User Reviews

I was really impressed with the 2nd film. It gave a refreshing new take on the events and characters from the classic original series and I was excited to see where they were going to take it. The new interactions between Rei and Shinji were especially fascinating and touching to me. Strong character development throughout the film drew me into the story and had the world feeling rich and deep. By the end I was so invested I was on the edge of my seat and the final Angel battle left me with goose bumps.

So with high hopes I began watching the 3rd film.

Oh man what a jarring experience! After a flashy action sequence Shinji and the audience are ruthlessly thrown into a confusing, cold and alien new reality. All of the growth from the previous film has been shat on and flushed down the toilet.

By the end of the film Shinji was complaining about how he had no idea what the hell was going on. You and me both brother.

Edit: I've watched the film a second time and found it more enjoyable but still a bit much. Its more of an experience than anything else. The 4th and final part has the gargantuan task of bringing it all together and I'm worried they wont have room for anything else other than exposition. The creators really must have massive balls to write themselves into such a hole.

The first two "rebuilds" of Evangelion crammed twenty episodes of the 1995 Shin Seiki Evangelion TV series into a span of three and a half hours, upping the musical and animation ante every explosive step of the way. Three years later, Evangelion 3.0 showed such promise: A teaser trailer so confident that it revealed only the internal workings of a piano; previews of an eyepatched Asuka spiraling through space with a shield and massive rifle to soul-rousing operatic strains. Yet after all the fervent build-up, Eva 3.0 feels like one of those reboots where a project was taken over by people who never understood why the franchise had rabid fans in the first place. Creator Hideaki Anno is still at the helm—and even back in the director's chair—yet when the film is over, the subtitle "You Can (Not) Redo" feels, more than anything, like an apology.

Anno opens with Asuka and Mari deploying multi-stage booster rockets, high-powered sniper rifles, massive shields and a brand-new pink Eva to fight off an Angel while retrieving Shinji and Unit 01 from Earth orbit. The sequence is brilliant, operatic, even tear-inducing: Then Shinji wakes up in yet another intensive care unit and the roller-coaster ride crashes straight into a ditch from which it will never emerge.

In 1997's the End of Evangelion, Shinji was offered a world in which he could merge with all of humanity so that he would never again have to feel alone. In Eva 3.0, he is offered a different world—one in which no demands are made of him at all. Enter ninety minutes of nothing.

This is not like what Anno did when he ran out of budget for the animated series, when he drove fans berserk by throwing out all the robot rumbles to dive into the characters' psyches for the last two episodes. Eva 1995 was all about the characters, putting broken human beings in a world-on-the-brink environment with the idea that their most intense struggles would still be to be loved, cherished, and accepted for who they were. Eva 3.0 strips away both the characters and the environmental crucible, even eliminating the deeper question of why everything is happening, and leaves us only with the hum-drum intellectual exercise of finding out what happened.

Shinji awakes into what is essentially the set of Das Boot melded with the bridge of the Macross. Misato is captain of a giant whale-like flying ark called the Wunder, the Nerv command crew man her bridge, and the cast is rounded out by a trio of space opera stock characters who get more lines than all the old cast combined. Even Mari, who had 'dark impending purpose' written all over her introduction in Eva 2.0, turns out to be nothing more than Asuka's sharp-shooting, one-liner-dropping sidekick. And despite the Third Impact having begun just to save her, when we finally meet Rei, she has no memory of the event and no connection to Shinji—or anyone else—whatsoever.

It turns out that the Third Impact was aborted part-way, and Shinji has been fitted with a Battle Royale-style choker designed to pop off his head if he shows any sign of becoming a deity again. While for a time it seems that we have been immersed in an alternate-universe Eva redesigned as a space opera, it is actually fourteen years later, and all the character dynamics that brought fans to the series have withered and died away. Rei, Asuka and Misato speak so little it's as if they aren't even there, and even Shinji doesn't wallow in self-pity; he is confused by all the changes, but with all the characters so different, the emotional boil we would normally expect to see at this stage of the series simply cannot emerge.

