let me tell you, there is nothing wrong with being cryptic in a narrative, but one should do it a manner that complements the story - obviously Evangelion has never done its storytelling in a satisfying fashion so it's a big minus. The rule of thumb is: it's entertainment, and you ( the producers ) are supposed to narrate the story - by using any means - in a fashion that is deemed comprehensible and entertaining by the END of the story. By saying this, No , i do not believe audiences have to be spoonfed with information every single time they are seated - a good story is where elements and plot points are revealed in tandem with the pace of the story. That's all that is asked for out a story, to be honest.

I could go on but this just 3.0. so many things may be answered by the final so again, here's to me hoping things will clear up.

This is a major problem, among many in the movie and here's to me hoping that the revelation in the final will be substantial and conclusive.

Props go to the characterization of Kaworu Nagisa and his interaction between Shinji, as he was probably the only person who was not harassing Shinji [for being a wimp]. In the original, this Child always had the feel of being tacked on to the final stretch of the show and simply felt too rushed as a character to fit in the story. In this rebuild however he did his role nicely as an 'apologist got Shinji' -- whom is always afraid and is need of guidance through his life. Kaworu was the only person Shinji could lean on and have no doubts about - a refreshing break from all the angst and emotion from the first half of the movie. It was a good feat of characterization altogether , though there seems to be no other way to make him a more realized character.


I always loved the design of the EVA units and the way they did the 3D renders of the fight sequences, albeit very draggy at times. They rarely felt out of place and fit nicely into the visuals of Evangelion overall.

The original Evangelion had the best OST and it's not wrong of them to just remix and rehash them for the purpose of the movie; the pieces sounded fitting and had its own trademark tunes to itself.

Overall, I thought Rebuild would've been a more coherent alternate to the original, but awesome visuals and animation alone can(not) save this movie.

Cheers

Now, since this movie hasn't been seen by a lot of people, I going to keep my review somewhat vague. Let's just say I was disappointed. After seeing the masterpiece that was 2.0, I was expecting a lot from 3.0, and boy was I let down! For the story, its been 14 years since the events that happened at the end of 2.0 and a LOT has changed. I'm not going to spoil it but let's just say that for how much has changed, not a lot really happens in this installment, and it seems to be almost like the filler movie of the series. ... Also, I sure hope you didn't care about pretty much every key character in 1.0 and 2.0, because they are barely featured. Misato, Asuka, Rei and several others are pushed to the side when really as an audience we want to see them and how they have changed in those 14 years, but we don't get that. Since there is a timeskip, there's barely any character development, Shinji is back to his old self, and like I said before, the key characters from the last 2 movies get barely any screentime, all the development happened within those 14 years we didn't get to see. We are introduced to two new characters, but I'm using "introduced" in the loosest sense here. As always, the animation is quite good, the music is nice, and I actually liked the interactions between Shinji and Kaworu during the middle of the movie, so there is some good here. Overall, nice art, but terrible story.

Evangelion 3.33 You Can (Not) Redo Review


Story (2/10) Dreadful

The story in 3.33 is huh... well let's just say it's not as bad as the end of the original Evangelion where all that insane inside mentality montage of shinji's brain was played for us for a dreadfully long and confusing time to conclude it's story but this doesn't fall too far from the tree. The story does begin with a time-skip which in this case can be looked at as a bad thing seeing that the pacing of the first two movies in my opinion were quite well put together. So when you start off with ... a time-skip and FOURTEEN YEARS into the future it can raise a lot of questions. Yes we and Shinji our shitty MC has a lot of questions and guess what you ain't gettin none of them answered. For majority of the movie basically all we know is that how the end of the 2.22 end wit that climatic ending started a great impact which fucked up there home quite a lot. All Shinji was trying to do is save Rei and we find out that he failed.... miserably apparently and I think he died in the process? I'm not sure (like I said before they don't really explain anything) and I assume he is revived at the start of this movie where is former crew let's him kinda KINDA know what went down and that it is 14 years into the future. He get's pissed off that all of his questions aren't being answered, gets even more pissed when they tell him that there's nothing he can do about it (which if he couldn't do anything about it then why did they even revive him? why did it take 14 years? why this? why that? WHY WHY WHY? So many questions left unanswered or at least not explained well) and he gets even more pissed when his former crew basically ignores him and locks him away in this room with an explosive collar on him. Now I'm not defending Shinji (I hate him just as much as the next guy) but his crew I felt definitely handled this the wrong way because if you know Shinji by now his emotions will always get the best of him and when push came to shove (the eva bursting through his room to take him away) I'm not surprise he went full fuck-boi and ran off with them because 1) Shinji's he a emotion filled little cry baby (we all know this) and 2) His former crew were handling him like he is an animal (and rightfully so because he's a fuck-boi but that's besides the point they should have known that this is how he would have reacted or more these 14 years made them forget how much of a retard Shinji is..) anyway I'm not going to rant on anymore about how the plot for this movie was handled because that's just the icing on the cake I'm not going to get into the whole "I gotta pull out the two red spears even though everyone, my grandma and my gay lover boyfriend pilot is telling me not to do it" event. The story is Dreadful and I have no clue how part 4 is going to save this shit.


