Evangelion 3.33 is by far the biggest departure from the show so far. The completely rewritten ending for 2.22 didn't leave much in the way for the third instalment to continue the trend of reimagining the original series, and 3.33 doesn't even attempt to do that. The closest we get is the infinitely more fleshed out relationship between Shinji and Kaworu. In the show this was rushed through, with Kaworu introduced suddenly, and Shinji's trauma stemming from Kaworu's fate felt like one of the shows few hollow moments. But in the Rebuild films, Kaworu has been a background presence since the beginning. 3.33 goes even further and dedicates the meat of the movie to their relationship, without being distracted by other characters. It almost feels like the unabridged and expanded version of episode 24.
But otherwise 3.33 is completely different to anything we've ever seen in Evangelion. The movie starts with an eye-patched Asuka retrieving Shinji from an orbital stasis in one of the most spectacular animated sequences I've ever seen (and even better on a bigger screen in HD). It's been fourteen years since the end of the last movie, and a lot has changed. The Third Impact left a post-apocalyptic world behind, and many of the characters grew and developed offscreen. Nerv is no more, and Misato and Ritsuko have branched off, taking the EVA's with them, and even building themselves a command ship from the wreckage of EVA 01. Asuka and Mari are still teenagers thanks to "the Eva curse", Shinji obviously hasn't aged a day while in stasis (even mentally), and as we find out later on, Rei didn't make it out of 2.22 (at least not physically), so the Rei we get is a new clone; a blank slate. Tokyo-3 is a ruin, the geofront is uncovered, and the surface is covered in the aftermath of the failed Instrumentality attempt.
In fact, the closest comparison I can come to to the original run is End of Evangelion (which I'm actually regretting not reviewing, so maybe I'll revisit another time), especially in 3.33's climatic moments. Shinji, through sheer desperation to fix the damage he caused in the Third Impact, and ignoring the advice from everyone around him, pulls the spears from the body of Lillith, and inadvertently causes a Fourth Impact. It's also here where the theories of Rebuild being a sequel series rather than a reboot really start to take shape. The sense of familiarity and being stuck in a loop starts to peer through.
Of course by comparison End had a whole movie's runtime to explore it's heavy themes and crazy plot developments, while 3.33 only has the final act to do so. This results in a lot of the details not making a whole lot of sense, especially considering how drastically new this continuity is, and how fast and hard it plays with the originally established mythology. Kaworu mentions being the first Angel, and somewhat turns into the thirteenth by the movie's end. How or why this is even possible is never explained, nor is Lillith's involvement and transformation in all of this. Why was pulling the spears a good idea and now suddenly a bad one? What's going on with Instrumentality? Why are Seele encased within their communication monoliths? How did Instrumentality transform the population into Evas? And how did Nerv escape this fate? What happened to Kaji, and what did Nebuchadnezzar's Key have to do with anything? Where is the original Rei? What is "the Eva curse"? Of course many of these questions may find answers in the fourth movie, but I'm pessimistic on that point, especially considering the condensed nature of the Rebuild movies so far. 4.0 would basically have to be a ninety minute exposition dump in order to answer everything.
One of the most prevailing complaints I've seen about this movie revolve around how the characters were treated this time around. In a way it's true, the characters have changed a lot, and the vast majority of them are not treated very well. We're chucked in with a fourteen year time jump, and just like Shinji we're left wondering what on Earth happened in those years. But the movie doesn't make any attempt to redevelop the characters, or explore how or why they changed. Asuka is much the same Asuka as she was in 2.22 (which is a hollow shell of her Neon Genesis version but I digress), and the same goes for Mari who comes out of 3.33 just as meaningless and unnecessary as she was before. Misato and Ritsuko have quite evidently changed a lot, but their appearances are glorified cameos at best. The Rei of 3.33 is not the same Rei of 2.22. She's a blank slate, an obedient doll, a soulless vessel devoid of emotion or humanity. Even Shinji feels like he's regressed a little, back to being the desperate whiny Shinji from Neon Genesis, having not learned anything from the events of the previous movies. However none of this bothered me nearly as much as it seemed to bother the rest of the fandom, in large part because the Rebuild films have been scant on character development anyway, and 3.33 was no different by my assessment. If you loved the character development and psyche study of Neon Genesis, the Rebuild films are never going to fulfill you. It would be physically impossible to do so from the confines of their blockbuster running time.
