I had been waiting for EVANGELION 3.33 for years as it took a while to make in Japan and then the English language track (and subtitles) were redone last year since the Japanese creator of it wasn’t happy with it (which resulted in a year delay to blu-ray/ DVD as Funimation gave the excuse they wanted to show EVANGELION 3 in more theater venues).   I don’t know if this installment is worth the wait since it seems rather incomplete even though they take the EVANGELION saga into complete new story territory with this third of four films (the fourth film is going to be made who knows when since the director of the first three films has decided to help direct GODZILLA: RESURGENCE and he felt a little depressed after making this latest EVANGELION).

 

Shinji Ikari wakes up in his EVA fourteen years after a Third Impact that almost happened.   Forces have divided from NERV as Misato Katsuragi, Asuka, and Mari fight to stop NERV (and SEELE) from causing the Third Impact which will result in the end of human life as we know it.   No one trusts Shinji, but he is first rescued by Asuka only to have NERV soon to take him away as Gendoh Ikari wants to cause the Third Impact still in a misguided attempt to bring back his wife (who the Rei clones are actually a clone of Gendoh’s wife- giving a whole new creepy dimension to Shinji being attracted to a clone of his mother in the first place while he should be hooking up with Asuka anyway).   The 90 minutes of story feel incomplete as it is a buildup with new story and minimal character development (as Shinji still needs to man up or be slapped) to end in a cliffhanger of sorts (which makes me wonder if they should have combined the story for EVANGELION 3 and 4 into one two hour finale instead).

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Several TV spots and trailers for EVANGELION 3.33: YOU CAN (NOT) REDO are featured on the disc in addition to the REBUILD OF EVANGLION 3.33 featurette (which shows what makes up various shots from pre-production to finished product (but I wish they do some interviews with the animation crew, the director, and voice cast) which is also showed off in still form in the 52 page guidebook that gives more behind-the-scenes info than the featurette).

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:  EVANGELION 3.33 is a little disappointing given the long wait for a new EVANGELION animated movie.  Maybe I will need to watch this again with new viewings of the first two to get a better appreciation of  (or better understanding) of what it is trying to be done with the rebuild of this saga.  So far I think the NEON GENESIS EVANGELION anime series and various magna incarnations have told the story better than the EVANGLION rebuild.

 

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