Art and Animation (10/10) Outstanding

The art style and animation is something that has always being straight up fire in these movies for Evangelion and regardless how you feel about the story, characters or anything else, you gotta be a blind retard to say this shit doesn't look outstanding.


Sound (10/10) Masterpiece

The music, sound effects and voice acting (English Dub to be exact) are all spot on nothing I found wrong in the section either. I do think that the Asuka voice actor (Tiffany Grant) did a phenomenal performance on Asuka she really gave it her all and I don't think I've heard Asuka ever sound better.


Characters (5/10) Mediocre

Well let's start off with what we (or I) already know, Shinji Ikari is by far on of the worst MCs I've ever encountered in anime and even though the first two movies I felt recover that this one brought it back to good ole fuck-boi Shinji. Asuka I was never a big fan of but I can't deny she was putting in work in this movie. Her attitude has not change which always bothered me about her, but it is what it is. Rei is a dead and bland character (as always) and she's probably more dead and bland than she was before because she can't even remember herself because she's yet another clone of the dead and bland version that we previously knew and in this movie she's vaguely figuring that out but I didn't care and I don't think anyone else did either, it wasn't really focused on and was just there for the sake of being there i guess. Kaworu Nagisa or Shinji's boyfriend as I call him wasn't that annoying I previously remembered him and it looked like he was onto something in this movie but it didn't matter either since that collar he took off of Shinji and put on himself (why? idk stop asking that question..) killed him off FOTNS style. Misato's character I enjoyed in the original adaptation but in 3.33 she is a former shell of herself she's way too uptight and we barely get to see her anyway. The way she handled the whole "Shinji we revived you but you ain't shit and if you try to be shit I'll detonate this collar and blow your head off, ooopps I waited too long to blow your head off cuz we outta range.." thing did not sit well with me. Shinji's father Gendou is apparently all behind this and is closed as ever "pilot the eva shinji!" and last but not least the only character I enjoyed seeing every time she graced the screen Mari Makinami. Mari Makinami is probably the reason why I'm not giving this section a 4/10 she is not only the comedic relief in this dreadful roster of uptight, confused, fuck-boi roster but she puts in work but also trolls the shit out of Asuka's bitch ass throughout the movie because she's Asuka's back-up support unit. I love Mari Makinami when she was introduced in the previous movie and I love her just as much in this one. She probably is the reason why my enjoyment (aside from the sound, art style and animation) is a a 7 and they also throw in some nice fan service here and there with her not enough to be annoying but here and there and when you catch it you like " O.o oh yeahhh".


Enjoyment (7/10) Good

Even though this movie was a hot mess in my opinion, I still enjoyed it for these reasons. In order

1) Mari Makinami
2) Art Style and Animation
3) Sound

Those three (or four what ever) alone kind of off set the dreadful story that this movie brought to the table. And I've already talked about each of those in previous sections so I should have to repeat myself on them.


