I admit it; it's my own fault. Having had mixed feelings about the Neon Evangelion series, which became increasingly perplexing and offered nothing like a real ending, I should have just let it go. But no, I had to watch this movie to try and get some answers.
And yes, there are some answers here and there, but they are often confused half-answers, and motivations are still perplexing. There is also never an explanation to how Shinji has the significance he has in the end, although the idea of the Destined One is so powerful that even though he's never described that way I imagine people will take it for that.
The movie is basically set up as the final two episodes of the series. The first episode is very action packed, which is not at all like the series. In fact, one of the things I liked about the series was that it eschewed the mecha-battle-of-the-week approach in favor of studying the psychology of its characters. But in the first half of the movie there is mainly action and little psychology or character development.
The second half basically does exactly what the final two, famously unsatisfying episodes of the series did; it goes into Shinji's head and talks about his fears.
I appreciate that the writer was aiming for something more than a sci-fi fantasy tale, and that his real goal was to explore loneliness and unhappiness. But it is possible to do both, and offering half a story and then wandering into the mind is not the way to do that.
But of course, that's exactly what happened in the series. I hoped it would be different, because the director said much of what happened at the series end had to do with time and money constraints, but that now looks to be a lie. This is what he wanted to do. And some people love it. But for me it just didn't work.
And yes, there are some answers here and there, but they are often confused half-answers, and motivations are still perplexing. There is also never an explanation to how Shinji has the significance he has in the end, although the idea of the Destined One is so powerful that even though he's never described that way I imagine people will take it for that.
The movie is basically set up as the final two episodes of the series. The first episode is very action packed, which is not at all like the series. In fact, one of the things I liked about the series was that it eschewed the mecha-battle-of-the-week approach in favor of studying the psychology of its characters. But in the first half of the movie there is mainly action and little psychology or character development.
The second half basically does exactly what the final two, famously unsatisfying episodes of the series did; it goes into Shinji's head and talks about his fears.
I appreciate that the writer was aiming for something more than a sci-fi fantasy tale, and that his real goal was to explore loneliness and unhappiness. But it is possible to do both, and offering half a story and then wandering into the mind is not the way to do that.
But of course, that's exactly what happened in the series. I hoped it would be different, because the director said much of what happened at the series end had to do with time and money constraints, but that now looks to be a lie. This is what he wanted to do. And some people love it. But for me it just didn't work.