EVEN IF YOU DIDN'T, YOU MAY STILL HATE THIS FILM!!!
This film contains many of the same elements that the final two episodes of the series did (without going into detail, the whole human instrumentality project monologue still happens, although with a very different resolution). I (thought) I understood what this film was supposed to accomplish - an action-based resolution to the events presented in the first 24 episodes of the television series.
The film held my interest for about the first 75%-85% of the duration. I thought, like the series, it was well executed, emotionally impactful, and everything one came to expect after viewing such a great series. However, the final segment of the film is what prompted me to disregard any rave reviews I knew I'd inevitably see.*
I'LL ATTEMPT TO MAKE A SEMI-SERIOUS POINT HERE!!
I became confused as the beginning of the end of the film began. However, by the time it began to wrap up, I still had a positive view of the movie and was starting to understand the events that were taking place. THIS was a welcome relief to me, because as I found after watching the series (and then this movie) it seems the more Evangelion you watch, the less you know. Allow me to take a stab at explaining this further.
It becomes more and more apparent as the series (and again, this movie) progresses, that there is so much stuff happening off screen, in the canon history of the Evangelion universe, and in the private lives of the characters that you are a proverbial bug on the wall who aspires to one day understand just a simple majority of what the fuck is going on. It makes the viewer feel small and foolish. In a way, this is a testament to the story's great underlying architecture. On the other hand, it felt unnecessary and frustrating.
*Returning to my previous point, I started to feel like I understood where this movie was going with the series. Then, the last scene happened. My brain could be hooked up to a machine and used to its full capacity as a high powered CPU for years on end to attempt to determine the reasoning behind it and I probably wouldn't find an answer.
Well, really folks, hyperbole aside, I could probably understand it if I really wanted to, but I don't. I just don't. I don't know how anyone could come away from this film satisfied. And yeah, there's that whole "it was just such a magnificent piece of art that it's worth the pain" thing. I assure you, there is none of that to be found here. In a way, I'm glad I saw it, and maybe someday I'll watch it again and have a more mature and satisfied take-away from the movie. However, I felt much happier pretending that one of the many possible moe realities presented in the end of the series was the "true" ending. I basically already regret writing this review.
There's nothing wrong with hating a film that many others love, especially if a significant portion of those people only "like" it to make themselves seem smart. If you liked the end of Evangelion in the least bit, save yourself the confusion, frustration, and burning rage and do not watch this film.
