"The End of Evangelion" Fever Dream or Masterpiece?


     End of Evangelion is being rescreened in Canada and my friend and I took that opportunity to finally see the legendary anime's true ending in person. Or well, one of the many endings, because frankly anytime they release Evangelion in a new format it seems they can't resist also changing the ending. To be honest, I came into this movie expecting very little. In fact, I can't say Evangelion is very easy to explain, there's a bunch of religious lore, many things are never explained, and as someone who just finished watching the movie, I can safely say don't expect everything to be explained. I have to say though, when I was watching this movie for the first time, I must have been on my phone, because this time I actually understand this movie.

    Look, I'm not here to justify a 15 minute interlude where they just film the Japanese public, or the opening scene of Shinji masturbating to a naked Asuka in front of him, but honestly this movie is easier to follow than you think. And honestly, I enjoy the film more than I did before, which yes was something I was genuinely concerned about. Even though there's relatively little fighting other than the one Asuka fight, and Shinji, who is supposed to be the main character mainly just cries and holds one pose, I was oddly captivated throughout the whole ordeal. I mean is the message a bit hamfisted? Yes, but when it comes to a series as confusing as Evangelion can be I think it's generally a good thing to have a pretty explicit message about perseverance.

    Yes, the world is not perfect and you will always end up hurting someone, but that should not be a reason to give up on life forever. That also doesn't mean you should be looking for everyone to ascend, letting go of their souls (or AT fields?)/ individuality just because you believe you can play God. Even if the film does end on Shinji simply choking Asuka and crying, I think it does ultimately end on a hopeful note. Is it as hopeful and as warming as everyone clapping and simply saying congratulations like the original ending? I mean no, but even as bleak as the ending seems, it's proof that Shinji chose to continue to fight on, for whatever world that might be left.

    Frankly though, if you're not a fan of Evangelion how interesting is this movie really? I mean how interesting is this movie even if you're an Evangelion fan? I basically consumed all Evangelion content for a month in high school and even I couldn't bear to watch this movie without my phone in my hand. Plus we haven't even addressed the big elephant in this room, the amount of nudity/sexual content contained in this film. Is any of it necessary? Maybe for big Rei, but otherwise it's copious and frankly I think the last thing this film needed was Gendo causing the teenage clone of his wife to moan so that he could finally start the third impact. I think the film could have done without it, though I'll say I think the Evangelion creator is one horny bastard, the fan service becomes pretty egregious especially in the remake movies.

Final Score: 70/100

    Would I watch this film again? Probably not unless my friend asked me to. Would I say I hated this film, also not really I mean it's not like it's bad it's just that it's really slow and it doesn't work at all unless you have a pretty solid grasp of what Evangelion and it's lore is about. Regardless, I'd be lying if I didn't leave the theaters satisfied, and it is significantly better than that weird drawn ending they originally laid out for the last two episodes of the anime. On a side note, I forgot how smooth the jazz music for this film is, Komm Susser Tod is much better than it really needs to be.

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