Deep Impact

Secrets and Mysteries Abound in Evangelion 3.33: You Can (Not) Redo

Author: Aaron Clark
Source: Otaku USA Magazine
Dated: January 28, 2016

Evangelion 3.33: You Can (Not) Redo is the latest installment in the popular and successful Evangelion franchise. If you're a fan of Evangelion, chances are pretty good that's all you need to know. Chances are also pretty good that you've already seen Eva 3.33 and have gotten a copy in some way, shape, or form. After all, the film has been reasonably available in English for almost three years now.

It's worth noting that Eva 3.33 was originally slated to be released by FUNimation in English in February of 2014. Two years later, the film has finally been released following a perplexing string of delays to the frustration and confusion of many fans. At first it was delayed due to “overwhelming theatrical demand”, followed by delays due to working with khara to “make it closer to original vision”. Portions of the English dub were reworked, and khara prepared two different English subtitle tracks. After so much time elapsed, I'm underwhelmed by the prospect of having the official home video release. At this point, it's just another piece of media to add to my collection.

Eva 3.33 is so far the most divisive installment in the Rebuild of Evangelion series, some enjoyed it, some didn't. I'm very much in the later camp. Eva 3.33 is a well-crafted film, there's no doubt about that. Animation is detailed and fluid, the 2D and 3D elements composite nicely, and there's an exquisite level of detail all around. Sound design is excellent as always, and the vocal performances of the returning cast, as can be expected, don't disappoint. The original soundtrack by series composer Sagisu Shiro is quite possibly the best he's offered to Evangelion, and it's also worth noting that this film in particular has a number of musical undertones that his soundtrack skillfully meshes with.

While largely redundant, I enjoyed Eva 1.11. I loved the treatment they gave to Operation Yashima, the sniper attack on the crystalline angel, Ramiel. I loved Eva 2.2 in how it evolved the film series while still paying homage to and working with the material from the original series. When it came to Eva 3.33, I loved that the production took the leap and almost completely severed itself from the original series by introducing a time-skip that changed everything. The reveal of the time-skip, the whole first third of the film is great, actually. The set pieces, the progression, it all builds nicely and is really exciting and enjoyable to watch. But as the film enters its second act, it really starts to fall apart for me.

Evangelion has always been about Shinji... Shinji's experiences, Shinji's emotions, Shinji's struggles... This is true to a fault in Eva 3.33. Unlike previous installments in Evangelion, Eva 3.33 rarely deviates from Shinji's perspective to give you a look at happenings elsewhere that he is not privy to. As soon as he escapes from Wille, you don't see or hear from most of the cast until the final third of the film. It's essentially a lonely and confused Shinji wandering the ruins of Nerv and interacting primarily with Kaworu. And, to be clear, while some may find their exchanges laughable, I have no significant criticisms for their relationship. Although, the whole piano duet thing is somewhat lost on me. The issue is that Shinji acts as our proxy in this film, more so than at any other point in Evangelion. Our scope of understanding is largely limited to his experiences. Exposition is generally lacking. The world building in Eva 3.33 is primarily about what is shown, rather than what is said. There's much being displayed visually, lots of little details, some interesting freeze-frames for anyone who really wants to dissect and piece together the prior fourteen years. And this is where the film ultimately fails.

I'm very much opposed to filmmakers coddling their audiences and spelling everything out, leaving no breadth for analysis or interpretation. But in the case of this film, they fell short in supplying a sufficient amount of exposition to viewers. This is not a film that stands on its own, where one can view it once or twice, comprehend the plot, not necessarily the subtext, but enjoy the film as a whole. I've watched the film periodically over the past several years, and I still don't really get it. People say The End of Evangelion is confusing, well, I say Evangelion 3.33 takes the cake.

Exactly what happened during the timeskip? What happened to cause Wille to splinter off from, and go to war with Nerv? Where did they find a Final Fantasy-esque airship? Who exactly is Mari? Is the Shinji in Eva 3.33 even the real Shinji? The film leaves me with more question than Lost and The X-Files combined.

Eva 1.11 included a preview for Eva 2.2 which, when compared to the finished film, clearly deviated in certain areas, but remained largely similar. But when you compare Eva 2.2's preview for Eva 3.33 with the finished film, it doesn't appear to have been rewritten, per se. Events described in the preview appear to have occurred between films. It's as if there's a film in-between that they've skipped entirely. That storytelling of the time in-between has essentially been relegated to visual debris in the background. And on top of that, Eva 3.33 ends on something of a cliffhanger, where they've gone and upset the formula, and the expectation is that the fourth, supposed final film will complement, and fulfill the direction they've taken the story.

And then there is the issue of character development. As another reviewer put it aptly, most of the characters are merely shadows of their Neon Genesis Evangelion counterparts. With the exception of Shinji, character development has been reduced to barebones. Not even the original character, Mari, has been given more than a few cryptic bits of dialogue to flesh out her character. The characters in the Rebuild series simply are. And to some degree, they're simply there to propel cool action and explosions. Gone is the character study, gone is the interpersonal relationships and self-study that made Neon Genesis Evangelion such a captivating series.

Is Eva 3.33 a good or bad film? It's really difficult to say without seeing how the final film wraps everything up. It's definitely not for the uninitiated. As a standalone Evangelion film, it's lacking. It's very good at eliciting feelings of loneliness, confusion, and frustration, which I'm certain was their intent, but with how close the film plays it to the chest, it just fails as far as exposition, plot, and character development are concerned. For that, it left me disappointed.

Evangelion 3.33: You Can (Not) Redo is available from FUNimation.