Evangelion: 3.0+1.0

I was very skeptical before watching this film, I am a huge fan of the original show and film and I didn't think they had to be "rebuilt".

It also didn't help that I thought the previous three films kind of sucked (though I did rewatch them before watching this one and I liked them way more the second time).

But, here we are, 9 years after the last Eva film, 24 years after Evangelion's previous theatrical conclusion, we have this movie, a beautifully animated 155 minutes long love letter to the Evangelion franchise and its fans.

This time the ending can satisfy all fans, those who look for great action, those who watch for the surrealist imagery and philosophy, those who love the characters, this movie ties every loose end beautifully.

Only issues I had here were some unnecessary fan-service scenes (though there are fans who watch it for this kind of stuff, I guess) and the 3D CGI fight scenes look kind of jarring sometimes but other than that, this was yet another high quality film by Hideaki Anno and I would highly recommend it.

Bye-bye, all of Evangelion.

Everyone can relax. It was good.

It took the stunning visuals to the next level.

It stayed true to the characters.

It continued its use of incomprehensible techno-biblical-psychobabble.

The music was incredible.

There's gratuitous fan service.

And I left the experience feeling satisfied even thought I didn't completely understand what I just watched.

Yes, this film will finally answer so many of your burning Eva questions: Will Asuka ever say anything nice?

Will Rei ever learn to be a real person?

Will Shinji ever stop being so depressed?

In the end, it was not the game changer that End of Evangelion was. But it's still a great addition to the story.

Several years has passed since the previous installment and I simply could not remember where the story has stopped. Therefore, I decided to revise the whole thing starting from 1995's original. It took me about 18 hours and I must say it was a good time as always. It took me back more than 20 years, when I watched it for the first time. I was overwhelmed by it. It made me think of my life from a different perspective and I even made some changes as I thought for the best.

Now, two decades later, I can see that most of my dreams did not come true and I am still a little boy trying to find my place among other people, find myself. While watching Eva today, I have remembered my friends from school and university, teachers, family members long gone, colleagues from my very first job - and how they all were really nice to me, though I didn't noticed it at that time. After all those years, Evangelion still resonates in my heart, even more than it was at the first time.

For me 21st century Evangelion movies were something that kept me going through my life. Every time things went from bad to worse I thought that I need to live long enough to see that upcoming Evangelion move. And now, the project that occupied Hideaki's mind for more than 20 years is released. So was it a good movie? Well in a matter of fact - yes. I wasn't expecting any revelations or mind-blowing philosophy, I just wanted to see it all again, and a new movie is quite a good excuse to watch it all from the very beginning. It was pleasant to see old friends, memorable locations, to experience emotions that I felt 20 years ago. I do not care about the plot, action, or CGI - I am just happy seeing Rei smiling again. All the things that I really care are present here. It is a nostalgic movie - it makes you try to remember, try to go back in time to see if you have missed something, not only in the movie but in your life itself. It's also a sad farewell movie, an end of the line, the real end of Evangelion, because there will be nothing more. Evangelion time has passed, now we live in a world without Evas.

I have watched Evangelion when I was just a young student. This is maybe my third time returning to it in more than 20 years. Will I watch Evangelion again? I would love to... Maybe in 10, maybe in another 20 years. But will I live for that long? I am not sure... Most likely, it is a "Goodbye Evangelion" forever. Sayonara old friend. I wish I could see you again for a last time, before I go.

I want to like this movie a lot more than I do. Unfortunately, it's pretty average until the last thirty minutes. The movie is bloated, the dialogue is not very good, and the 3D animated segments look bad. As mediocre as I thought 2.0 was, at least it had great action. I can't say the same for this movie, as most of the action is awkward 3D animation. The mythology of the rebuild movies also makes very little sense and resorts to long exposition dumps in random places. But when the movie lets go and becomes a finale to Evangelion, it's great. When it becomes the payoff to 25+ years of buildup from the original series and not the result of these past three movies, it's brilliant. It's hard to recommend the Evangelion rebuilds. The first one is a remake of the beginning of Neon Genesis Evangelion, 2.0 is mediocre with a really good ending, and 3.0 is a complete mess. This movie is definitely the best rebuild, but that isn't really a high bar. If you were left unsatisfied by End of Evangelion then I would recommend the rebuilds, but they're not really worth it otherwise.

Having watched all the films I simply wanted more screen time for Rei and Asuka. Instead I get Shinji again, monopolizing most scenes.

The animation is spectacular and one of the best I have ever seen. The music was also very good, no criticism there. I would have preferred it if the Eva films focused on each character separately.

The ending was OK. I will just go back and re-watch the series.