greeneyedneko

<<This is a review from somebody that has never yet watched the actual NGE series, so I'm mostly writing this to warn people like me that dive into the movie thinking it's ultimately the same thing just with newer animation.>>

Avoid this movie at all costs ( and potentially the next ones if you didn't already like or get intrigued by this one). At best, just go watch the actual NGE and if you like it then only THEN come back and watch this movie. Don't under any means watch it without knowing anything of NGE.

Why? Was it that horrible despite the very high ratings on MAL/AP?
Yes. And here are my justifications.

Story & characters

I honestly still have no idea how to put my finger on what I had to deal with in 1 hour and 40 minutes of this movie. During the first 30 or 40 minutes I was still scratching my head wondering what the hell I was even watching and why nobody even wanted or cared to explain, only for me to suddenly be bombed with information middle way through, which...still didn't explain much. Don't get me wrong, I honestly appreciate when a show tries to tell a story by using images rather than words, yet in this case it just didn't cut it. (EDIT: After watching the first two episodes of NGE I can say how it is done way better even though they still don't tell you what's going on, but the message was sent perfectly). In other words, pacing just threw itself out the window and committed suicide.

The characters weren't the saving grace of this movie either with Shinji constantly being a drama queen. I have no issue with characters trying to act pitiful, I can understand how a 14 years old kid with a father complex can find the situation too much for himself, however, it developed too fast for me to remotely care. No, actually there was a lack of development to it altogether, however much I tried to justify it. I can see what it was that the directors tried to show, yet it just came out as "detached".
Rei, i saw too little of her to care or even question, though I give her that she could potentially be an interesting character, while Kaworu was the only character that I was remotely interested in basing myself on the last 20 seconds of the movie and out of my own superficial reasons (Akira Ishida *coughs*), which is actually quite sad.

I also heard that this first movie covers the first 6 episodes of NGE...so...6x23min = 138 min = 2 hours and 18 minutes of content translated into 1 hour and 40 minutes. With just 38 minutes of difference (one episode and a half) between the two, they managed to do a lot worst than the actual series (taking for granted that the series is better)? Congrats ! Achievement "Focusing on the wrong things" unlocked !


Animation & Sound

It was nice, though looking at the footage of the old series I don't think that it looks any better. Maybe smoother, but not really better. Actually, I don't even think a remake or retelling (or whatever this is) was needed, unless it was meant to serve as eyecandy for those that already watched the original Evangelion. Though, yes, the combat actually does look better.

The sound was quite forgettable and actually quite unfitting at some points, so I have no idea what happened there or what atmosphere they wanted to establish.

Enjoyment & Overall

Unfortunately, because of all mentioned above it was very hard to even give a shit of what was going on anymore so that summarizes my enjoyment on point. I was really baffled that what I was watching, Neon Genesis Evangelion, THAT Evangelion, revolutionized the anime market because from this movie I just couldn't see it even if I tried to somehow justify it for being a "new concept". I just couldn't.
But since my bafflement was so high, I decided to give a chance to the original NGE. Just to save you the pain though, I can assure you that you, Eva-newbie, miss nothing from not watching this movie.