Overall (6/10) Fair
More Specifically (6.80/10) Fair+

I gave 1.11 an 8.50/10 and 2.22 a 9.00/10. I couldn't find this 3.33 in English dub high quality any fucking where for the longest and it pissed me off because I really did like the two previous movies. So going into this movie yeah I was hyped. And it's sad to see that this movie (from a story standpoint) could not be as good as the previous two. I'll continue to keep up with this since there's only one movie left and who knows how fucking long that'll take before I get to watch that in English High Quality because it took me basically 3 years to finally get my hands on this. I can't bring myself to say this movie was a good movie, it was fair at best the story was way too confusing regardless how good the art style, animation and sound is. It's like having a super sexy bitch yeah that's cool and all but the downside is not only his she actually "a bitch" but she's a retard.. a confusing retard at that.. so 3.33 is basically a super sexy retard bitch.. good day

I am not a giant Evangelion fan. I've seen the TV series and have noticed moments of brilliance, but I was in some ways annoyed with the finished product (especially towards the end). My biggest problem was that the characters were not very likable. They were complex yes, but I didn't feel very connected to Shinji, Asuka, Rae, etc. They seemed to fundamentally lack any sense of pro-activity. Much of the plot consisted of their reactions rather than their actions.

That's not important however, and I only bring this up to clarify my surprise at Evangelion: 2.0, which did something I hadn't expected: It completely won ... me over. 2.0 is fantastic, clearing up nearly all the issues I had with the series. There is not a single character that doesn't improve; Shinji actually shows some integrity and becomes a protagonist I can get behind. Never did I feel that he was unjustified in how he was acting. Rae, surprisingly enough, shows consistent character progression versus the TV series where she too often remained stagnant. By the end of 2.0, it's almost a surprise to think this is the same character from the beginning of the movie. She goes from emotionless and hardly human to a caring person wanting Shinji to be happy. A small change, but very noticeable. Asuka stayed relatively the same but with some important changes. While in the series she was portrayed as egotistical and self-righteous, in 2.0 she comes off as more anti-social. Important dimensions are added to her character as it's hinted that her bombastic personality might not be because of her need for validation, but simply a defense mechanism to cope with her loneliness.

And then EVA 3.0 happened.

Where to start? Well, let's begin by saying much of the foundation laid by the past films are not existent just as much of the positive turns for the characters have been nullified. It really baffles me in some ways: Why have Sinji grow so much in 2.0, just to turn him into a self- loathing angst character again that can't handle the conflicts in this film? Why have Rae develop a personality and have audiences connect with her, just to have us deal all over again with an emotionless Rae? Why hint at feelings of self-denial and loneliness in Asuka, just to have those issues ignored and never addressed again? Why have Misato cheer Shinji on at the end of 2.0, just for her to reject and coldly dismiss him at the beginning of this movie?

If these characters have problems that have changed them - THEN SHOW US. Don't build them up, skip ahead 14 years, and completely change them without explanation. It's not clever, it's nonsensical. Imagine any other show or movie you've seen, can you imagine how frustrating it would be to see the characters just beginning to be fleshed out, only for the plot to move decades ahead in the future. All the open questions you have and all the issues raised with the characters instantly become meaningless because their resolution occurred off screen. Remember Asuka's final lines in the last film, "I can laugh, I didn't know I could"? Well I hope you weren't expecting this to factor into her character at all because it might as well have never been said. Any character development from the first two Evangelion movies have next to zero influence in how anyone acts.

Unfortunately, there are no excuses for Shinji and Rae. Essentially hitting the rewind button on Rae back to her emotionless start with no personality is completely unjustifiable. Rae had already progressed so far in terms of her personality. But no, all that progress is gone. Now meet Rae in 3.0, who is coincidentally exactly like the Rae you knew at the very beginning. Sinji is no better. Him becoming an emotional wreck with no will to live is not shocking anymore, it's pathetic. Does this character have any other dimension to him, or is it all self-loathing? Why make him the least bit competent when all you intend to do is tear down his character again? Shinji is a microcosm for everyone in this film; any development is meaningless because they revert back to their starting point, just to begin the whole process over again - like a dog chasing its tail over and over again.

I understand 1.0 and 2.0 were more character driven while this film is more story driven, my problem is that the former is sacrificed to advance the latter. Misato is the perfect example. Why does she (and everyone else for that matter) have this discontent for Shinji? Okay it's reasonable that she might have some reservations following the end of the last movie, but she was cheering him on. Clearly his mistake in judgement was also her's so why does she (and Asuka) have this passive aggressive attitude towards Shinji? I'll tell you why - because the story was supposed to have Shinji be disillusioned and confused at the beginning as some sort of justification for the decisions he makes afterwards. That's right, the relationship between Shinji and Misato is sacrificed to further a badly planned narrative.