Having achieved friendship and affection in Eva 2.0, Shinji is much better adjusted than in his television iteration, and when he is whisked away from the Wunder to meet Kaworu, he's not desperate for approval—he just wants to know what's going on. Separated from all the people who cared about him, Shinji wanders through the hollowed-out remains of Nerv headquarters playing piano with Kaworu, stacking books for Rei and playing shogi with Fuyutsuki. And if that sounds about as exciting as a lazy Sunday afternoon, then you can imagine just how agonizing the middle hour of the movie becomes. By the time Kaworu outlines what Shinji could do to fix the world, there's just no reason to care. While there's an attempt to create drama over whether Kaworu's late-emerging MacGuffin will actually bring a 'fix' or the Fourth Impact doesn't really matter—from the audience's perspective, either change would be welcome. Even Ode to Joy can do nothing to elevate an Eva-on-Eva battle when there's no longer anything significant at stake.

Aside from the opening, the most exciting part of Rebuild of Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo may be the pre-film. In what is perhaps a dark parody of Pixar, the movie begins with a short film by Studio Ghibli showing the arrival of Nausicaa's God Warriors in Tokyo. Although inexplicably completed using people tromping around a miniature city in creepy God Warrior suits, the piece, narrated by the voice of Ayanami Rei (Megumi Hayashibara), is unusually grim and captivating.

Third in the "rebuild" of the original series and advances nothing. It's all action and whiny Shinji - Will he ever quit whining? Otherwise there is no character advancement - the others hardly speak. The story moves forward 14 years, yet the EVA kids have not aged, and Shinji has been in a coma all this time. It's several large battles and extended scenes with Shinji whining again. I don't know what they're trying to accomplish but I watched it twice and it's a real failure as a standalone film. They've turned the EVA storyline upside down, yet fail to explain why any of this has occurred. May be it's the translation, but I doubt it. 6/10, and I'm being kind. Well, have to wait another year to find out how this mess ends - again.

How did asuka lost her right eye? Why did Rei act like that? I feel so confused. The story is just all talking until the final battle where *spoiler* died And out of everybody who is angry at shinji. Asuka is the angriest.

Minor spoilers for Eva 2.0 and 3.0

Forewarning: 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 Sinji, 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; Sinji 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 Sinji 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 praise, 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 when she's rescued, just to say she's dead and have us deal all over again with an emotionless Rae clone? 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 Sinji on to save Rae 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 Sinji and Rae. Killing off the Rae we've come to connect with just to introduce her next emotionless clone and expecting us to connect with her all over again is completely unjustifiable. Rae had already progressed so far in terms of her personality. But no, all that progress is gone. Now meet a new Rae, who is coincidentally exactly like the Rae you knew at the very beginning. Sinji is no better. Him becoming an emotional wreck by the end that has lost the 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? Sinji 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.

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 Sinji 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 Sinji 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.

When you watched the preview to 3.0 after watching Evangelion 2.0, it seems like we're still in that year where the kids are the same age and Seele finally shows its full color. Whatever you watched before, you will be shocked at how 3.0 is.

I was fortunate enough to watch Evangelion 3.0 in Japan with English subtitle, and although many fans were disappointed, I wasn't really letdown although the universe of Evangelion has been tossed out the door.

The story is set 14 years after the second film, many things have changed, a lot of the characters have switched sides and people that Shinji came to know is no longer those same person. Misato and the rest of the characters along with the new characters are now his enemies. Only people that seems to be on his sides is his father Gendo, Fuyutsuki, Kaworu, and Rei. Even the mighty Seele is nothing more then AIs and are on Gendo's side this time. The new Evangelion No. 13 sports a more futuristic look that is a site to behold.

As the story goes, Shinji is the main focus of the movie and we see him having to deal with the future while everybody else is 14 years older then him. Everything has completely changed for him and the city that we see in Evangelion 1 and 2 is completely gone. None of the characters are explored like we don't know why Misato and the rest have switch side other then she is a commander in the organization called Willie whose mission is to destroy Nerv and its Evangelion. Interestingly, Willie has its own Evangelions piloted by Asuka and Mari.