But what 3.33 does manage is vastly improve the animation. Not just in comparison to Neon Genesis like the other movies, but even in comparison to the other movies themselves. I admit I haven't watched a great wealth of modern anime (read as: none), but 3.33 is hands down the most phenomenal looking anime I have ever seen (so far). The hand-drawn 2D style so married to the anime style is kept intact, but updated, given greater depth and colour, and even given its own sense of a three-dimensional presence. The 3D CGI goes a long way in reinforcing this, giving the illusion of intricate camera movements. And it all blends seamlessly with the more typical anime models. One shot in particular has the Wille crew strapped in ready for battle, and the camera pans around their suspended harnesses. The characters are still moving and talking, but the ever-changing perception gives them a three dimensional appearance. The use of lighting and colours only emphasise this further. Of course this also results in a surprisingly amount of detail, not only in surface rendering like a sky full of clouds, but also in subtle changes in expression. Anime has never been subtle about facial expressions, but here every little twitch and glance is meaningful. 3.33 is nothing short of gorgeous to watch, and it makes me ever sadder for Disney's decision to let go of 2D animation entirely in the early 2000's, resulting in it becoming an artistic style rarely seen in animated movies these days. Maybe I just need to watch more modern anime (I hear the work of Makoto Shinkai is particularly beautiful to watch).
I enjoyed 3.33 a lot, maybe even more than 1.11, and certainly more than 2.22. Of course End is still my favourite piece of work from the entire franchise, and even the fourth Rebuild movie will have to do a lot to outdo it, but for now 3.33 is probably up there as my second favourite so far. It's not perfect, but neither was Neon Genesis. And it was nice to review one of these movies without having something to strictly compare it to, but of course by this point in the Rebuild you can't really judge them by themselves. 3.33 is not a standalone movie, and cannot be measured as such. Whether it relates to the other Rebuild movies, or to the original series, 3.33 requires context. I give it a solid 8/10, and I'm already hankering for a rewatch of the entire thing.
But otherwise 3.33 is completely different to anything we've ever seen in Evangelion. The movie starts with an eye-patched Asuka retrieving Shinji from an orbital stasis in one of the most spectacular animated sequences I've ever seen (and even better on a bigger screen in HD). It's been fourteen years since the end of the last movie, and a lot has changed. The Third Impact left a post-apocalyptic world behind, and many of the characters grew and developed offscreen. Nerv is no more, and Misato and Ritsuko have branched off, taking the EVA's with them, and even building themselves a command ship from the wreckage of EVA 01. Asuka and Mari are still teenagers thanks to "the Eva curse", Shinji obviously hasn't aged a day while in stasis (even mentally), and as we find out later on, Rei didn't make it out of 2.22 (at least not physically), so the Rei we get is a new clone; a blank slate. Tokyo-3 is a ruin, the geofront is uncovered, and the surface is covered in the aftermath of the failed Instrumentality attempt.
In fact, the closest comparison I can come to to the original run is End of Evangelion (which I'm actually regretting not reviewing, so maybe I'll revisit another time), especially in 3.33's climatic moments. Shinji, through sheer desperation to fix the damage he caused in the Third Impact, and ignoring the advice from everyone around him, pulls the spears from the body of Lillith, and inadvertently causes a Fourth Impact. It's also here where the theories of Rebuild being a sequel series rather than a reboot really start to take shape. The sense of familiarity and being stuck in a loop starts to peer through.
