Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (2009)

Indeed, as the title suggests, this movie surprised all its viewers with huge changes in the original plot, setting it apart from the original, and making it arguably, even better. Since I don't know of many things I could possibly say that haven't already been said about this fantastic Movie, I'll give the basics: The animation is, as expected, amazing. Very polished, vibrant and beautiful. The characters are believable. People can argue about the Main Characters "Whining" and 'Emo-ness" all they want, but I think that the ones who dislike him for that might as well say that they are disliking him because, instead of being the generic Anime Macho Bada**, Shinji is realistic. The other characters are fantastic too, and likable. Even Asuka, despite her attitude. Its a shame that she... well you'll see if you watch. The dubbing, though there are quite a few dub haters out there, as very... VERY good. A huge improvement over the original (But in all honestly I prefer the originals. Its just because of the Nostalgia factor though...) And of course, the endings gigantic Cliff Hanger is killer, and made me squeal for 3.33 to come out already. And I'm sure that 3.33 will be no less if not more amazing than this.

Evangelion 1.11 followed the original TV series ep1-6 with hardly any changes, 2.22 roughly follows ep8-19, but there are so many changes that it would be difficult to list them all! Here are just a few of those: Shinji has way less self-hatred, Asuka is more introverted instead of being that loud-mouthed b****(whom I loved...), and Rei actually seems human and is more than able to start a conversation! There's also a new sexy female pilot who at the moment seems to serve no purpose except to increase the sale of Eva merchandise...That said, the best thing about 2.22 is the awe-inspiring visuals and the incredible new soundtrack by Shiro Sagisu, the combination make up for some of the most incredible battle scenes in any movie ever, you have to see and hear it to believe it.The film ends in such a way that your guess is as good as mine as to what's going to happen in the next installment, actually there's a teaser trailer showing Asuka in space... Evangelion 3.33 is scheduled for release in Japan this fall, which means it will be a lonnnnnggggg wait before we can purchase the DVD in the states.Suggested rating: R for intense violence, nudity, and language (dub)

I watched Evangelion as a teenager and liked many aspects of it. However the series was very weak and repetitive in the middle and clearly suffered production difficulties near the end. The movies didn't do much for me after the initial epic-scope aesthetics of End of Evangelion had worn off. Now more than 10 years later I'm pretty happy that things have been reordered and re-rendered to make the series into what it should really have been in the first place.I don't like the fact than Anno Hideaki has been able to milk the somewhat unfinished series for so much cash and so many editions (not to mention pachinko machines) so far, but taking 1.0 and 2.0 as stand-alone works (and ignoring their pretentious titles) is pretty satisfying.Story 8/10 Good: much more than a rehash of the series. The story is fleshed out in some of the most necessary places and feels so much tighter and more concentrated than anything that has come before. Some awesome new snippets of what is to come later in the series add some satisfying excitement.However, there is still an element of "here comes the next baddie" which gets a little tiresome. It is dealt with much more effectively here than the series, but it's still predictable. Nevertheless, despite giving the impression of being about to enter the full-on "monster of the week" barrage, it never really does, which is a blessed relief. The interactions of the characters are becoming more believable, and individual personalities are being better exposed and explained.But, and it's a necessary but, what's the deal with the fan-service? Come on, man. Take yourself seriously, won't you? Animation 9/10 Well, it teetered between absolutely superb and a little disappointing. The budget was clearly insanely high. Action sequences are fantastically detailed and choreographed for the main part, although suffer from gratuitous flailing of limbs and ridiculous acrobats which unfortunately dumb it down a little. Backgrounds are simply amazing. The detail and range is incredible. The failings lie in the characters. Sometimes character faces and expressions look out of place by their simplicity. The broad pen pines and over-simple shading are a bit of a let-down.Sound 7.5/10 Not particularly amazing. Again we see the technique of using a mixture of classical and children's music for depth and vulnerability. I'm surprised at some of the choices though. For example, one of the children's songs used is very popular in Japan and often used in elementary schools. The manner in which it is normally used makes its appearance in the film almost comical; which can't have been the intention. Not really knowing many Japanese people who care that much about anime I haven't been able to ask what they though, but it seemed a bit silly to me.The Japanese people speaking English throughout the film are incredibly embarrassing. What a huge mis-calculation. How hard is it to train people to say a small number of lines in a natural way? Characters 8.5 Although some of the characters (particularly Asuka) seem to have become even less likable, for the most part the big-hitters have only improved. Although there is little time left for the minor-characters to develop or even really be involved, the well-developed personalities of the leads take somewhat new directions in their relations to one another. The relationship between teen-sap Shinji and his father has a more satisfying and somewhat relatable edge to it now, and Rei's annoyingly hyperbolic meekness has been flatted out to something more forgiving. All in all, satisfying.And the new lead, Mari, is much better than (at least I) predicted. She has a very interesting relationship with herself, and pain. I am definitely looking forward to her future development.Eva designs seem to have changed slightly around the waist which was a curious choice, and doesn't add much to their attractiveness. In contrast, the Angels have been changed for the better. The old, sometimes Ultraman-ish designs were sometimes a little... Ultraman-ish. The reduced number and better designs have helped things along well.Overall 8.5/10 Overall satisfying. For me the film didn't quite have the intensity ascribed to it by others, and the ending I thought actually lacked a little emotional attachment. I also thought that the amazing animation and choreography discussed above wasn't nearly as good near the end as it was earlier in the feature. But despite this, as a whole this movie blows the series out of the water. So much which was unsatisfactory is now shiny and new. Whether or not I would feel this way about the film without having seen the rest of the franchise is anyone's guess, but I really enjoyed it. Good work, keep it up.

