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I don't usually go into a movie expecting high things, and the things I've heard about this movie threw my expectations up in the sky and below in the darkest part of the ocean. When I went into this movie, I honestly didn't have any expectations. They were thrown around so much, I wasn't prepared for really anything. But, in the end, perhaps it took too many risks and it wasn't very coherent to what the other movies seemed to be building towards (which, is arguably a good thing) but ultimately failed to build towards to something worthwhile either.

STORY -

First, I want to ... talk about the story. This movie takes place 14 years after Evangelion 2.22, which--felt pretty gimmicky to be perfectly honest. I think this could have been handled well given the time...but it just came across as a rushed idea thrown in for some separation from the rest of the franchise. It would have been really cool to have seen a grown up Asuka, Rei, Mari and a young Shinji thrown into this new world full of total strangers that ultimately look down on him. It would have made for better chemistry with some of the other new characters. Secondly, the movie just doesn't make any sense. I didn't know what was going on. It didn't explain how Kaworu came into being, why Misato is in conflict with Gendo, why the world was even destroyed by an impact we have no real understanding of--much less explain the very confusing ending of 2.22 (which I'm still scratching my head over the details). It doesn't look like we'll get any explanation for any of these, and there's a lot more that I'm sure won't get explained. Eva is not one to hand answers on a silver platter, but it at least gives you something to go on. This threw new rules into the mix and it came across as unusually confusing for Eva as well as just plain sloppy in the story department. There is a fourteen year time gap between Evangelion 2.22 and 3.0 and yet there is no real sense of what happened in that fourteen year interim. Shinji seems confused, but even at the end of the film he still seems confused. There just wasn’t room in an hour and a half movie to tell the story they were trying to tell. Even Evangelion should not be excused for this. The movie was also pretty dull. With scenes involving star gazing and playing the piano and playing board games and trying to convince Rei to read books (despite the fact that Rei liking reading books was never even established in ANY form of Evangelion in the past)... The movies pacing was very fast, but also very bland. A lot of nothing happened, but a lot happened. It made it so that even the climax at the end was so un-compelling and quickly done, it seemed like a joke. The only part in the entire movie I felt was exciting was the first six minutes in space. Oh, and of course... There was the dreadful “exploding collar” plot device. Which was put on Shinji by Misato of all people and later removed... But instead of actually disposing of the collar, another character puts it on for some pointless reason in a fit of insanity I suppose. It’s decisions like these that make me stop believing these characters exist. Which Eva has never really been able to do before, I’ll give this story that. Also, the psychological nature of these Rebuild movies has been almost completely eradicated. There was one scene with Shinji tripping on acid for almost no reason... But these movies keep proving to me Anno had no idea what made the original series so special. There is no sacrifice. Kaworu’s introduction and conclusion is pointless. Shinji’s ultimate decision is also unrealistically foolish, even for him... I thought this was supposed to be a coming of age story? And yet... I’m not getting any of that from this movie. It’s boring action after boring action after mistake.

ART –

The art doesn’t feel like Evangelion. The character designs are slightly different now. The contour of the face on Shinji for example is more warped. The art design actually looks like it’s weaving its way towards Gurren Lagann. Especially with “Leeron Ritsuko”. The new character designs are abysmal, pink haired random girl with big lips... I’m looking at you. But there’s also the addition of the hulking beard guy, weird afro dude and latino girl... The only positive addition was that of Touji’s sister Sakura, who looks like she could easily slip into the Eva cast no problem. But for the most part, these characters are so unmemorable it’s kind of sad. Especially since Eva is known for it’s cast of diverse character designs. These new additions don’t even look like they’re from Eva. They look just like dropped character concepts for another anime. In fact, the whole movie’s art doesn’t feel like Eva. Gone are the heavy mech battles of the End of Evangelion, gone even the flashy flips of 2.22... The battles in this movie were not very well choreographed and were just kind of there. The camera angles Anno is so well known for, weren’t that good. One scene in particular, when Kaworu and Shinji were playing the piano utilized still frame shots and cheap, noticeable 3d animation. Another sign the movie was rushed in production and while some of the new designs were interesting, they really did not seem like the characters had grown fourteen years older, merely gone on a bad trip to the hairdresser. It’s disappointing seeing as these new Rebuild movies are supposed to be so outstanding in the animation department. Hopefully some of these problems will be fixed in the final version of the release since studio Kahara has a nasty habit of patching animation hitches later on. The color pallets remain nice, and some scenes are very well done however.

