Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance

In the trajectory of my geekdom, immediately preceding my 16-year-old self's obsession with Tolkien, I had a lengthy dalliance with the apocalyptic giant-robot series Neon Genesis Evangelion. Ostensibly a 26-episode affair in which mecha battled monsters, it was so much more: religious symbolism, bio-mechanical horror, an emotional tone so bleak it could have only been made by someone clinically depressed. The show's creator, Hideaki Anno, was off his Prozac at the time; he probably wrote the thing as therapy.

Well, Hideaki is reportedly better now (Evangelion's continued success, 2 decades on, probably has helped); he's giving the series another shot. The awkwardly titled Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance is the 2nd film in the 4-film Rebuild of Evangelion re-envisioning; while the 1st film is a rehash of the TV series, almost cel for cel, this one skews away from original continuity quite dramatically.

Bigger battles between the titular Evas and the Angels, mankind's extraterrestrial/supernatural adversaries; more complicated secret-society, let's-usher-in-the-new-dawn intrigue; slightly less oppressive psychology for protagonist Shinji Ikari; more pre-teen teasing from the female characters: the changes will please fans. One misstep is the insertion of Mari Illustrious Makinami, a character new in the films; a highly-skilled Eva pilot, secret agent, and Engrish-speaking Brit schoolgirl, she is a Mary-Sue insertion who literally drops out of the sky and into Shinji's lap.

One thing that hampers the film is that it never transcends its TV origins. While Japanese animated film, like that of Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away) or Satoshi Kon (Paprika) manage to communicate their stories and themes with the flourish and techniques of the feature-length medium, Evangelion: 2.0's narrative methods still fit the 30-minute small-screen format; you can see the seams in the storytelling. The sound design, in particular, feels trapped in the 1990s. It is a weakness that reminds me of the Sex and the City movie's failings: a TV episode, stretched into 2 hours.

Still, it is an awesome romp. I mean, GIANT ROBOTS! And FANSERVICE!

~

Director Hideaki Anno Cast Megumi Ogata, Megumi Hayashibara, Yuko Miyamura, Maaya Sakamoto Runtime 108 minutes Opens 4 March 2010, at Cathy Cineplex e@Curve & TGV Sunway

BY THE WAY: KLue's running a giveaway of 20 passes to Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance! Head to our Facebook page, post haste!