'Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time' film review: The true end of Evangelion
The ambitious reimaging of arguably the greatest anime series of all-time ends with the long-awaited 'Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time' (streaming on Amazon Prime Video starting Aug. 13), a movie that is both familiar and surprising.
In short: Racked with the guilt of almost ending humanity, Evangelion pilot Shinji Ikari explores the apparently desolate Earth - and finding unexpected hope amid despair in this conclusion to the 'Rebuild of Evangelion' series.
The aptly-named 'Thrice' is effectively the third time audiences have gotten an ending to the 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' story. The original, 26-episode 1995 anime series famously concluded with two episodes that were much more introspective and abstract in nature. The thematic core is there - but some felt the ending (which recycled a lot of previously animated scenes from the series) was incomplete or unsatisfying. So they demanded a real-action packed ending to match the show's action-packed vibe - rather than the conceptual ending, which was essentially a psychoanalysis of protagonist Shinji Ikari. So, in the ultimate "be careful what you wish for" lesson, 'Evangelion' creator Hideaki Anno gave the audiences what they wanted - with the emotionally and viscerally brutal 1997 feature-length film 'The End of Evangelion.' To put it mildly, 'The End' is excellent because its so uncompromisingly punishing on every level: from its bleak tone, its shocking violence and the fact that Shinji - the sympathetic hero to that point - essentially becomes the angel of death.
Now, almost 25 years after the traumatic 'End of Evangelion,' Anno presents this third take on wrapping up the 'Eva' story - one of existential loneliness. It likely goes without saying, but 'Thrice' is is nearly incompressible without watching any of the previous 'Rebuild' movies. The pre-film recap is nice and encyclopedic knowledge of the original series isn't necessary, but 'Thrice' absolutely requires watching the three films that proceed 'Thrice': '1.0 You Are (Not) Alone,' '2.0 You Can (Not) Advance' and '3.0 You Can (Not) Redo.' (These three previously released movies also drop on Amazon Prime starting Aug. 13.)
Loyal 'Evangelion' have been trained to expect the very bleakest from the franchise. The anime series starts out a exciting "boy in a mech fights monsters" shows before spiraling into a psychological dissection of isolation, purpose and Oedipal impulses, all rooted in an esoteric plot founded in ancient religious symbiology. There's something utterly unfamiliar in 'Thrice' - a tone that actually resembles hope and optimism. For such a relentlessly bleak and emotionally fraught series, this calmness is actually destabilizing. For a franchise that finds creative ways to brutalize its protagonists and audience, 'Thrice' surprises early on by decidedly and unexpected going in the opposite direction - subverting the expectation for the very worst by spending time with beloved characters, and just letting them ... live life.
Frankly, it's difficult to avoid spotting parallels and differences between 'Thrice' and 'The End of Evangelion.' The 'End' found Shinji despondent - and 'Thrice finds Ikari in a very similar, detached same state. Although the 'Rebuild' series departs pretty far from the original series plot, 'Thrice' hits the same thematic beats while exploring new territory. The original series had little regard for people outside its main cast - whereas 'Thrice' spends its first act totally enmeshed with "the little people." Too many stories about "saving the world" tend to forget the very thing they're trying to save: the world. 'Thrice' invests its first segment reminding Shinji just what is at stake, and why it's worth fighting for - even if the reluctant hero barely has the will to live.
A defining trait of 'Evangelion' is its total commitment to just throwing the audience into the deep end of its mythology - to the point of being inaccessible even to people who have watched the original series, much less anyone just diving into 'Rebuild.' The second act battle is 'Eva' mech battle at its best, with characters rattling off every bit of 'Evangelion' jargon known to long-time fans, as well a healthy dose of all-new, arcane lingo to confuse fans - with either minimal (and sometimes) no exposition. For as confounding as the original series was at first blush, at least all the puzzle pieces were there - they're just scattered everywhere, with Anno just leaving the responsibility to piece together the puzzle in the audience's hands.
Some aspects of 'Rebuilt' ... simply exist, with little to no explanation. For example, the second 'Rebuild' movie introduced Mari - a new Evangelion pilot who did not exist in the original series. She ends up being a very important character to Shinji in 'Thrice' ... which is confusing because she has almost no screentime with Shinji throughout the entire 'Rebuild' series. And her backstory remains a mystery to the very end, which is frustrating because this leaves her without clear character motivations. A major aspect of Asuka's 'Rebuild' character is revealed in 'Thrice' - but it comes so entirely out of left field that it feels unearned. For as mysterious as Rei Ayanami is as an enigmatic character, at least 'Rebuild' seeds all the bizarre aspects of her character - whereas Asuka's character is fundamentally radically redefined, apparently just to service a plot point that no one but the antagonist Gendo Ikari could have foreseen.
The first 'Rebuild' film was such a faithful, almost beat-for-beat, remake that it also seemed to question the very need for a 'Rebuild' series itself. Aside from the obvious high-definition dates, what point would there be in a pure reproduction? But with 'Thrice,' the intention becomes clear - this 2021 conclusion is more straightforward than the heady original series conclusion and without the all-consuming bleakness of 'End.' And most unexpectedly, the mysterious and out-of-reach Gendo Ikari finally gets fleshed out. Throughout 'Evangelion,' Gendo has been the near omniscient mastermind, always several steps ahead of all his rivals in his single-minded determination toward his goal. His intent was so laser focused that it always begged the question: what drove Gendo Ikari to pursue such a disastrous means to an end? 'Thrice' finally reveals the trauma behind this mysterious antagonist's agenda - while his endgame was always known, what compelled him to use the Evangelions for destruction wasn't revealed.
'End' gets saddled with the darkness of the overall film, but people overlook the faint, if blood-soaked, glimmer of hope in its ultimate conclusion. The series ending was harder to grasp, but critical in understanding the Anno's underlying philosophy. 'Thrice' is the reconciliation of the abstract with the literal to create a genuine end of Evangelion. While thematically and narratively more straightforward and accessible than either previous iteration of 'Evangelion,' this movie does still require a keen awareness of 'Rebuild,' so casual viewers will certainly be scratching their head, even after this more digestible finale. The series and the 'End' radiated existential depression - with both previous conclusions attempting find peace for its anguished protagonist. Conversely, 'Thrice' is infused with optimism, something oddly alien to the 'Evangelion' franchise. The film's very title, 'Thrice Upon a Time,' tips its hand at the self-awareness of a story told multiple times, as if in an endless loop. Even as the movie alludes to a connection to the original series and 'The End,' Hideaki Anno has crafted a new template for the 'reboot' - finding a new spin on a story that is adamantly and unapologetically 'Evangelion' through and through.
Final verdict: 'Thrice Upon a Time' is a grand summation of the ambitious 'Rebuild' project - familiar, never derivative and irrepressibly 'Evangelion.'
Score: 4.5/5
'Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time' premieres on Amazon Prime on Aug. 13. This sci-fi anime is unrated and has a runtime of 154 minutes.
