Evangelion 3.33
Come to think of it, I haven't really 'formally' made an impression for this movie.
Y'know.
The first time I watched I genuinely didn't think it was all that bad. Sure it had a lot of pacing problems and characterization problems but I liked it a lot. Then my friend and I decided to watch it (him watching it for the first time) and after my second viewing... I'm a lot more conflicted about it than I was before.
As much as it pains me to admit, the film really is a mess in terms of plot advancement and writing. Way too much ground between 2.0 and 3.0 is left uncovered, too many new plot points introduced that have no substance, too many questions left unanswered, and waaaayyyy too much cryptic dialogue that goes nowhere and means nothing at the end of the day. I actually like where the story has gone but the film itself just feels so mishandled. I could see this working as a single episode in a 26 episode series (hell maybe even a 12 ep. Series) but this is one fourth of a film series and when most of your audience is even more confused and alienated than before when the series is more than halfway through... I'm really not sure if that's a mark of a good film. Whether or not this was a sufficient set-up for things to come will yet to be determined when the last film is released but judging this as a stand-alone film, there are just too many problems bogging it down.
Yet.
For that reason, I'm very excited for 4.0. What lies beyond 3.33?
Possiblity. Knowing full well that none of these questions and details will get any resolution just fills my head with all these potential ideas that could happen in the last film and I know that probably none of them will actually happen. This could all be an elaborate troll or some sort of bitter commentary on the fanbase again and that idea excites me for some reason. I don't know what goes on in Anno's head but the last film has a lot to live up to. 4.0 could very well be the biggest slap in the face to the fans (as if 3.0 wasn't enough for some) and I cannot wait for that.
All that said there were things I legitimately liked about the film. The soundtrack was amazing and arguably the best of the three films. Tracks like God's Message, From Beethoven's 9th, Kindred Spirits, and God's Gift (my personal favorite) all kick in at the right moments in the film and the more somber, darker sound of the OST really fits the atmosphere of the film.
As I mentioned, I'm really lenient when it comes to CG usage in anime and I liked a few of the designs in the film. I actually really liked
's design both the exterior and interior (NGE has always had great UI designs). I realize that the ship and some of its crew are a throwback to older anime like Nadia (even down to the theme song being used.) I haven't watched it but I thought that was pretty cool. The new mecha designs are more or less okay. Eva
's design was pretty cool, Unit-08 would be a really nice design if it wasn't for that gaudy paint job but I guess that fits Mari's personality. And Unit-02's
? Yeah I don't think there's anyone in their right mind who could defend that. Unit-02's seemingly endless suffering in this series continues.
Who knows maybe my opinion of this film could change when the last film hits but as for now, I'm really not sure what happened here. I guess if there's one thing for sure, while some people will hate this and while others will enjoy, I don't think anyone expected this. So I guess that's another victory for Anno.