Well, after my foray into NGE several months back, and the subsequent review I gave it, I feel a little embarrassed after watching this movie. EoE is much needed for the series, and it drastically changed my opinion on the entire message of the franchise. Without further ado, let's get going.
Story : 8
Yes! We pick up pretty much where the show left off, right after the defeat of the 17th angel. Asuka is hospitalized, Shinji is, understandably, spiraling into depression, Rei is... somewhere, and Seele is trying to take over the world.
...
Of course!
...
Okay, it's a bit more complex than that, but spoilers. For me, this story is the metaphorical phoenix of the franchise, raising the characters from the ashes of their various depressions. Especially Asuka. Thank goodness for that one.
My only issue, and it's what keeps this at 8, is that by the end, it feels like we're having seven messages hammered into us at one time. Add to that that they're all layered beneath 27 layers of symbolism, and it gets a little hard to follow. It hurts my appreciation a little, but doesn't come anywhere near ruining it.
Art: 7
Evangelion has a budget this time, and it shows. There are a few moments where Hideaki has a few... questionable choices (live action scenes seem a bit out of place, and the sex symbolism everywhere is a bit unnecessary imo), but it's still beautiful to behold.
Sound: 9
Again, bigger budget. More beautiful music to work with. Also, same sub and dub va's as before. All in all, everything sounded wonderful.
Character : 8
Halle-freaking-lujah.
We'll start with the obvious: Gendo is a prick. He gets an explanation for his prickery, but he's still a lovable prick.
Rei is more in the background this time around. :( I'll live.
Asuka stands up for herself and find a reason to live again. (Thank you, Hideaki. It was much needed)
Shinji realizes that fear and pain are necessary, and that individuality is enough reward to trudge through them.
I can't spoil Misato's growth, but it's just wonderful on all fronts.
I still had a couple of issues with the end results, though those seem to just be personal feelings. I'll leave it at 8, as I still was happy with what I got.
Enjoyment : 8
All in all, this movie was the ending Evangelion needed. There were several cathartic moments, and I can't praise what this did for the overall franchise enough. My issues with the show still stand, but this movie was wonderful. My enjoyment was hampered slightly by the, at least I think, overuse of symbolism at points (seriously, Sephirot from Kabbalah? We get it, you like religious symbolism), but for the most part, I felt the symbols were better utilized here than in the show itself (the crosses mean something this time around, yay!).
Overall : 8
I don't know what more I can say here. Definitely a must watch for the series. I still have two pieces of advice while watching though.
1) Don't watch with parents or children. Sex metaphors abound.
2) Have good-natured friends, or booze, around. This stuff gets very trippy, very fast.