The color of the animation is just as modern as ever, computer graphics mixed in gives this movie a life in itself and thats what I loved about the three movies. Lively is also key to movie's success. The music also drives the movie too and the composer did a fantastic job in being the proper background as well as mixing the great master's like Beethoven into the mix.

Sadly, because I watched the subtitle, the English voice actors won't be available until the movie hits the United States. I have no doubt when it hits the state, I'll be back in line to watch the movie again as well as buy the DVD or Blue Ray.

Some people have complained that the movie is completely different from the Evangelion that we all know and love, but this is a different road Evangelion is taking and the creator has already said there will be lots of surprises and shock like how Yamato 2199 is turning out. No doubt all Evangelion fans should watch the movie.

I was seriously surprised to see people not liking this movie. It has great world building and action. This scene where Askua and Shinji fight makes this movie amazing alone. The best movie out of series so far.

Eric's Grade C+ This is the third of four animated films in the 'Rebuild of Evangelion' series based on the original anime 'Neon Genesis Evangelion'. This continues the tale primarily of young Shinji Ikari and a handful of others who pilot giant mechs known as Evangelions designed to destroy entities known as "Angels" that are capable of bringing about worldwide cataclysms. The second film ends with Shinji's Eva going through a bizarre metamorphosis which involves him, his Eva, another Eva pilot named Rei and an Angel. When the credits role on that I will admit I was not quite sure where things stood, and this film doesn't necessarily concern itself with answers. This launches us 14 years into the future, and the Third Impact, one of the aforementioned worldwide cataclysms, has occurred. At the end of the last film Shinji winds up in some kind of coma/stasis and is now awoken into this bizarre new reality and he is attempting to catch up at about the same rate we are. Former friends are now foes, and he is treated like a dangerous entity with no real explanation given. Before all is said and done he will find himself in the cockpit of another Eva working with another pilot, and this may lead to some sort of salvation or yet the next Impact in the continuing destruction/rebirth of the world.

To say these animated films are confusing is a tad of an understatement. It is not that they are without narrative structure, but it is more like we are tossed into the middle of an event and we don't really understand the players, rules or terminology in this game that seems to hold the fate of the entire world in the balance. Part of me is very interested and excited in the characters, the animation and the overall aesthetic, but I do wish the material was more accessible or understandable. The film wins praise from me for having a clear ideal and great visuals, but loses points for an unwillingness or inability to clearly demonstrate its narrative to the audience.

Evangelion 3.33 is by far the biggest departure from the show so far. The completely rewritten ending for 2.22 didn't leave much in the way for the third instalment to continue the trend of reimagining the original series, and 3.33 doesn't even attempt to do that. The closest we get is the infinitely more fleshed out relationship between Shinji and Kaworu. In the show this was rushed through, with Kaworu introduced suddenly, and Shinji's trauma stemming from Kaworu's fate felt like one of the shows few hollow moments. But in the Rebuild films, Kaworu has been a background presence since the beginning. 3.33 goes even further and dedicates the meat of the movie to their relationship, without being distracted by other characters. It almost feels like the unabridged and expanded version of episode 24.

But otherwise 3.33 is completely different to anything we've ever seen in Evangelion. The movie starts with an eye-patched Asuka retrieving Shinji from an orbital stasis in one of the most spectacular animated sequences I've ever seen (and even better on a bigger screen in HD). It's been fourteen years since the end of the last movie, and a lot has changed. The Third Impact left a post-apocalyptic world behind, and many of the characters grew and developed offscreen. Nerv is no more, and Misato and Ritsuko have branched off, taking the EVA's with them, and even building themselves a command ship from the wreckage of EVA 01. Asuka and Mari are still teenagers thanks to "the Eva curse", Shinji obviously hasn't aged a day while in stasis (even mentally), and as we find out later on, Rei didn't make it out of 2.22 (at least not physically), so the Rei we get is a new clone; a blank slate. Tokyo-3 is a ruin, the geofront is uncovered, and the surface is covered in the aftermath of the failed Instrumentality attempt.

