Friday, November 16, 2018

Evangelion 2.22-You Can (Not) Advance


As humanities war against the Angels intensifies, Shinji and Rei find themselves joined in battle by two additional Eva pilots: the fiery red head Asuka and the battle loving Mari.  With new pilots and new weapons on their side, NERV is set for any Angel threat.  But new and far more chilling conspiracies and revelations lay deep within the organization that threaten to destroy everything NERV has worked so hard to achieve.  Soon Shinji and his allies are fighting not just to save humanity, but their own souls as well.  The question now is: how far is Shinji willing to go to protect those he loves?

Even though the first chapter of the Rebuild of Evangelion saga didn’t start introducing new elements to the saga until the tail end of the film, I was impressed by it and eager for the continuation.  And the wait was worth it.  Not only did You Can (Not) Advance deliver on the promise of bold new direction for the legacy of Evangelion, it also delivered an epic so fun and amazing it might kind of rival The End of Evangelion…that isn’t easy.

The new story begins to breathe a bit more and while there are still plenty of scenes from the original series present (and beautifully updated animation wise), the movie still feels like an original work rather than the almost beat for beat retread that the first film was.  Those new story beats also gives us new character beats.  The biggest winner in this regard is Shinji, who continues to evolve from his isolated and alone predecessor into a young man with something to fight for and the drive to get the job done.  It’s ok to root for him now.  Same goes for close second Asuka, who seems to be able to open up to people more than her original incarnation.  This is evidence enough in the films update of the infamous elevator scene with Rei and Asuka, a definite improvement over the original.  Plus, Asuka’s original English Voice Actress Tiffany Grant joins fellow US Eva alums Spike Spencer and Alison Keith in reprising her original role as the fiery red head of Eva fame.

It should be noted that the original release schedule of the Rebuild Saga hasn’t gone according to plan.  However, the unexpected extra wait times between movies is evident in the films animation.  This is above and beyond the original series and the old movies and is probably what Evangelion was always meant to look like from the get go.  The mechs move faster, the Angels look fiercer and scarier, and the city of Tokyo-3 can be shifted into one big Eva playground, it’s astounding how much everything has changed from the mid 90’s when Neon Genesis Evangelion first appeared.  For me, it was worth it to get to the stellar final act of the film, which looks amazing, feels genuine and vastly improved from the original series, breathing a bit of hope absent from that iteration.  Maybe the is the result of a less depressed Anno?  Whatever the case, I love it.

There is one big disappointment in this piece and it unfortunately lies with the films biggest anticipation: the newcomer Mari.  While she is impressive as a pilot, pushing her Eva’s farther than anyone has before, she is only in the film for a short (an I mean short) period of time and only for action sequences.  I get that this is only the second of four movies but still a little character development would have been appreciated for a character made specifically for the new Evangelion.  From an action standpoint, Mari impresses.  From a character development standpoint, she leaves much to be desired and I really hope we see more from her in the future.

Evangelion 2.0-You Can (Not) Advance may be the half point of the Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy, but it many ways it’s just getting started.  The setting, the characters and the Evas themselves all look like new life and new direction has been given to them.  And if the final scenes of the film are any indication, the series is set to move farther away from the original than ever before.  This is an Evangelion for a new age and it is well working its way above the original in every way.  And yet it still manages to stand tall alongside the original...and like I said when youre as good as The End of Evangelion, that is far from easy but man…somehow it did it.

9/10
BTW let’s just say Chapter 3 was not quite as good as the first two entries.  How bad was it?  Here, you can check out my review of Evangelion 3.33-You Can (Not) Redo from 2016 when I saw it at Katsucon right here: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2016/02/evangelion-333-you-can-not-redo.html

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