STORY
You know the score if you've been watching anime for more than 5 minutes! Angels attacking, giant robots piloted by kids are the only hope of stopping them, cue big-ass fight scenes. BUT WAIT! All the characters are messed up, and so a psycho-emotional roller-coaster ensues! Now, the big difference between the rebuild movies and the original series is the plot changes, which are pretty big, and to be honest, a welcome change. The bad ending(s) I mentioned aren't present, instead the creator chose to branch off the plot into new (and better) territory. And I can't say much without spoilers, but DAMN that ending is good *shivers*.
ART
Probably the best thing about this movie. Seriously, the animation in 2.0 is crisp, colourful and all the Eva's and Angels look absolutely incredible, especially as the film reaches it's climax. None of the shoddy animation that plagued the series near the end is visible here, just 100 minutes of absolutely incredible animation. Oh, and all the angels are super colourful, which I thought would be stupid, but is super nice to look at. "A feast for the eyes" is not an under statement!
SOUND
I have this soundtrack on my ipod. Shiro Sagisu's orchestral genius shines, adding the much needed score to really give this movie it's force, and making each battle really feel like losing could mean the fall of humanity. Best recommendation goes to the song "In my spirit", which is the best song to play when your faced with absolute destruction, and "Give me wings", which plays in the movies climax and hits you right in the feels.
The dub is also extremely good, and I will confess haven't watched the sub, but I can only assume it's good!
CHARACTER
Remember how I said that Shinji was a problem with the original show? Well the film finally gave him what he always needed to become a great hero, and a great character in general: A pair of balls. Seriously, I had complete respect for him after what he did at the end of the movie, and it almost made up for the End of Evangelion Jerk off scene.
Everyone one else is their usual great self: Rei doesn't talk, Asuka's a badass, Misato is oddly humanizing, and Kaji brings the much needed banter to an otherwise dark film. Good times!
ENJOYMENT
In my opinion, enjoyment is the most important aspect, and if watching 3 kids in giant mech's get the living hell beaten out of them by equally big monsters, be it with lasers, tentacles, more lasers, claws or even more lasers, I don't know what is. More action, drama, and just plain EPIC happens in this 100 minute film then happens in most full series, and that's a promise. And if THAT'S not enough, you see Rei's boobs! No nipples though. . .?
OVERALL
If you see one anime film this year, see Evangelion 2.0. Well, and 1.0 and 3.0, but most definitely 2.0. Because if you're like me, it's instinct to want to go watch giant robots beat each other up. Or, in this case, Angels! And that's the most important thing of all!