In fact, the closest comparison I can come to to the original run is End of Evangelion (which I'm actually regretting not reviewing, so maybe I'll revisit another time), especially in 3.33's climatic moments. Shinji, through sheer desperation to fix the damage he caused in the Third Impact, and ignoring the advice from everyone around him, pulls the spears from the body of Lillith, and inadvertently causes a Fourth Impact. It's also here where the theories of Rebuild being a sequel series rather than a reboot really start to take shape. The sense of familiarity and being stuck in a loop starts to peer through.

Of course by comparison End had a whole movie's runtime to explore it's heavy themes and crazy plot developments, while 3.33 only has the final act to do so. This results in a lot of the details not making a whole lot of sense, especially considering how drastically new this continuity is, and how fast and hard it plays with the originally established mythology. Kaworu mentions being the first Angel, and somewhat turns into the thirteenth by the movie's end. How or why this is even possible is never explained, nor is Lillith's involvement and transformation in all of this. Why was pulling the spears a good idea and now suddenly a bad one? What's going on with Instrumentality? Why are Seele encased within their communication monoliths? How did Instrumentality transform the population into Evas? And how did Nerv escape this fate? What happened to Kaji, and what did Nebuchadnezzar's Key have to do with anything? Where is the original Rei? What is "the Eva curse"? Of course many of these questions may find answers in the fourth movie, but I'm pessimistic on that point, especially considering the condensed nature of the Rebuild movies so far. 4.0 would basically have to be a ninety minute exposition dump in order to answer everything.

One of the most prevailing complaints I've seen about this movie revolve around how the characters were treated this time around. In a way it's true, the characters have changed a lot, and the vast majority of them are not treated very well. We're chucked in with a fourteen year time jump, and just like Shinji we're left wondering what on Earth happened in those years. But the movie doesn't make any attempt to redevelop the characters, or explore how or why they changed. Asuka is much the same Asuka as she was in 2.22 (which is a hollow shell of her Neon Genesis version but I digress), and the same goes for Mari who comes out of 3.33 just as meaningless and unnecessary as she was before. Misato and Ritsuko have quite evidently changed a lot, but their appearances are glorified cameos at best. The Rei of 3.33 is not the same Rei of 2.22. She's a blank slate, an obedient doll, a soulless vessel devoid of emotion or humanity. Even Shinji feels like he's regressed a little, back to being the desperate whiny Shinji from Neon Genesis, having not learned anything from the events of the previous movies. However none of this bothered me nearly as much as it seemed to bother the rest of the fandom, in large part because the Rebuild films have been scant on character development anyway, and 3.33 was no different by my assessment. If you loved the character development and psyche study of Neon Genesis, the Rebuild films are never going to fulfill you. It would be physically impossible to do so from the confines of their blockbuster running time.

But what 3.33 does manage is vastly improve the animation. Not just in comparison to Neon Genesis like the other movies, but even in comparison to the other movies themselves. I admit I haven't watched a great wealth of modern anime (read as: none), but 3.33 is hands down the most phenomenal looking anime I have ever seen (so far). The hand-drawn 2D style so married to the anime style is kept intact, but updated, given greater depth and colour, and even given its own sense of a three-dimensional presence. The 3D CGI goes a long way in reinforcing this, giving the illusion of intricate camera movements. And it all blends seamlessly with the more typical anime models. One shot in particular has the Wille crew strapped in ready for battle, and the camera pans around their suspended harnesses. The characters are still moving and talking, but the ever-changing perception gives them a three dimensional appearance. The use of lighting and colours only emphasise this further. Of course this also results in a surprisingly amount of detail, not only in surface rendering like a sky full of clouds, but also in subtle changes in expression. Anime has never been subtle about facial expressions, but here every little twitch and glance is meaningful. 3.33 is nothing short of gorgeous to watch, and it makes me ever sadder for Disney's decision to let go of 2D animation entirely in the early 2000's, resulting in it becoming an artistic style rarely seen in animated movies these days. Maybe I just need to watch more modern anime (I hear the work of Makoto Shinkai is particularly beautiful to watch).