First, I'm not a good English speaker at all so please do not mind my English mistakes.So, let's talk about the movie. Different from 1.0 You are (not) alone, this one is very different from the original series. The changes go from the plot to the personality of the characters.Putting it in a nutshell, the original series had a more "obscure" concept, with melancholic dialog, music and the characters themselves. I feel 2.0 You can (not) advance has a bit more cheerful and "childish" atmosphere that I'm not sure if I can describe by words. First, the modified nature of the characters; they open up way more than in the original series. Even Rei and Asuka(which has a different surname now, wut?) have heartwarming dialogues about themselves with Gendo and Misato. Gendo himself is a bit more sincere with himself. There's a scene where he even accepts having a dinner with Shinji, after being convinced by (wow) Rei. Despite the characters, the insert songs are very different now - in the original series we had serious and melancholic classical songs(most from baroque period, for example Bach, Handel and Pachelbel), which gave the series a real serious tone. However, the two insert songs in 2.0, Tsubasa Kudasai and Kyou no hi wa sayonara have an childish atmosphere and even sound like a group of kids is singing it, which adds to the new "innocent" concept involving the characters, contrasting with the powerful and even grotesque scenes. The first time I watched the new scenes where those songs play, I felt a bit uncomfortable for a moment, but soon I realized that it matched pretty well with the whole concept. As far as animation goes I don't have much to talk about. The animation is a masterpiece and it is the best I've seen so far, the EVA's look damn badass and the angels look like a damn demon. The dubbing, as expected, is as good as it was in the original series. The whole cast is the same, and the seiyu for the new character Mari Illustrious Makinami is very good. Talking about Mari, it isn't clear yet why she is there. She has little screen time, but every time she appears on screen she's a show stealer. But yet, we don't know much about her, and I'm sure it will be dealt with in the next movie.Now for the plot, as I said, it's very different from the original series. There's more of a political aspect and the movie tries to work with international affairs, and it works very well, since this movie tries to show up the post apocalyptic world in a better way than the previous series; there are not lively scenes of Tokyo-3, showing how people are living there now. There's even a sequence where Kaji takes the children to a place where they simulate how the ocean was before the second impact, and the forms of live that lived on it. It's a neat way to connect the two realities and the consequences and prices of mankind's wisdom. Back to the plot, there's now a Eva-05, that is destroyed by an angel in United States, apparently, in the opening scene. Also, Seele is developing the "ultimate" Evangelion unit, Mark-06 (wtf is this name) in a base located on the moon. (also a neat way to give the movie a more modern touch). Apparently, Kaworu will be the pilot for this one, which blows my mind. The movie ends with probably the most melodramatic and romantic scene that was ever been signed under the name of Evangelion; Shinji tries to save Rei from a angel that absorbed her and Eva-00. This is one scene where you have to let reality run outside of your window and relax – preferably with a good beer in your hand – and is the climax of the movie, resulting on a very powerful and touching scene.But anyway I could talk about this movie all day, but you should watch it to make up your own opinions. I really recommend it, it's a great masterpiece that will be talked about for a long time!NGE forever!