The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Like all instant classics, End of Evangalion has aged well. One of the most impactful movies put before my eyes. Disturbing, nightmarish, haunting and beautifully poetic, End of Evangelion is the gold standard for how to end an Anime series. Hideaki Anno's masterpiece, and one of my all time favorite films. This sites 'Did you know?' section is absolute must for any fan, and reads more like an insiders look at Apocalypse Now or a Robert Altman film. Clearly a labor of love, far more than the sum of its parts - everyone involved clearly poured their life essence into their respective obligations.Understatement? To say this isn't for everyone! But those who make their way through the series, do their homework, and understand what this film fulfilled will be rewarded with emotions they didn't know they had. So good it hurts, and will indoctrinate one completely into the adult animated world that only can be accomplished by Japanese culture. Thank Goodness for Anime!Glad to revisit: 10 out of 10

I admit it; it's my own fault. Having had mixed feelings about the Neon Evangelion series, which became increasingly perplexing and offered nothing like a real ending, I should have just let it go. But no, I had to watch this movie to try and get some answers.And yes, there are some answers here and there, but they are often confused half-answers, and motivations are still perplexing. There is also never an explanation to how Shinji has the significance he has in the end, although the idea of the Destined One is so powerful that even though he's never described that way I imagine people will take it for that.The movie is basically set up as the final two episodes of the series. The first episode is very action packed, which is not at all like the series. In fact, one of the things I liked about the series was that it eschewed the mecha-battle-of-the-week approach in favor of studying the psychology of its characters. But in the first half of the movie there is mainly action and little psychology or character development.The second half basically does exactly what the final two, famously unsatisfying episodes of the series did; it goes into Shinji's head and talks about his fears. I appreciate that the writer was aiming for something more than a sci-fi fantasy tale, and that his real goal was to explore loneliness and unhappiness. But it is possible to do both, and offering half a story and then wandering into the mind is not the way to do that.But of course, that's exactly what happened in the series. I hoped it would be different, because the director said much of what happened at the series end had to do with time and money constraints, but that now looks to be a lie. This is what he wanted to do. And some people love it. But for me it just didn't work.

WARNING!!! I am going to discuss the ending of the series as I feel it is crucial to providing context to the events of the film. Although I will not spoil the film itself.The final instalment of the now notorious Evangelion saga goes way to overboard...Firstly I just wanted to make this clear, I loved the series and quite controversially it's original ending. I loved the slight ambiguity of it though not so much it's build up of 3 episodes breaking down each characters Psyche in order to explore there place in the world and the reasons for their behaviour-that grated a bit on my patience. but that final overcoming of Shinji's depression was a truly mesmerising and heartwarming scene seeing everybody cheering and congratulating his decision, even his Father. The film takes the events of those 3 episodes and accounts the ending literally instead of in Shinji's psyche and it still manages to be five times as pretentious. It's like a 1st year film student has gone mad with symbolism and imagery. With crosses, Halos, angels and foetuses flying into your face unashamedly throughout the entire course of the film. It's silly and childish even in comparison to the series, and that had a scene where Shinji Shows his genitals to a penguin. Saying that, Anno's heavy use of visual metaphors does create an incredible spectacle. I am tempted to recommend this film just for the visuals alone. The use of vibrant colour and the top quality animation make this some of the most gorgeous eye candy. But that's the problem, this film creates so much style and substance that it ends conveying barely anything to the spectator, the substance ends up so convoluted and in your face that it cannot be taken seriously.And don't get me started on Shinji in this film. In the series he was a self proclaimed coward but crucially had good reason for being angsty due to the massive amount of pressure put on him and the amount of loss and betrayal he had suffered. And I was sympathetic towards his character. Those of you who thought Shinji in the series was an annoying, whiny little girl (I know there are plenty of you out there) you will definitely want to give this a miss. Shinji literally huddles in a corner and cries for half his screen time... That is not even an overstatement... He has to be physically dragged to his EVA and even then just sits in it and cries. I know he has suffered an unbearable amount yet there are better ways of showing a characters descent into depression Anno. In summary, this film is like a whining baby wearing Polka dots and glitter waving glow sticks. But a good whining baby wearing Polka dots and glitter waving glow sticks. If you find the film to pretentious just disengage your brain and admire the gorgeous production. That is what I did. It fails what it intends to achieve but still remains entertaining enough to sit through.Positive: Inspired use of sound/soundtrack, Jaw dropping visuals, oh I forgot to mention well executed and downright awesome EVA battles, Basically every bit of productionNegative: Pseudo psychological and religious symbolism delivered far too heavy handedly, Unlikable protagonist, Fails to convey anything of substance even though that's what the film sets out to achieve, The film itself is pointless the ending of the series was sufficient enoughP.S. How does Tokyo get rebuilt so quickly after every single EVA/Angel battle???

