Directors: Hideaki Anno, Masayuki, Kazuya Tsurumaki

Wrister: Hideaki Anno

Starring (English Dub – Dubbing Brothers): Spike Spencer, Allison Keith, John Swasey, Amanda Winn-Lee, Mary Faber, Tiffany Grant, Felecia Angelle

Rating: ★★★½

The third entry to the Rebuild of Evangelion series picks up fourteen years after the explosive ending of the second film. This is a completely different story to the TV series now and doing its own thing completely. For the most part it works, but there’s a few frustrating issues as well that stop this from being as good as it could be.

Due to the time skip, where Shinji has been unconscious inside Unit 01, you spend a lot of time doing catch-up. Characters, for good reason, are hesitant to talk to Shinji about what’s happened, so it’s slowly drip-fed through the ninety-minute film. It leaves you with little idea of what’s actually happening for a lot of film. There are things that happen that could have also been avoided if people just communicated more, which is frustrating. It also means that a lot of the character development that Shinji went through in the second film is pretty much forgotten. His relationships with the other characters are pretty much wiped clean, which makes this feel very disconnected to what came before.

That’s not to say that the new direction of the story isn’t interesting, because it certainly is. It’s just tonally very different, and once the final credits start, it’s clear that this entry is just set up to the final film in the series. There are some new characters that are at play, and they’re great additions to the story. Likewise, Kaworu Nagisa is a main character this time around (after being teased in the first two films), and Shinji getting to know him is the best bit of the film. There’s an entire sequence in the middle, where it’s just Kaworu and Shinji playing the piano together, getting in sync for what’s to come later (an idea that was also explored in the original anime), and it’s really well done.

Secrets and twists are also revealed throughout the film, giving more backstory and explanation to what’s happening in the wider story. It’s not done quite as well as in the original series where an entire episode fleshes out the backstory of some of the characters, but it works in the context of the film. The animation is absolutely stunning, especially during the fight sequences that bookend the film. It’s absolutely awesome to watch.

Sadly, what really lets down the film is how rushed the final act is. It’s quite convoluted, hard to follow, and essentially just putting the pieces in place for the final entry. The first hour of the film is quite slow paced, and then everything goes full speed until it’s over with a cliff-hanger ending. There was originally a nine-year gap between this film and the fourth one, thankfully newcomers won’t have to endure that wait to find out what happens next.

You Can (Not) Redo is an ambitious entry to the series. Any fans of the original anime are in for a shock when watching this, and that has mixed results. The animation is pretty brilliant, and the new characters are great.

Thanks for reading! If you liked my review, please subscribe to never miss a post: