Rebuild of Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 (2021)

Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time (2021)

Dirs. Hideaki Anno / Kazuya Tsurumaki / Katsuichi Nakayama / Mahiro Maeda

Given my feelings about part three — and that in the lengthy interim between it and part four Anno had helped make what I consider to be the worst live action Japanese-language Godzilla movie since the Showa Era lost its way — I didn't feel the pang of the nine-year wait that happened, but I sympathise with anyone that did.

Evangelion: 4.0 You Can (Not) be Fucking Serious, as it'll forever be known to me hereafter, has some stunning animation, but is less successful in other ways. It has the dubious honour of being the least engaging anime movie that I watched in 2022.

The frantic aerial battle that fills a large chunk of the opening was off-putting to me, but I can see how it could be considered impressive by others, in how it resembled some kind of futuristic fighter plane conflict. In retrospect, when paired with what follows, it plays a successful part in conveying how important the role of contrast is to the whole.

A case in point: the world of the three wandering Eva pilots versus that of the characters on the NERV vessel. It was nice to see Rei experience a world without orders and extreme expectations, but it wasn't without its complications. It's best if I don't go into detail about what that means.

At 155 minutes it's the longest of the four films. It feels long, too. I was checking my watch after just an hour, with much despair. When the end did finally arrive, it came with the expected level of batshit crazy and symbolism. I'm sure the resolution held meaning(s) that were more than literal, but by that stage I'd stopped caring and was just glad it was over. That the most underdeveloped character should be given such prominence was the final nail in the coffin.

Apologies to anyone who shared my enthusiasm at the beginning of the Rebuild and expected the same throughout, but I only ever post the truth as I see it. On a related note, I've the original NGE manga to read. Fingers crossed that it manages to do what I feel the films didn't.

NOTE: that's not the official cover art. At time of writing, the movie hasn't had a retail release on disc in the UK, meaning the only way to see it is on greedy streaming platforms, so I mocked-up a suitable cover in the style of the previous three.