Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo

This film loses all the momentum of the first two installments. It takes an interesting arc and just devolves into a bunch of empty moments. Before, there was intense drama and stakes serving a wider plot. Here it just feels forced. Everyone hates Shinji, sure, but it never seems convincing or meaningful.

14 years after the Third Impact, Shinji Ikari awakens in an unfamiliar world where he's blamed for the destroyed world. Misato Katsuragi now leads an organization, Wille, along with several other former Nerv members including Asuka in a battle against Nerv and Shinji's father Gendo. When Shinji is rescued from Wille by Rei (or what appears to be Rei) Shinji is taken to the ruins of Nerv headquarters where Gendo is still working with Rei and Kaworu Nagisa on plans to bring about Human Instrumentality.

Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, the third in Hideaki Anno's Rebuild of Evangelion film series, is probably the most ambitious of the series yet with the moviemaking a fourteen year time jump and creating a desolate red landscape with the characters we've come to know unrecognizable in the time since we've last seen them. While certainly ambitious, I find myself at odds with myself over the end product. On the one hand the movie goes into a bold direction the series has not yet traversed, but on the other hand I can't really say it does it well.

When the movie starts, we're thrown into an elaborate fight scene in Earth orbit with Asuka and another Eva pilot, Mari (who was introduced in the previous film, but factored so little into the plot I didn't even mention her in the previous review) fighting against an unknown enemy while escorting a package back to Earth. In terms of opening sequences it's a well-choregraphed sequence that's unlike any of the other fight sequences we've seen in the TV series or other Rebuild films so it gets off on the right foot....and then Shinji comes into the story. When Shinji comes into the story not only are we thrown into an unfamiliar environment with Misato Katsuragi piloting a ship called the "Wunder" now carrying a hardened edge and telling Shinji to "do nothing" which leads into a lengthy fight sequence against more nameless enemies before we're given very vague exposition on the "Third Impact" Shinji caused in the last movie that completely ignores the post credit scene where Kaworu stopped the Third Impact which leads to lingering questions that are never really answered over the course of the film. Even the time jump feels like this movie is detached from the other two films and dangling plot threads are just brushed by the wayside.

Despite the many missteps taken by Evangelion 3.0, I do think it does some things well. Shinji's relationship with Kaworu Nagisa was a large point of praise in episode 24 of the TV series, and the film expands on that relationship here giving us more time with Kaworu and Shinji in some truly amazing scenes such as the scenes of the two of them playing pion together or watching the stars. It's unfortunate that there aren't more of these types of character moments with other characters and instead the movie often feels like it's ambling along in search of a direction. Despite being the shortest of the Rebuild of Evangelion film series, Evangelion 3.0 feels like the longest because there's a barrier erected between the audience and characters that never really gives way through the entirety of the running time. The cold indifference with which Shinji is treated by Wille coupled with Shinji's regression to a state of helplessness feels like it's there simply to drive Shinji to Gendo and Nerv because it needs Shinji to bring about the Fourth Impact. Why exactly? I'm not sure, granted Gendo says it's to reunite with his wife Yui, but given the state of the post Third Impact world a Fourth Impact feels like it'd be putting a hat on a hat at this point. I wasn't particularly invested in the characters making up Wille because despite them being characters we've come to know over the course of two films and the TV series, for all intents and purposes they may as well be different characters.

Evangelion 3.0 is frustrating. While the film takes a massive departure from the original narrative of the series going into new territory, it does so rather sloppily brushing aside the plot threads from the previous two films and leaving us in a state of confusion for most of the runtime that leaves us not only wondering what's going on but why should we care. There are glimpses of greatness such as the elaboration on Kaworu and Shinji's relationship, but for the most part the movie feels mostly like a "bridge" episode of this film series whose job is only to keep the seat warm until the real sequel comes out.

"Evangelion is like a puzzle, you know. Any person can see it and give his/her own answer. In other words, we're offering viewers to think by themselves, so that each person can imagine his/her own world. We will never offer the answers, even in the theatrical version. As for many Evangelion viewers, they may expect us to provide the 'all-about Eva' manuals, but there is no such thing. Don't expect to get answers by someone. Don't expect to be catered to all the time. We all have to find our own answers." - Hideaki Anno

End of Evangelion released on July 19th, 1997 in Japan Evangelion 3.33 released on November 17th, 2012 in Japan.

The story of 3.33 begins 14 years after 2.22's conclusion. Ultimately, the plot does not matter. The story was never meant to be about the lore, or the EVAs, or the Angels. The story is one of Japanese society, and those who reject society and seek ways to escape their lives. 2.22 was an idealised version of the original series by the fans, and in Eva's irony, Eva's characters have become caricatures on which Otaku and Hikikomori can escape reality, Rei in particular. 3.33 is Anno talking to the audience.

It's great that they finally tried to do something a little different, but here we are missing everything that made the franchise special or the first two films remotely good. We are at a point in the story where the focus should be finally moved to the characters, but most of them have been suddenly cut out or turned into something completely different. The personalities of the ones who are still around have been strangely flattened, with important issues often being resolved in a short conversation if not a casual shogi game (??). On the other hand, things that should be kept simple are made overcomplicated with no apparent purpose. I dare anyone who is not familiar with the series to understand the point of this film.

Shinji's struggle mostly came from the inside, but this time they decided to let the world end earlier so that he could have something extra to whine about for a couple of hours. I was initially pleased to find out that the film would be focused on the relationship between him and Kaworu, as the original series only spends 15 minutes on it. Still, it felt like they could develop that aspect a little more as well. Maybe they spent too much time working on the (boring) CGI action sequences to make people happy.

I am confident that "3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time" will be better, but as this is no TV show, each individual film should be satisfying with its own definite narrative arc.

Finally new material after years of remakes and recycled material and reshuffled scenes.

It is glorious to behold!

But, at the same time, it was a whole lot of setup and build up for the final part in the series. So, it didn't have as much bang as I would have liked.

Overall, it's very true to what came before, and it's nice to see these characters doing something new even if it was a bit of a tease to wait for the final movie.