The whole movie stands in stark contrast to the last. The fundamentals of how NERV operates and what its relationship is to the characters is completely changed, and never explained. In fact, barely anything is explained. Asuka and Shinji have not aged a day after 14 years and the only explanation given is some reference to "the curse of EVA". Yeah, sure. All I hear is "we wanted to skip ahead 14 years, but we still needed Shinji and Asuka to stay at age 14 and pilot the EVAs." Don't you think if a machine stopped people from aging they would I don't know, warn them before they became pilots? Because that's kind of an important side-effect.

On top of this, the film is much darker than the second. But darker in EVA means better right?? Well if done properly, yes. But that's not the case here. This isn't a "dark turn" that is properly foreshadowed; the viewer has been thrown into another universe where consequences of the last film have not been dealt with or explained.

I'm sure there are many fans out there that will have a different perspective and will like this film. But for me, many of the reasons why EVA 2.0 won me over to the franchise are either ruined, reversed, or ignored.

This movie concludes the Evangelion reboot trilogy (for now) with a lazy continuation of the abrupt cliffhanger from 2.0. This is such a terrible sequel that I recommend you skip it entirely and spare yourselves the crushing disappointment. I can tolerate the disjointed timelines and hastily written screenplay, but how am I supposed to be satisfied by the trilogy if Shinji never gets to smash? There are three girls who are totally into him: one who lives with him, one who let him grope her in 1.0, and one who came onto him with D-cup jugs. I don’t care if Evangelion 3.0 completely disregards every ... development in the previous two films and lets all questions go unanswered in the end, but they crossed the line by messing with my perfect harem. Not only did Shinji never get any schoolgirl ass, but he also ran away with some sexy silver-haired boy who treated him tenderly and taught him how to play the piano. It’s like Hideaki Anno is deliberately teasing me with this blatantly gay twist. I don’t want a loving boyfriend who wipes Shinji’s tears and shows him true happiness, I want a tsundere girlfriend who calls him stupid and never thanks him for saving her life. Kaworu might be adorable and perfect, but I cannot forgive his intrusion of my harem. The worst kind of torture is having a sliver a hope and watching it get crushed in front of your eyes. That’s what it was like to watch Evangelion 3.0.

Rated 4/10 for insulting me with this careless, indifferent movie. Overall 6/10 for awakening my repressed homosexuality.

(Note: This review may contain some minor spoilers.)

Evangelion 3.0 is ultimately a film that sparks a bit of disappointment in the eyes of big Evangelion fans across the world, myself included. One would assume that after the epic and masterful film that Evangelion 2.0 was, the film following it would deliver a similar feeling of colossal and monumental entertainment of storytelling. Sadly, Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo is a story that throws many of the fans off, and what you receive from it is an average to mediocre installment in the Rebuild series.

The story may very well be the weakest aspect of Evangelion ... 3.0. Out of nowhere, the film throws you into a time skip of exactly fourteen years after the ending of 2.0. After recovering a confused and post-comatose-state Shinji Ikari from space, Misato, Asuka, and the other members of the organization known as WILLE reveal to Shinji that they are fighting against NERV, the EVA organization that Shinji's father runs. Why are they fighting against NERV? That is only one of the many questions that you will ask while watching 3.0. Other questions that may arise from the viewing are questions such as why does Asuka have an eye patch? Why is she operating an EVA in the first place? What happened to SEELE? Why is Rei almost completely mute throughout the film? These unanswered questions as well as the muddled and confusing plot of 3.0 makes for a less enjoyable experience than the past two films, leaving you confused and worried for the finale of the series.

Although I have always loved the characters of Evangelion, I felt as though they were written rather poorly in this latest entry. Shinji who, by the way, is a character that I've always liked and appreciated, is utterly boring in the film, and is shown in the film only as a character who is constantly confused and riddled with questions. Sure, maybe Shinji is a person who tends to ask many questions, but this film only portrays him as a big, walking question mark. Asuka and Mari barely had anytime to shine on screen in this installment, Misato became a wooden and stereotypical anger-filled woman, and Rei is even more of a "girl with a robot's personality" than ever before. The only character worthy of praise in the film was none other than Kawroru, who, just like in the original show, is equally charming and intriguing whenever he is shown.

