Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time

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.

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.

I'm a fan of the series, I watched the TV series decades ago, and now the Rebuild movies, but they are still inherently flawed in that it has always been almost incomprehensible.

So what is wrong with it? Here's what I find myself saying many times:

1. What does that even mean?!?!

It uses unknown terms in a sentence then again several minutes later as if that would help understand what it meant in the first place. Then when it does use a term that is vaguely familiar, it is used in a completely different manner and context.

2. What is that?!?!

It tries to wow us with imagery and animation that is incomprehensible. I don't even know what I am looking at!

3. What is going on?!?!

The main flaw is the story telling. It only allows a portion of it, just barely enough, to understand what is really going on. Frankly, it could lose the audience.

But hey, I am still a fan, love the characters, most especially Rei, distantly followed by Asuka, and I will watch whatever comes next.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is a franchise unlike any other. Made by a young man struggling with depression, it told the story of a teenager not unlike himself as he thrust into the role of an unwilling hero. It would become successful, infamous, and influential all at the same time, and this is addressed in the best way possible with its one true finale. Now upon first watch, I did much of the film's latter half to be very confusing because of its use of surreal imagery. There were also several things which didn't make sense but I thought it was good. But on the second watch, I realized what all this is truly about. Being human and what it means. It has apparent throughout the franchise that in spite of its popularity among anime fans, often seen as escapists, it was very much against escapism. Doing the research and seeing the real world influences in the story, you realize this isn't Anno's story anymore. It's not just about what him or the fans want, but what's best for its cast of characters. Moving on and growing up are without question the central themes of the film, and plays into how the characters get an ending that's not meant to satisfy the fan, although it still does, but give the character that suffers the ending they needed. Needles to say going back and rewatching for a second time refreshed my idea of what the film and series as a whole were telling us, and I was holding back tears catharsis after the fact.

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.