I will say this, the movie is not as great as the original code geass series. And it is supposed to be a retcon for what happened in R1 and R2. So, if you want to watch Code geass R3, you should complete the original series and then watch the compilation movies. The compilation movies will not be beneficial to someone who hasn't heard of code geass at all and you will miss a lot of what is happening behind the scenes in the movies. *In any case, minor spoilers alert if you still insist on watching my review without watching the original series* That said, thecompilation movies seem to heavily hinge upon the original series, which I should say, makes it quite boring to watch.

The story is subpar, due to the huge modifications made. It has no plot holes, but it is not interesting as such. And due to these changes, Euphy's death carries no meaning in the compilation films. Similarly, they wasted the romantic potential of Shirley, which would piss off Lulu x Shirley fans. Same could be said for Kallen x Lulu fans(or Kalulu in short) , and while Shirley's character has had not much impact on Lelouch, Kallen did, and she played a pivotal role in Lelouch's development to the end. Especially the scene with the Refrain, which actually made Lelouch a stronger character.

I would also note that due to the changed continuity, Rolo's character is also heavily wasted and his eventual death looks like it will cease to mean anything for the decisions of Lelouch. It looks like the only character given any attention is CC(even preceding the development of Lelouch), so much so that they are trying to make CC's ship with Lelouch sail away in R3. I find it superficial and contradictory, given that CC acts as Lelouch's mother figure.

Most of the characters are not given any context and are just squashed in the middle of nowhere. Eg: Gino, Milly to name a few. Even Nina's arc doesn't make sense and it seems like she is only there to light the FLEIJA.

For someone quite acquainted with the Code geass franchise, I say that character interactions form the crux of Code geass. Hence, the lack of characterization in the compilation films bother me a lot.

As for the plot, it is confusing and not in the good way. The original series were also quite confusing, but they served to provoke the curiosity of the viewers in a good way and not leave them hanging in the middle with huge loose ends. However, the film makes its own loose ends and they present some minor problems of their own .But they are thankfully not badly executed as the characterization and it seems that the compilation films can pull of the plot.

However, if you can forgive those aspects of the films (it is only a compilation film after all, there is no way you can fit 25 hours worth of series into 6 hours of compilation films), you can find the movie to be quite enjoyable in and out of itself. There are some original and nice moments, which make the film quite enjoyable.

Overall, I rate this 7/10. Not as good as I wanted it to be, but not bad either. Let's just hope that they don't make the same mistakes in the R3 series that they did in the compilation films.