Evangelion 3.0 has many flaws but also contains a couple of pros to it as well. For one, the soundtrack is still amazing, containing a great blend of classical music, such as works from Beethoven, as well as a great use of rock n' roll for the action scenes. Speaking of the action scenes, they are amazingly directed and epic to look at, causing you to become awestruck by how enormous the scope of the action appears to be in the film. The biggest pro of the film, however, is the many different easter eggs and hidden subtext within the writing that further back up the theories that most fans have created regarding the film series. Without potentially spoiling anything, I will say that the many hidden things that you may witness or see in 3.0 will keep you looking forward to the finale of the series and how the many fan discussions and theories may actually be true.

Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo is a film that may leave a sour taste in the mouths of long-time fans. The story is filled with plot-holes that are never fully answered, leaving you impatient for the finale and hoping that there will be clarification for everything that is happening. This film is a completely different entity from that of its predecessors and, in this case, is the weakest of the films that are currently out. However, I still strongly encourage you to watch this entry so that you can be fully prepared for the grand finale, 4.0, and to watch it for the action, which is top-notch and amazing. What you will get from 3.0 is a range of mixed feelings for how this legendary series will end, and an enormous amount of questions for what is to come.

It’s ten years old and a remake, spoilers are natural. It looks great despite being ten years old. The soundtrack and use of sound add depth to the gorgeous visuals. What works is all the new and original ideals. Shinji’s isolation by his friends and his return to his “cage”. What doesn’t work is the events we already know are gonna happen; e.g. Nagisa, Kaworu. If you watched the original series, then you already know the fate of Kaworu. And it’s a long boring slog to reach that moment. Also this plan seems entirely dependent on no one in WILLE telling Shinji the truth about ... what happened. Was that part of the plan Gendou? Honestly, I gave it one whole bonus point for Mari Illustrious Makinami. She’s what this franchise deserves.

I want to start off by saying that the first two Rebuilds have set the standard for me in terms of reimagining one of my favourite anime of all time.

Now wrap that around your heads as we dive into the absolute shitstorm of mediocrity and needless stringing along of the so-called twists.

This is not Evangelion. This is a glorified Evangelion FANFICTION. And a terrible one at that.

I'm not even kidding! I've read DOZENS of fanfics BETTER than this crap!

What kept me going, you ask?

Well, for one, the hope of it getting better as it went along at its jerky, yet somehow still snail-like pace. This ... was partially realized as a certain character reveal actually blew my mind. What can I say, I was genuinely surprised.

Aaand then just like that, the magic was gone.

I cannot go on talking about it without spoiling the entire thing, but let's just say that the current Rebuild takes everything that made the first two so great... and puts it all through a meatgrinder. Repeatedly.

Oh well, at least Rei is back.
Or is she?
Spoilers!

Evangelion 3.33
Its been nearly 2 years since i saw the second rebuild
This was a really good movie if u take the name eva out
Mainly because it didnt feel like an eva film
The begining was honestly a bad place to start the movie because it didnt straight out continue from the end of evangelion 2.22
It had some good concepts that i like
I still dont like new girl she plays no important roles
I did not like the new design for most of the characters
The rebuild are basically action flick version of the original with a big wtf in this movie ...
The characters feel different other then shinji and rei
There many plot holes as of right now that im putting my hope on 3.0+1.0 will resolve or explain
Overall i would give this movie an 7.5, the movie wasnt horrendous or anything just weird from what eva has given in the past , i would have love this movie if they explained more instead all these new thing that made no sense and we still have no idea how they survived the new 3rd impact and the new flying battleship and how eva unit 02 change when she was fighting on the flying battleship

Evangelion 3.0, left me feeling bewildered and dissatisfied as it was difficult to follow the plot, and the characters appeared unrecognizable from their previous depictions. I found myself questioning who these new characters were and what was happening in the story. It was disappointing to see that Shinji's actions from the previous movie were not properly addressed and explained to him. Even though Shinji was rescued from danger, it felt like a pointless effort as he had a high likelihood of acting recklessly and endangering everyone again. Furthermore, it was disheartening to witness the way Shinji was treated, as if he was of no value ... and his concerns were disregarded. This only served to increase the probability of him acting out and potentially causing harm.

Although the music was excellent and the animation was beautiful, the overall tone of the movie was bleak and depressing. There was one scene that was particularly memorable. The "Curse of the Eva" did not provide any clarity on the ageless characters.

In conclusion, 3.0 did not meet the high standards set by the franchise, but it was not a terrible film either.

All I can say is that "Ikari Shinji-Kun" is the worst main character I have ever seen(even worse than Yuki from Mirai Nikki), he makes this movie even worse, he was bad in the "original series" but he just got worse.

