Evangelion:1.0 You Are (Not) Alone
by Hideaki Anno, Masayuki
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Actor: Fumihiko Tachiki, Kotono Mitsuishi, Megumi Hayashibara, Megumi Ogata, Yuriko YamaguchiDirector: Hideaki Anno, Masayuki
DVD: Region Code 2
Audio: Japanese (Unknown), Dolby Digital 6.1 EX; Japanese (Original Language), Dolby Digital 6.1 EX
Format: Animated, Import, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 98 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-05-27
Studio: Gainax
DVD Reviews of Evangelion:1.0 You Are (Not) Alone
DVD Review: Unnecessary; but hey, it's Eva!
Summary: 4 Stars
This is going to be a hard review to write. You see, "Evangelion 1.0: You are (Not) Alone", the first in a four part "Rebuild of Evangelion" series of films, is an almost exact duplication of the first several episodes of one of the greatest science fiction series of all time. So, having seen the original Neon Genesis Evangelion several times do I rate this remake as a standalone for people who aren't familiar with the show or for the hardcore Eva faithful who are going to watch this anyway? I'll try my best to do both. Since I already reviewed the series I won't get into why I love it as much as I do (see the NGE link above, mine's the one with the goofy video on it), but I'll tell you what did and didn't work for me this time around.
For the Eva curious, here's a quick synopsis. "Evangelion" focuses on a sort of special forces organization known as NERV, who specialize in making giant robots (Evangelions) who are able to battle strange gigantic beings known as Angels. These Angels attack the city of Tokyo 3 and conventional weapons are completely ineffective against them. Thus, the Japanese government is forced to rely on NERV to prevent the Angels from destroying mankind. Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami are two of the only children who are able to pilot the Evas and the story picks up on Shinji's first day on the job where he is forced to sub for an injured Rei and is rushed straight into battle where his Eva promptly falls on it's face and gets pummeled. His strained relationship with his father (the director of NERV), tendency to wallow in self pity, and inability to connect with his coworkers make for an uncomfortable work environment. Colonel Misato Katsuragi attempts to take Shinji under her wing and into her house while Rei rejects meaningful contact with him altogether. The story about self-worth, interpersonal relationships, and the things that drive us to be who we are will play out in the minds of the protagonists, in the halls of NERV headquarters, and on the battlefield facing impossible odds as mankind's last hope. This is just the beginning of one of the deepest and most epic science fiction stories ever told.
The differences between this film and the early episodes of the television series are annoyingly few. I realize that a similar thing was done with the first two volumes of Hellsing Ultimate, but there were still enough differences in art, animation, flair, and story to warrant the remake. This borders on tricking Eva fans into buying the same thing twice. The first hour or so appears to be literal reanimation of the storyboards from the original work, dialogue and all. The character models are all identical to the show, the score is largely unchanged, even the first two battles play out almost exactly the same as before. Of the things that were cut, the most annoying was the explanation of Tokyo 3's government: the Magi. The concept of government by multiple artificial intelligences is a very interesting idea, but one only mentioned in passing in this first film. Newcomers won't even have a clue what they are talking about. There is also a shortage of quality character development. There are just too many characters to introduce and not enough time to sort them out here. Eva simply seems to translate better to a continuous series than to the film medium. A first movie -even those that are part of a larger story- should be largely self-contained and open to all comers. This format makes Eva come off as a victim of lazy storytelling and bad pacing. Maybe once all of the films are released the new big picture will make up for it, but I don't really see this movie converting many new fans. For now, I'm not impressed with "Rebuild of Evangelion" as a new Eva brand.
If you do pick this up, there are some good points. There is some great-looking CG spliced into the film, usually mechanical stuff, weapons, and computer systems, but it looks very cool. This iteration is also making a conscious effort to foreshadow, which raises my curiosity of what's to come. The third Angel encounter is a beauty; easily the highlight of the film. Ramiel (the 5th Angel) is the third battle and the most impressive. Appearing again as a massive floating octahedron crystal, this time around it morphs into a number of visually dazzling forms and puts out some insane destruction. The visuals are top-notch and the scenes manage an intensity not even found in the series at this point in spite of the fact that I already knew exactly how it ended. If only they had put this amount of creativity and work into the preceding hour. The movie ends on an intriguing and unexpected note that will be meaningless to those new to the series, but may well rock Eva fans.
I was tempted to rate this lower because of the fact that hardly anything important has changed in this retelling of the Neon Genesis Evangelion tale. But the fact of the matter is I can hardly fault something too much for being too close to one the greatest anime properties ever. After all, this is better than yet another unnecessary boxed-set release and there is the promise of a new ending to the saga, which few fans will be able to resist. So we're stuck with re-re-re-re-rewatching Evangelion, this time in a movie format with a little bit of extra here and there for the time being. It had better be worth it.
More Evangelion:1.0 You Are (Not) Alone reviews:
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