Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (2012)

I must have watched the End of Evangelion about 50 times. I absolutely loved everything about the original series and, to this date, i still think the original ending is my single most favorite piece of media. That's part of the reason why i wasn't very excited with the whole rebuild thing at first, and especially seeing as how the ending was going to be changed.

This movie has totally redeemed rebuild for me. It has turned out to not be the visually better, slightly refined more-of-the-same I (and perhaps several others) were expecting. It is a different story, but it's more of the genius Anno building on the core concepts that made Evangelion the classic it is.

The Eva fan will find an alien world, the grand-scheme of things that helped you understand the original series (if you ever did try) has changed, shifted. And just like in the original, that grand-scheme isn't really critical information, because the center of Evangelion is the story of Shinji Ikari dealing with a (now completely) hostile world that will try to manipulate, shock and break him in every way.

To those that are disappointed and confused about this movie just as i was when i first watched End of Eva, i personally recommend to watch it again as many times as necessary, as the story has several "layers", like any great work of art.

Fmovies: The Rebuild saga blazes onward in Anno's world flipping master act. This is the world of Evangelion unlike anything that's been done before, boasting a new, clear and confident vision that brings our heroes and anti-heroes through endless strife and the most horrific of imaginable emotional confrontations. At times it's hard to watch for that reason, but the fact that an 'out' even exists, in all of its mysterious grandeur, shows us that this doesn't have to be the endÂ… and it's already gone beyond THE End that we've previously been met with.

Atmosphere is what the entire movie is about. Dialogue is minimal, and much is left to the visuals to tell the story of the Fourth Impact. Those visuals are quite unlike much else I've seen in a film, carrying on Evangelion's hellish, dreamlike tradition of an original, complex, and thought-provoking art direction. The cryptic nature of every artistic level, be it writing, animation, design, or music cues, that the feature works on, recalls once again, the work of Stanley Kubrick and his 'Kubrick's Cube' of visual parallelism. Aside for some visual nods to Kubrick's work (2001: A Space Odyssey, in particular), Hideaki Anno produces a visual wonder through animation, as he has with the previous Evangelion entries (and the parallels between NGE and Rebuild, in their universe hand-offs, progressions, and quantum entanglements), and goes above and beyond. It's truly a masterpiece worthy of seemingly endless dissection.

One shot that stands out in particular for me is Shinji, listening to his Walkman in the foetal position in the ruins of NERV HQ as the green grass that has grown through the oppressive concrete floor over time rustles softly in the wind. It's melancholic and establishes the feeling of the film's middle act- its heart. Between that is the confusion of being in Shinji's shoes and facing a world fourteen years passes, for what is mere moments for him. It is effectively soul-crushing, driving one to desire a brighter future for all who still live on the Earth; but there's no way it will ever be reached without a battle hard-fought.

This is much the story of two particular characters, Shinji and Kaworu than the others and while at times that can feel disappointing, to recognize the importance of the plot's gaze is essential to understanding where the Rebuild is going. For every time I crave more of Mistato's development or an appearance from Kaji, the look back toward Shinji and Kaworu is ultimately as fulfilling. Visually, the movie presents so much to analyze and merely take in, that I feel we'll have enough to puzzle over right up until 4.0— Final. It's an absolute beauty, and to watch it in anything less than high definition is more than a disservice.

As if the startling premise wasn't enough of a radical change, the final 20 or so minutes takes Evangelion to unheard of heights and, in some cases, lows. These are the best kinds of each.

Though I can understand the dislike for this movie from fans of Evangelion, I urge them to look back upon it with eyes and a mind free of expectations and see it as something that isn't meant to be the Evangelion we know- the point of the movie is to venture into the unknown, not follow the path we've seen in Neon Genesis; from the end of 2.22, it would seem this was made clear.

It's new, it's mysterious, and quickly advancing toward a new ending that could be the end of all things, the

This movie is simply the complete destruction of several years of work, and all the expectation of the Evangelion fans.

The 1.0 and 2.0 movies are good anime, with the limitation of the time to tell the history, but retelling the original plot clearly.

The 3.0 chapter is full of plot holes. The history is simply ridiculous and breaks any previous relationship with the decent Rebuild movies and the superb 90's anime series.

Hideaki Anno, like George Lucas did previously, has destroyed in one movement a legendary legacy.

It has no remedy for this. The last Rebuild 4.0, looking the preview scenes showed at the end of the movie, could be worst than 3.0.

Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo fmovies. It seems Hideaki Anno has realised that his first two "Rebuild" films had little new to offer. The opening of "Evangelion 3.0" is overwhelming -- more so than the past two films combined. This is the original story he was building towards all the time! Or so it seems initially.

The film jumps straight into the action, for sure. 14 years after the events of the last film, Shinji wakes up to find himself captured by Ritsuko's rebellion against NERV. You would be forgiven for thinking you accidentally put on "The Matrix Four". The gang is a collection of eyepatches, sunglasses and flying warships, set to music combining church choirs, rock guitars and piccolos. Even in a franchise about teenagers in giant robots fighting angelic aliens, this is very hard to take seriously.

But cherish the novelties as they come! Before they have settled, the pacing takes a significant dip, with Shinji escaping to the ruins of Tokyo III. His life is saved and the plot starts meandering.

