Evangelion 2.22: (No) puedes avanzar

"The Third Impact is beginning. This is the end of the world."

Evangelion 2.0 is a much bigger departure from the original series than the first movie was, and it's an incredible anime feature, as a result. Everything is bigger and better, and it feels much more like a movie than just a collection of episodes. 

The animation is once again fantastic, the new battle scenes and Angel designs are impressive, and all the story/character additions and character changes are absolutely for the best. The writing and flow of the story has been notably improved, to the benefit of all of the main characters. I also have to mention how great the music is; it serves as a perfect compliment and counter-point to what's happening on screen, and at times demands as much of your attention as the visuals do. 

Casual Evangelion fans, die-hards, and newcomers should not hesitate to check out these movies. It's completely accessible to a new audience, while retaining and expanding upon the core of why this series is one of the most popular and influential. I'm no Evangelion fanatic, but I can't deny the quality of what I'm seeing in progress. 1.0 was great, and 2.0 is fantastic. I CANNOT wait to see where the third movie takes us, next. This is one of the best movies (animated or otherwise) that I've seen in quite a while.

This movie is an interesting take on how to do a reimagining of a original story. While it hits most of the original story beats but in a different order and some are just tweaked. It is a bit better in my opinion than the first rebuild, it adds back in some downtime and relationship building between the characters rather than the first ones take on just going fight scene to fight scene. The visuals are still beautiful and the fight scenes have added a fun amount of gore to make up for the added down time for the fans looking just to see big robots fight kaiju. Definitely worth the watch.

It's been a long wait, but better late than never I'd say. One of the classic mecha science fiction anime now undergoing a revamp of its own, and despite not having much background knowledge of where the series has headed toward, I still found this installment engaging enough to leave me wanting more especially since it ended on a cliffhanger of sorts, even though it's yet another long wait before the third film hit the screens over here.

Evangelion continues where we last left off in its cinematic version, and the Earth is now under protection by the EVA robots around the world, still piloted by children. There are plans now underway to be more humane though, in piloting the EVAs like unmanned drones from afar, thus keeping the kids out of harm's way. But then there are other plans brewing at sinister levels, which only get hinted at here, clearly sowing the seeds in this installment for something more to come in the future films.

Elements from the earlier film have become staple, and repeated, such as the cheeky way the female characters always get portrayed in teasing the audience / fanboys with various states of dress / near wardrobe malfunction, and hey, besides lead character Shinji Ikari (voiced by Megumi Ogata), every one of his peer pilot seem to be female, and in the opening we're introduced to the pilot for EVA No 5 to start off the film literally with a bang, and EVA No 2's pilot Asuka Langley Shikinami (Yuko Miyamura) in her bright red robot and uniform, in an instant confirming the suspicion that here's one hot chili who isn't afraid to speak her mind. I like this feisty character, who brings a breath of fresh air from the quiet Rei Ayanami (Megumi Hayashibara) and Shinji's pessimism. Other elements would include the countless religious imagery, which is now more in-your-face, and I suppose it should all make sense once the final film rolls around.

The narrative found perfect balance to go a little deeper into the motivation of the various characters, though the kid pilots leave more room as intended for future growth, since Rei is a quiet enigma, Shinji still being the reluctant hero, and Asuka the live-wire who doesn't mince her words, even if criticizing her Japanese counterparts quite pointedly and in some ways, offensively too. A large chunk of the story got devoted to a suggestion of a love triangle that didn't manage to play itself out due to the constant alien threat, but got to a point enough to affect the events that follow, and to make them a sledgehammer for emotions.

Then there's the action sequences, which are still as spectacular. The Angels' designs get weirder, and their attack more powerful of course, though the EVAs have a few more tricks up their sleeves, brought about by really pushing the envelope beyond what has so far been permissible. With humans at the helm of technology, we are always in control and can add that aspect of humanity without allowing technology itself from going berserk. This gets explored and discussed somewhat, especially when a dummy module gets its field day when called upon to override some human inaction, and I assure you your jaw will drop and how enemies get pulverized, which is something which I least expected, in an action-packed, yet moving scene which will get you all riled up. Then again this shows how important it is to have a human mind in control, over something else which dictates its actions through set rules, and executed without a soul of thought.

As a follow up film, this one lived up to the potential set by its predecessor, and expanded upon that universe with more Evangelion protocols, new and improved mecha capabilities, and characters you feel for, while still keeping a lid on the intrigue posed by the organizations NERV and Seele. No prior knowledge of the earlier film is required, though you would be better off to know some basics to enjoy the film a lot more. Needless to say the fans would lap this up, especially when the trailer for the 3rd film gets played after the end credits that offered that sneak peek into what's next, and that antagonizing wait for it to actually happen.

I watched Evangelion as a teenager and liked many aspects of it. However the series was very weak and repetitive in the middle and clearly suffered production difficulties near the end. The movies didn't do much for me after the initial epic-scope aesthetics of End of Evangelion had worn off. Now more than 10 years later I'm pretty happy that things have been reordered and re-rendered to make the series into what it should really have been in the first place.