I enjoyed 3.33 a lot, maybe even more than 1.11, and certainly more than 2.22. Of course End is still my favourite piece of work from the entire franchise, and even the fourth Rebuild movie will have to do a lot to outdo it, but for now 3.33 is probably up there as my second favourite so far. It's not perfect, but neither was Neon Genesis. And it was nice to review one of these movies without having something to strictly compare it to, but of course by this point in the Rebuild you can't really judge them by themselves. 3.33 is not a standalone movie, and cannot be measured as such. Whether it relates to the other Rebuild movies, or to the original series, 3.33 requires context. I give it a solid 8/10, and I'm already hankering for a rewatch of the entire thing.

I've argued against the consensus that Hideaki Anno hate's his fans before, I've tried to say that just because he feels the need to change some things and dislikes rabid Evatards, it's not reason to think him wrong. This movie has changed my opinion of him.

I'll say this first off, you want to change continuity in a story, fine. It's your work, you can do whatever the hell you want with it, whether it's a good thing or not, we've seen that with some of the best sci-fi epics in the last 40 years.

But don't expect to write utter rubbish and not be called out for it.

A lot has been said on the depression that Anno went through in the writing process of the Eva TV series and how it's effected his story structure, you can see it around the mid-point of the series changing gears at a horrible rate, if I'm honest, this movie shows that he needs someone to rein him in, there have been changes to story structure(I mean 14 years of character destruction just because he wanted it) additions and retcons.

This movie is a mess, from start to finish there seems to be no reason for it, nothing really happens in this other than build-up for the final movie. We've had major reset buttons being hit for major characters, we've had horrible, disgusting plot conveniences of no-aging for the Eva pilots without anything substantial being shown for them and the burden of spending 14 years in an adolescent's body (you know, the whole tortured Claudia style character). A major character was introduced just to be killed off, without any major development! AGAIN! I could let Anno off in the series, he'd come up with a brilliant idea, but the money was running out and he had to cut and paste together a quick resolution to probably the most important character interaction for Shinji. But doing this. After Two Films of build up, with a full movie to show just the blossoming friendship and possible love between a young man and an alien in the guise of a young man. This is unforgivable, I can't forgive a horrid mess of this mistake, Anno had the chance to give us what he'd complained so much about before. And he gives us the same basic thing, no character development, a choice to kill or not to kill and a breakdown of a Human mind.

Like I said before, if you want to change continuity then that's perfectly fine, I don't mind that. Lucas and Roddenberry both did the same with their stories(with a sliding scale of success). Now I know he'd already changed a lot of stuff in continuity by the second movie, but doing this is idiotic, he's changed continuity within his own movie series, while it's still running. You don't DO that. Breaking continuity while you are still telling the story doesn't work, saying something like: "billy went to the supermarket and picked up dry cleaning from the laundromat for his new book, then on his way home, Jenny found a £1000 and was evicted from her home because she was flat broke" yes there's a story there, but it doesn't make a lick of sense.

In essence, that is what he has done here, taking a story structure of "there was the First Impact 65million years ago, Humans came, then Second Impact came with Adam and brought the Angels, a union between Adam and Lilth will bring Third Impact, causing the end of the world." And stating now "Whoa, what are you saying, Third Impact is just a step along to the Apocalypse of Fourth Impact, didn't I mention that before?" If you'd stated that Third Impact was the end of the world, then stick to that and show a world in Purgatory for the third movie, you know because Kaworu stopped it at the end of the second movie. That could work, 14 years of a living purgatory would harden anyone, even people like Misato. So you can create a sacrificial Saviour of Shinji for the Fourth movie, you know like you're planning to do anyway.