Neon Genesis Evangelion ended...somewhat abruptly, mainly due to budget issues and whatnot. The fans refused to see the series die into obscurity, and then came End of Evangelion, the TRUE end to the series. And what a way to end a series in epic fashion.The movie follows the plight of the Third Child, fourteen-year-old Shinji Ikari, after he kills the final Angel, and seemingly saves the world. However, with Rei Ayanami and Misato Katsuragi disturbing him, and Asuka Langley Sohryu being comatose in a hospital bed, Shinji's desperation drives him to think what he had done was unforgivable and irreconcilable. NERV, the organisation which was involved with the defeat of all of the Angels, falls under attack from human forces, who are after the Evangelions. Also, SEELE send down Mass Produced Evas from the skies to aid mankind's plight do destroy the Evas. Asuka, awake from her coma, is thrown into battle, but is impaled by the Lance of Longinus, which causes Asuka's Eva to cease functioning, go berserk, and become damaged beyond repair. Shinji arrives at the scene, to find Asuka's Eva pincushion, and screams in terror at the spectacle. The following segment shows EVA-01's - and Shinji's - rise to divinity, as Gendo Ikari and Rei Ayanami prepare for the beginning of the Third Impact. However, Rei refuses to begin such an event, and instead merges with Lilith, to create a Rei/Lilith fused Angel, which rises to the heavens and sucks away the collective souls of all of humanity. EVA-01 attempts to dispatch of Rei/Lilith, and succeeds, only to save a mankind which is no more. However, upon returning to the land and the primordial soup - the sea of LCL - sights Asuka's body, alive and barely conscious. Shinji attempts to kill Asuka, but cannot go through with it, with Asuka whispering "how disgusting".Some people may have been put off somewhat by the first scene, which involves Shinji entering Asuka's hospital room, attempting to wake her up, but being unable to do so. Shinji rolls her over, which removes a few cables from her body, and tears off part of her clothing, revealing her breasts. Shinji then proceeds to...ugh, why did I bring this up...he doesn't plug the cables back in, that's for sure, whatever side of the Freudian Scale you see it as. Let's say he...Lonely Island. Let's leave it at that and let your (grim) imagination do the rest.The animation is superb. Asuka's last stand against the Mass Production Evas is one of the best battles in anime history, and is one of the most inspiring things ever. Sure, it's violent as hell, but by jove, is it amazing to watch. And Shinji's scream after seeing Asuka's Eva impaled by the Lance of Longinus is the epitome of horror. Most anime can't compare to how amazingly animated the movie is.The music crosses over original soundtracks and existing classical music, such as Bach's 'Air on a G String' (amusingly enough, the first half of the movie's called 'Air'). The music fits with the situations almost perfectly, and the Evangelion franchise has one of the best soundtracks in all of anime. In fact, it's up there with Cowboy Bebop, it's so good.The movie doesn't feature a lot of swearing, but the 15 rating is from a couple of instances of the 'F' word, and a considerable amount of nudity, but all it usually is is female breasts. 14-year-old female breasts, but still...The Evangelion series is notorious for its confusing plot, and End of Evangelion makes it even more confusing for me. It's not possible to describe what goes on in terms of plot, mainly because I don't understand it so well, but it could also be because of how engrossed I am in everything else. But yeah, it's confusing, yet it's awesome.To sum up, End of Evangelion, whilst confusing, Freudian, and completely weird at times, is amazing beyond words, and is definitely worth a commendation. Many anime movies have tried to emulate End of Evangelion's success, with a few successes in their own rights. But End of Evangelion, without question, is in a league of its own.92%