I really liked the Original Anime, The End of Evangelion and the other 2 movies but I think they missed something in this one and I cant tell what is it, I just felt weird and I was angry while watching it.

The fights were good and the main idea of the movie could have been better, also they wanted to let some unfinished stuff ... for another movie and force you to watch it.

"Misato, let's just call this a win for now."

Whatever you say Ritsuko. Does anything of significance even get accomplished over the course of EVANGELION 3.0 QUICKENING/YOU CAN (NOT) REDO (good lord!) that justifies itself in the grand scheme of the franchise? Not particularly. The movie ends the same way the last one did, without giving us much more insight in the process. Director Hideaki Anno's Rebuild series has been an interesting gamble. 1.0 and 2.0 are more or less an abridged retelling of NEON GENESIS's story up through Zeruel's devastating assault on the GeoFront. The ending of 2.0 came with the promise ... of exciting new horizons for this story and its character. It's uncharted territory from this point forward.

How disappointing it is that 3.0 immediately sucks the oxygen out of the room by bringing us back into the fold a baffling 14 years after the events of 2.0 rather than more urgently dealing with what happened. The state of everything is totally inexplicable. A comatose Shinji and Unit-01 have been locked inside Dali's Corpus Hybercubus, floating in orbit for this entire period and unaware of anything that has transpired. Once freed from the tesseract, he learns that the "near" Third Impact (near enough for everyone to have the Fourth Impact marked down on their proverbial calendars) he inadvertently caused has virtually destroyed the world... again. In this post-post-apocalypse, the entire NERV crew sans Gendo and Fuyutsuki are in open rebellion against their former employer under the banner of WILLE. Neither the reasons for this dissent nor the logistics of how just two people could continue running an organization like NERV are ever explained. We are just supposed to go with it. Despite the passage of time, Asuka and Mari haven't aged a day. Again, this is hand-waved away. Oh, and everyone hates Shinji.

For these reasons, the opening act of 3.0 is disorientating and bizarre. Shinji would seem to be an appropriate audience surrogate in these moments, but no one is willing to talk to him or explain damn-near anything. Anno is much more interested in a quick succession of action scenes against drones than providing any meaningful context to what's going on. Thankfully, the quieter second act is much stronger. Shinji's and Kaworu's yaoi relationship provides some emotional anchoring to the proceedings. This was ground covered by the original series, but is wonderfully realized here. Anno's knack for artful visual repetition (second only to his skill of showing laser beams cleave high-rises in two) is also strong during this stretch of the film.

Unfortunately, the rest of the cast is completely left by the wayside. Rei's reset button has been hit. Gendo speaks all of three sentences to his son. We get no insight into Asuka or Misato. Ritsuko is but a background figure. Ryoji is M.I.A. Mari is just... there, epitomizing of all the ways in which the Rebuild series will likely fail to pay dividends on its new additions. This is understandably Shinji's story, but the strength of EVANGELION is in its full cast of psychologically complex characters. To see them relegated to such tertiary roles is wasteful.

The action scenes are spectacular and dumb in equal parts. The trifecta of Anno, Maeda, and Tsurumaki give us beautifully animated scenes of utter chaos with the help of some CG. But none of it is grounded enough to have the same impact as the franchise's previous iconic battles. I'm never exactly sure what it is I am looking at or what's happening. I mean, there's a flying battleship that rams into a robot as it ascends to godhood in the midst of a cosmic maelstrom. Moments like these are just barely saved from the claws of hilarity. The sound work is fantastic, with the mechanical clangs of machines and alien sounds of laser beams being crisp as ever. And Shirō Sagisu provides mostly new material for the OST that is sure to get your blood pumping.

3.0 brings the Rebuild series to its knees instead of making good on the forward momentum it had going in. It mostly raises new questions rather than building on old ones and then proceeds to largely not answer them. Did Anno really go into this Rebuild series with a new story he was inspired to tell? Or is he just a perfectionist in the vein of George Lucas, forever tinkering with his magnum opus, obsessively adding in more halos, rainbows, and cross-shaped energy beams wherever he can? I don't know. What I can be sure of is, no matter how awesome 3.0+1.0 (ugh) might be, it will never fully realize the potential of the Rebuild series. But for whatever it's worth to you, this is still unmistakably EVANGELION.