Admittedly, the NERV part has its qualities. Easily the film's biggest success is the bonding between Shinji and Kaworu (even though the depiction of learning to play the piano is not in accordance with my seven years of fruitless finger aches). Their relationship in the series was, I would argue, never homosexual. Kaworu loved Shinji in a pansexual manner: because of his personality, without considering his gender, whilst Shinji liked Kaworu simply because he was the only person kind to him. Here, Anno succeeds in recreating that delicate balance between friendship and sexuality, proving that he still is a great writer.

Or rather: that he CAN be a great writer, because Shinji's character is dismally downgraded. He receives the same treatment as Asuka did in "Evangelion 2.0", i.e. a removal of much of his existential conflict. Contrary to her, though, his behaviour remains the same, turning him into the indecisive brat that he was so long unjustly made out to be.

But the film's main problem lies with the story as a whole. Its narrative structure and pacing are simply inept. The film's opening bombards the audience with new impressions, but everything after that is just spread-out exposition. This blatancy culminates with Fuyutsuki straight up telling Shinji what the Evas truly are; one of the most central elements to the "Evangelion" lore, a shocking reveal only hinted at in the show, here spelled out as plainly as possible.

The climax that caps these 50 minutes of explanation is based around misconception and comes down to the avoidance, rather than the execution of an actual event. That means that the bigger picture doesn't change, and our characters are left in exactly the same position they have been in since the first 15 minutes, merely talked up-to-date.

Then what was "Evangelion 3.0"'s point? Setting up the next film, I guess, like the last two films' point was. We have now passed the three-quarter mark in the "Rebuild" tetralogy and the only original writing so far barely hangs together. Maybe if "Evangelion 4.0" turns out to be an earth-shattering revelation, it will be worth seeing the other three again as part of a larger narrative, but nothing will take away from the fact that this film is, even more than its predecessors, redundant, and simply inferior to its stunning source material.

It must first be said that this film is superb in terms of visual quality. Opposed to many opinions, the film is well edited, well animated, and is essential perfect in the details pertaining to image and sound.

But the major problem with this film is that it is completely filled with set-ups that do not pay off. Which basically means the entire film is one big tease.

Much of the controversy and anger surrounding the latest Rebuild stems from the fact that it felt incomplete. And although other Rebuild films have ended on cliffhangers as well, 3.0 specifically is frowned upon.

The difference with 3.0 and previous entries in the series is that the previous films still fulfilled a basic arc of some sort for the characters to develop by the end of the film. They overcome an obstacle and move forward as people, and the audience gets to witness that. But by the end of 3.0, we're left with what feels like half of the story. Although the story certainly spans all for movies, this felt like a baby step compared to the leaps and bounds that were 1.0 and 2.0.

With a plot full of holes like Swiss cheese, setting and setup that will confuse even the staunchest long-time fans, script on the level of a bad fan fiction, countless disrepancies and abandoned plot lines from the first two movies and characterization taking 180-degree turns every two seconds, Evangelion 3.0 is an utter mess at best, and an open insult to movie watchers at worst. It's a colossal failure as its own story, as a follow-up, as a remake and a movie in general that renders the previous two movies and all their accomplishments completely pointless.

Almost nothing from the previous films is resolved in any meaningful way: Shinji's relationships with his friends and slowly growing confidence, Kaji's shady dealings with NERV, the Key of Nebuchadnezzar, Rei coming out of her shell, Asuka warming up to people, the growing threat of Angel attacks and much more are completely abandoned and forgotten about. In their place we get an endless barrage of new terms and plot elements which the characters talk about, but none of which are ever adequately explained or established. The first 30 minutes consist of nothing but action scenes with only the tiniest amount of context or setup, just a bunch of flashy stuff for the viewer to look at.

The characters have taken a total nosedive. Mari, who had a strange foreboding about her in 2.0 is reduced to a mere sidekick with no meaning. Despite the 14-year gap, Asuka is still her old bratty self despite now being 28 years old. The justification for her and Mari not having aged is so ridiculous you have to wonder if the writers are actually pulling a prank. Misato is so far removed from her previous persona she might as well be an entirely new character. Rei's character actually regresses, as all her development from the previous movies is rendered nonexistent, and is never properly explained how. Gendo has become a caricature of himself. In the original series he had an enigmatic presence and there were hints of his deeper motives, but here there's nothing under the surface: he's just a cartoon villain, practically twirling his moustache and cackling "JUST AS PLANNED".

But the change of setting is undoubtedly the thing that shoots this film in the leg and then some. So many questions rise and are never answered that the viewer is completely lost. The last 20 minutes will be spent in utter confusion as the viewer tries to grasp even the flimsiest straw of what is supposed to be going on, and why it should mean anything. Bombastic music playing over certain scenes is the only signal of something meaningful happening, but since the setting is so unestablished the viewer is just left thinking "I guess that's important because the characters act like it is, but why should I care?"

Perhaps the only saving qualities of this film are the music and the animation, both of which are great and work to put together some rather impressive action scenes. But that makes it only so much worse when you think what other projects this clearly great amount of talent could have been used for, rather than this 90-minute fart in the audience's face. At one point Fuyutsuki, the one character who gives the only direct exposition in the film, says "'Tis a wretched role I'm playing" to himself. It's almost if he's meta talking about his character having been reduced to a useless exposition device.

Add to all this meaningless shoutouts to the original like recycled shots from the series and Gendo'