I don't like the fact than Anno Hideaki has been able to milk the somewhat unfinished series for so much cash and so many editions (not to mention pachinko machines) so far, but taking 1.0 and 2.0 as stand-alone works (and ignoring their pretentious titles) is pretty satisfying.

Story 8/10 Good: much more than a rehash of the series. The story is fleshed out in some of the most necessary places and feels so much tighter and more concentrated than anything that has come before. Some awesome new snippets of what is to come later in the series add some satisfying excitement.

However, there is still an element of "here comes the next baddie" which gets a little tiresome. It is dealt with much more effectively here than the series, but it's still predictable. Nevertheless, despite giving the impression of being about to enter the full-on "monster of the week" barrage, it never really does, which is a blessed relief. The interactions of the characters are becoming more believable, and individual personalities are being better exposed and explained.

But, and it's a necessary but, what's the deal with the fan-service? Come on, man. Take yourself seriously, won't you? Animation 9/10 Well, it teetered between absolutely superb and a little disappointing. The budget was clearly insanely high. Action sequences are fantastically detailed and choreographed for the main part, although suffer from gratuitous flailing of limbs and ridiculous acrobats which unfortunately dumb it down a little. Backgrounds are simply amazing. The detail and range is incredible. The failings lie in the characters. Sometimes character faces and expressions look out of place by their simplicity. The broad pen pines and over-simple shading are a bit of a let-down.

Sound 7.5/10 Not particularly amazing. Again we see the technique of using a mixture of classical and children's music for depth and vulnerability. I'm surprised at some of the choices though. For example, one of the children's songs used is very popular in Japan and often used in elementary schools. The manner in which it is normally used makes its appearance in the film almost comical; which can't have been the intention. Not really knowing many Japanese people who care that much about anime I haven't been able to ask what they though, but it seemed a bit silly to me.

The Japanese people speaking English throughout the film are incredibly embarrassing. What a huge mis-calculation. How hard is it to train people to say a small number of lines in a natural way? Characters 8.5 Although some of the characters (particularly Asuka) seem to have become even less likable, for the most part the big-hitters have only improved. Although there is little time left for the minor-characters to develop or even really be involved, the well-developed personalities of the leads take somewhat new directions in their relations to one another. The relationship between teen-sap Shinji and his father has a more satisfying and somewhat relatable edge to it now, and Rei's annoyingly hyperbolic meekness has been flatted out to something more forgiving. All in all, satisfying.

And the new lead, Mari, is much better than (at least I) predicted. She has a very interesting relationship with herself, and pain. I am definitely looking forward to her future development.

Eva designs seem to have changed slightly around the waist which was a curious choice, and doesn't add much to their attractiveness. In contrast, the Angels have been changed for the better. The old, sometimes Ultraman-ish designs were sometimes a little... Ultraman-ish. The reduced number and better designs have helped things along well.

Overall 8.5/10 Overall satisfying. For me the film didn't quite have the intensity ascribed to it by others, and the ending I thought actually lacked a little emotional attachment. I also thought that the amazing animation and choreography discussed above wasn't nearly as good near the end as it was earlier in the feature. But despite this, as a whole this movie blows the series out of the water. So much which was unsatisfactory is now shiny and new. Whether or not I would feel this way about the film without having seen the rest of the franchise is anyone's guess, but I really enjoyed it. Good work, keep it up.

The first Rebuild Of Evangelion gave audiences and fans just about the first 6 episodes of the original series with some small differences but showed promise and pointed to the fact that Anno might be heading to a different direction with the Rebuild series than his original Anime show.

You Can (Not) Advance does take the series into a completely new direction and actually changes situations that fans of the original series are familiar with for the better and actually drops the angsty over-philosophical dribble that hurt his original engaging creation. Characters develop new relationships and interact differently from the show. The three EVA pilots from the original series get some great development here and differ a lot from NGE in a very good way. New characters are introduced, stakes are raised and the film has a lot of build up which boils down to one hell of a climax.

The film has a more intense tone this time around and is very fast paced. The action is incredibly engaging and the film is the first in a while that has gotten my heart beating like crazy during the intense action on-screen. The film does give you breathing space with lighthearted interactions between characters and humor and thus makes it less heavy overall than NGE and EOE even though it certainly is more gruesome and still has it's moments of pure nightmare fuel.

The Score of Evangelion is at it's best in this film and truly delivers. It varies from beautifully orchestrated racing score to sweet and engaging J-pop and Anno sure makes the out-of-place songs fit as well as he did in the show and EOE. The entire experience watching this addition to the series is unforgettable and gives me much hope for even more improvement in the next two installments.

Overall the film is a vast improvement for the series and hints at better things to come with it's significant changes and has raised the stakes for the Evangelion universe. Anno seems to have gotten over his depression completely and bloomed into a true crafter of worlds and emotionally charged storytelling.