CHARACTERS –

Mari, Mari, Mari. Beloved for no reason. And continues to disappoint. Her blatant existence for nothing but fan service is made abundantly clear in this film when her breasts flapped like two rag dolls attached to the front of her chest near the ending of the movie. I was expecting her to transform above her generic “Mari Sue” and become a true member of the Eva cast, though she was reduced to nothing more than a busty fanservice sidekick for Asuka. Speaking of Asuka, she and the rest of the crew at Willie have an irrational hatred for Shinji which wasn’t justified given that Asuka hardly knew him--and Misato was so eager to cheer him on in the last movie. The characters are in fact...SO different from their 2.22 counterparts and their transformation so unjustified, it comes down to nothing more than poor writing. One of the advantages that the original Evangelion movie: the End of Evangelion had, was that it had characters who people had grown to love and know through out 26 episodes of the television series. Their relationships had been built, and while they might fight sometimes, they still obviously cared for one another. This movie brings new characters to the harem, including Touji’s underdeveloped younger sister who has maybe three lines of dialogue. What was the point? The cast of Willie... The latino woman, the bearded guy, the pink annoying Gurren Lagann character? What was the point? Perhaps they intend to develop these characters further in the final movie. But there’s just no time to do that. The characters that were newly introduced in the last film, don’t get developed in this one. Mari and Asuka aren’t touched upon. Kaji died off screen. Kensuke and Touji died off screen! What was the purpose in the last two movies? All these characters were left unresolved. Introduced for no reason. Suspended in writer’s hell. Rei’s now back to her robotic state and is a throw away. Gendo likewise just did nothing (some things never change I suppose) and Seele even less. While the relationship between Kaworu and Shinji is sweet, it’s a lot of fluff really. In the original series, part of the reason Shinji is so taken with Kaworu is that he’s a sweet guy who’s there when Shinji really needs a friend, because his whole world has just been turned upside down. That is the case in this movie as well, but the desperation of Shinji’s situation is kind of marginalized by the hopeful nature of these scenes. It feels like Shinji is on vacation. In the series there’s none of this. Of course the greatest sin this movie commits is the massacre of Misato. Venomous, unwilling to listen or care, she has been warped off screen by 14 years of loathing for Shinji. The only mercy she shows is slight bits of hesitation about KILLING Shinji. The whole movie probably wouldn’t have happened if her character wasn’t so different. If she sat with Shinji, asked his some questions, they talked and hugged it out... None of the events in the movie would have taken place. In fact, none of the events in the movie actually matter in the outcome. It’s THE MOST unjustified change the movie makes to the cast. And it’s unforgivable. She was the character to ground the rest of the characters, and now she’s a simple antagonistic bi*ch. She was one of my favorites. Now she’s one of my least favorites. I hate hating characters I love.

SOUND –

The music was fantastic! I just don’t think it was used very well in this movie. In the climax, it was one song after another and really didn’t do anything for me. That being said, the music itself was moving and quite extraordinary with songs like Ode to Joy and Wrath of God in All it’s Fury (but again, used pointlessly and Ode to Joy only as a callback to the original series and nothing more). Voice acting pulls it’s way in the lead with Shinji being AMAZINGLY well performed by Megumi Ogata. The rest of the cast likewise, astonishing in all its beauty. The new actors for Sakura and the rest of Willie were also good, though they were not in it long enough for me to tell just how good. Sound effects are nice as well. Click and bleeps where they should be in the ship. But honestly, who watches anything for the sound effects?

ENJOYMENT and OVERALL –

Despite all the negative things I’ve said so far about this movie, it isn’t all that bad. It’s actually better than 2.22 in my opinion! It’s still fun to watch when the Eva units are zooping around doing their thing. It’s also interesting to see a new world ravaged by time. AND IT’S A BREATH OF FRESH AIR TO HAVE A NEW STORY! Thank god for that! There was SO much potential here. But the movie was far too slow. I would have liked to have seen more heavenly battles of epic proportions since it would have made this movie a lot more interesting to watch... Even if that’s not what Eva’s been about for years. Instead, it tried to do something different this time, and it really didn't work.