Review of Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo

Compared to the original anime, this movie spends a lot more time showing the relationship between Shinji and Kaworu. For all that extra time, though, it doesn't really add any depth. See, the original series was effectively written and managed to convey everything that needed conveying there in the span of twenty-three minutes. The two kids didn't need to play piano together for a half hour - it was them staring at the ceiling and talking that really mattered. Despite Rebuild having a shorter total length than Eva Classic, this movie feels kind of bloated in general. I still hold up Evangelion's fight scenes as the bestI've seen in any anime. Mainly because they were brutal, visceral and impactful. The early action sequences in this are a mess of over-the-top effects and completely failed to grab me. I will give it that the later stuff is better, though. Still over the top, but in a more creative, disturbing way.

Rebuild as a whole is weird. 1.0 was basically a shot-for-shot remake of the first six episodes of Evangelion, and then two films later we have this. A massive, radical departure from the original plot. The whole enterprise ends up in an awkward position where it's sort of hard to recommend to someone who's seen the original.

But for all the plot differences, it still makes the same points as the original and has a lot of the same story beats. The confusing nightmare of Rei's existance, Shinji's mounting alienation from everyone around him, the crushing trauma that is the end of Shinji's relationship with Kaworu - it's all there. I can only think of one thing it got really wrong and it's a spoiler. Evangelion 3.0 is something new that nonetheless retains the spirit and identity of the original. And that's worth applauding.

But it doesn't add any depth, drops some in places, and isn't as exciting as the original. While it's something new, it has to be noted that it's something worse. It's lucky there was a long way down to go.