The visuals are the only major tent pole holding this film up, because that're amazing as usual, but as for the rest, it's terrible.

The story is crap. It's a reason to turn away from the Rebuild series, I'll still see the final movie, mainly because I'm in too deep now and just have to hold my nose and swim through, if I'd fallen in on this just now, I'd have been easily able to give it up.

The only bright point is that I've got the full series limited addition boxset on my shelf and all the movies, that's enough for me and even though it's ending is as convoluted as this one is currently, I'm more willing to forgive that than this. Hideaki Anno hasn't impressed me with this sharp right turn, can his final movie change my opinion. I seriously doubt it.

"Rebuild of Evangelion: You can (not) Redo" is the third movie in the reboot Evangelion franchise, which premiered over a month ago in Japanese cinemas. It's a movie which had been in the works for over three years, steadily increasing interest and expectations from both a new audience and fans of the old TV-drama which first premiered on television in 1995.

It begins as one would expect from seeing the previous movie, radio chatter with an action- filled sequence (now taking place in space), where the returning characters Mari and Asuka participate and retrieve an item of some importance - the sleeping protagonist, as well as his giant robot Evangelion Unit 01.

A rather dull and technical awakening of the recovered Shinji Ikari complete with cognitive and medical checkup does not hide that something seems slightly off. There's new faces, more advanced technology and how Shinji is being held at gunpoint for the entire duration - if not obvious already, one might think that one had been transported into the future where everybody holds a grudge against Shinji. That notion soon turns out be true as we discover that Misato Katsuragi is now the Captain of a flying battleship accompanied by a fleet of sea-vessels with the charge to fight and defeat their previous employers, NERV. A irremovable collar has been fit to the fourteen year old Shinji's neck, which is set by Misato to explode should Shinji become able to Awaken an Evangelion. When the now 28 year old Asuka and Mari haven't aged day, maintaining suspense of disbelief becomes a challenge.

A point where one might easily sympathize with the protagonist is here, as all of this sounds quite ridiculous and unbelievable, which makes the decision to run away once the voice of Rei Ayanami is calling him all the more understandable. But once we have left this bizarre place, we also leave behind any sense of realism or what little was left of it.

We enter a place where little or nothing seems coherent or plausible, with static backgrounds and spotlight lighting the stage, as if it were a play. The latter would make sense as the only characters operating this massive facility which required thousands to operate can be counted on one hand alone. The next part of the movie breaks down Shinji's mind by revealing that Rei was but a lookalike that is nothing like the Rei from the previous movie, making Rei a non-returning character after all. More revelations also come, revealing that 14 years have passed since the last movie, and the aborted Third Impact explosion Shinji was at the center of had far greater consequences than shown in the previous movie.

The enigmatic Kaworu who very briefly appeared the previous installments serves as a temporary relief for the mind of our protagonist, who at this time it has become clear is the only character with more than two dimensions in the movie.

When even that very protagonist shows signs of unnecessarily lowering himself to the level of stupidity apparently shared by all in this movie, there just isn't a reason to care any more. Thanks to the plot-moving stupidity now also found in Shinji, another Impact explosion is about to occur nearing the end, and with the frequency of which these impacts occur it might be a good idea to include a spot for them in the weather forecast. All that remains after this is the wait for the inevitable stopping of said impact, following a disappointingly predictable routine now.

The previous movies are required watching, but the end result is that this might have been better off as a stand-alone movie, since it does not make very good use of the previous material, nor does it cover any expectations one might have had coming from them. It would not stand on it's own legs either way.

Possibly worse is it if one has watched the original TV-drama, as one realizes that nearly none of the crucial elements that held the story together have been transferred to this new rendition. When some of it's principal characters become mere shells of their former selves (quite literally for Rei who by far suffer the most in this category) and don't interact on any meaningful level, disappointment will only set itself in harder.

The most enjoyment one could have regarding this movie is undoubtedly spending time making sense of it after having watched it as if to attempt justifying having wasted your time.