Evangelion-2.0:-You-Can-(Not)-Advance-Anime-Review
July 1st 2010 01:17
Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance - Anime Review
Information:
Release Date: June 2009
Director: Hideaki Anno
Review:
Neon Genesis Evangelion is a series that needs almost no introduction. First debuting in ground with its chaotic mixture of mecha action, psychological character drama and experimental storytelling techniques that had more in common with the likes of expressionst filmmakers like Fritz Lang and surrealists like Luis Bunuel then Gundam. Wheather you consider its director Hideaki Anno, an artistic genius or the luckiest hack in the world, there is no denying that Evangelions impact as an apoxaylptic tale of three young pilots fighting off emigmatic Angels in the days of 2015.
It was no suprise that when the new Rebuild of Evangelion theatrical releases were announced, it caused a big stir - making the initial feature Evangelion 1.0: You are (not) alone all the more disappointing. While sporting much slicker production values then the low-budget TV series, the film offered liitle for new to long-time fans unitl the final minutes, where, along with the suggestion that all this may be connected to the original series, fans were given a very intriguing teaser.
The teaser attached to the end og the movie promised nothing less then a very different Evangelion with new mecha, new Angels and a completely new pilot. So much, in fact, that many wondered just how tossing more into one of the worlds famous anime infamously tangled storylines could work.
The answer is surprisingly well. From start to finish, the film moves at a fast. almost breath;ess, clip. If the first film recalled how slow the opening act was, this one will take long-time fans back to the days when they could not wait to go to the video store to pick up the next two-episode tape priced at $30. It brings back the sense of discovery, character drama and nightmarish intensity of the series main arc all those years ago. Ironically, the reason for this is that the film only superficially resembles the second act of Evangelion.
Granted, many of the main points remain the same: fan-favouriate characters, Asuka and Kaji, are introduced; the crimson Eva Unit 02 gets deployed for the first time; and a fight with an Angel-infected Eva plays a key role in protagonist Shinji Ikaris developments. Even the infamous still-framed elevator scene gets thrown in for good measure. However, the devil is in the details as these events play out in a dramatically different fashion and to drastically different effect. By changing everything, the acquainted fan can no longer fall back on his previous knowledge of comfort. Everthing old is new again.
Indeed, detail is a key word throught this film. While the TV series was never for a lack of nuanze, the world of Tokyo-3 as shown in this film makes the place feel alive, like it never did in the Eva series. Director Anno devotes just as much attention to how people get on and off the trains as he does to showing how the Evangelions dispatch the various Angels. The scenes are minor, but they add a deft humanistic touch to an anime that is best rememberes for its unapologetic nihlism.
Despite several fun scenes the series leads just being kids - including one amusing visit to an aquarium and the suggestion of a love triangle - this has not suddenly become Neon Sunshine Evangiggleon. The battles, brutal as they were in the TV series, take on a more animalistic nature, similar to Gurren Lagann but bloodierm that tazes the budget of the film and the stomace of the audience to the fullest. Nary does a battle go by where someone does not get a limb ot three casually torn apart, exploded or otherwise mangled in graphic fashion. Yet, like seeing a pack of wolves take down a deer, it never feels sadistic, merely methodical in its carnage.
What is a letdown is the new character, Mari. When first announced as being a new Evangelion pilot, there was much anticipation over her involvement with the new storyline. While the contrast between her collected, slightly libidinous nature and her borderline psychopathic obsession with piloting the Evangelion are interesting to watch in comparison to the more morose main cast, she simply does not get to do very much. Unles there are greater plans for her in the final installment, she seems destined to be relegated to just another figure gor hardcore otaku to collect then a proper character in her own right.
On the other hand, the new and redesigned Angels are an utter delight to watch. Beautiful animated with all sorts of surreal appendages and implausible designs, they all look like something out of your worst LSD-induced nightmares after an Ultraman marathon. Likewise, the few new Eva Units seen are quite beautiful, despite their short screen time.
Of course, even rewritten from the ground-up, a 108-minute re-imagining of a patch of roughly 14 TV episodes is bound to suffer in some areas. While the pacing is smooth and the sense of scal is impressive, many details are scrubbed over and this writers Japanese skills is not entirely to blame. For instance, we see few new logos for organizations - ACRON, IPEA to name two - that do not realyy get explained and it was disappointing to see Anno and crew include so much fan service in the midse of all the new pycho-drama. Granted, in the series, we saw more then our fair share of skin but here it feels even more gratuitous, which is saying something. Also a bit of a letdown is Annos use of childrens music for teo key scenes. In one scene, it is used to poetic effect, on par with the classic :Komm Suser Todd: sequence in The End of Evangelion. The second time he uses it, however, it feels both forced and mawkish.
What is inevitable is the question, where is the innovation(question mark) The original series daring in the way it managed incorporate Freudian psychology, live-action images and reflexive commentary into what was ostensibly a giant robot story. Here, there is very little of that experimental during outside of playting with the content of the story itself.
Nonetheless, Evangelion 2.0 does far more right then wrong overall. Bringing a melancholy optimism to the table, it is both more terrifing and more uplifting than its predecesor.
Grade: A - Wheather the world really needed yet another evangelion can be argued, but at least it is a worthy rebuild.
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