Of course by comparison End had a whole movie's runtime to explore it's heavy themes and crazy plot developments, while 3.33 only has the final act to do so. This results in a lot of the details not making a whole lot of sense, especially considering how drastically new this continuity is, and how fast and hard it plays with the originally established mythology. Kaworu mentions being the first Angel, and somewhat turns into the thirteenth by the movie's end. How or why this is even possible is never explained, nor is Lillith's involvement and transformation in all of this. Why was pulling the spears a good idea and now suddenly a bad one? What's going on with Instrumentality? Why are Seele encased within their communication monoliths? How did Instrumentality transform the population into Evas? And how did Nerv escape this fate? What happened to Kaji, and what did Nebuchadnezzar's Key have to do with anything? Where is the original Rei? What is "the Eva curse"? Of course many of these questions may find answers in the fourth movie, but I'm pessimistic on that point, especially considering the condensed nature of the Rebuild movies so far. 4.0 would basically have to be a ninety minute exposition dump in order to answer everything.
One of the most prevailing complaints I've seen about this movie revolve around how the characters were treated this time around. In a way it's true, the characters have changed a lot, and the vast majority of them are not treated very well. We're chucked in with a fourteen year time jump, and just like Shinji we're left wondering what on Earth happened in those years. But the movie doesn't make any attempt to redevelop the characters, or explore how or why they changed. Asuka is much the same Asuka as she was in 2.22 (which is a hollow shell of her Neon Genesis version but I digress), and the same goes for Mari who comes out of 3.33 just as meaningless and unnecessary as she was before. Misato and Ritsuko have quite evidently changed a lot, but their appearances are glorified cameos at best. The Rei of 3.33 is not the same Rei of 2.22. She's a blank slate, an obedient doll, a soulless vessel devoid of emotion or humanity. Even Shinji feels like he's regressed a little, back to being the desperate whiny Shinji from Neon Genesis, having not learned anything from the events of the previous movies. However none of this bothered me nearly as much as it seemed to bother the rest of the fandom, in large part because the Rebuild films have been scant on character development anyway, and 3.33 was no different by my assessment. If you loved the character development and psyche study of Neon Genesis, the Rebuild films are never going to fulfill you. It would be physically impossible to do so from the confines of their blockbuster running time.
But what 3.33 does manage is vastly improve the animation. Not just in comparison to Neon Genesis like the other movies, but even in comparison to the other movies themselves. I admit I haven't watched a great wealth of modern anime (read as: none), but 3.33 is hands down the most phenomenal looking anime I have ever seen (so far). The hand-drawn 2D style so married to the anime style is kept intact, but updated, given greater depth and colour, and even given its own sense of a three-dimensional presence. The 3D CGI goes a long way in reinforcing this, giving the illusion of intricate camera movements. And it all blends seamlessly with the more typical anime models. One shot in particular has the Wille crew strapped in ready for battle, and the camera pans around their suspended harnesses. The characters are still moving and talking, but the ever-changing perception gives them a three dimensional appearance. The use of lighting and colours only emphasise this further. Of course this also results in a surprisingly amount of detail, not only in surface rendering like a sky full of clouds, but also in subtle changes in expression. Anime has never been subtle about facial expressions, but here every little twitch and glance is meaningful. 3.33 is nothing short of gorgeous to watch, and it makes me ever sadder for Disney's decision to let go of 2D animation entirely in the early 2000's, resulting in it becoming an artistic style rarely seen in animated movies these days. Maybe I just need to watch more modern anime (I hear the work of Makoto Shinkai is particularly beautiful to watch).
I enjoyed 3.33 a lot, maybe even more than 1.11, and certainly more than 2.22. Of course End is still my favourite piece of work from the entire franchise, and even the fourth Rebuild movie will have to do a lot to outdo it, but for now 3.33 is probably up there as my second favourite so far. It's not perfect, but neither was Neon Genesis. And it was nice to review one of these movies without having something to strictly compare it to, but of course by this point in the Rebuild you can't really judge them by themselves. 3.33 is not a standalone movie, and cannot be measured as such. Whether it relates to the other Rebuild movies, or to the original series, 3.33 requires context. I give it a solid 8/10, and I'm already hankering for a rewatch of the entire thing.