In Japanese With English and Chinese Subtitles
Genre: Anime
Director: Masayuki, Kazuya Tsurumaki
Cast (Voice): Megumi Ogata, Megumi Hayashibara, Maaya Sakamoto, Kotono Mitsuishi, Yuriko Yamaguchi, Fumihiko Tachiki, Motomu Kiyokawa, Tomokazu Seki, Tetsuya Iwanaga, Jyunko Iwao
Runtime: 1 hr 49 mins
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films & InnoForm Media
Rating: NC-16 (Some Nudity)
Official Website: www.evangelion.co.jp

Opening Day: 12 November 2009

Synopsis:

Following up on that excitement, the second installment – You Can (Not) Advance – readies once again to leap to the next vista. By deciding to pilot the Evangelion, the multipurpose humanoid decisive combat weapons systems, Shinji Ikari choose a path of struggle and combat. This story of this 14 year old boy, entrusted with the heavy burden of mankind’s fate resting on his shoulders, is about to enter into unchartered territories.

Asuka, along together with Rei Ayanami, is the most popular heroine in the Evangelion world, enters into the fray piloting the Evangelion Unit Two. Joining them is another heroine, previously unknown but very alluring nonetheless. The war between the mysterious entities know as “Angel” and the Eva series heats up even more with the introduction of new Evangelion units.

Scenes of intense battle that no one could anticipate continuously rage across the silver screen. Mind- blowing spectacles will leave the audience overwhelmed with excitement, while ushering the plot into unforeseen realms.

A deliberate decision was made to start the new Eva legend from the very same premise of the television series, but now the 2nd installment makes it all too clear that the paths are diverging from what the audiences were familiar with. What might be gleaned from this divergence as to the true nature and form of the new installment Evangelion epic?

Review:

The iconic Japanese anime saga continues in this second installment of the redux treatment to the beloved anime series. While the first movie was a largely faithful adaptation of the first six episodes of the anime series, this movie marks the start of the drastic change in adaptation of the anime series.

The changes made in this second installment are mainly characters swap and revamping of key moments in the anime series. Such as how the popular Asuka character was introduced into this series and the change in pilot for the ill fated fifth Eva. It might appear to be a drastic detour from the original anime series but it's basically stayed true to the characters and storyline by retelling the essence of evangelion in another manner.

Perhaps the change in presentation of the anime series on to the big screen would have to be the range of scope that this second installment is attempting to cover. While the first movie only covers the first six episode, this movie is covering episode seven to twenty of the anime (technically as that's when one of the major battle end. There's some spill over to certain aspects of the latter episodes but it will be hard to identify the actual extend of the coverage.). It felt as if the filmmakers are trying to rush through to the end of the original series so they could do a total revamp of final story arc.

Although this fast forward method of story telling was skillfully done, there were some bits that felt rather confusing and questionable. Such as the inclusion of a mysterious female pilot whom literally fell from the sky. Her inclusion felt rushed and the manner that she affected the storyline felt rather forced (as compared to the original character that she replaced). Perhaps one might hope that her inclusion would be better defined in the next movie.

The bits about the shadowy organization behind the evangelion operation felt rather murky too. Instead of drawing audience into the mysterious men behind the scene, it could quite tiring for the causal viewers to follow the cryptic discussion.

It's also obvious that this is not one movie that one should walk in without any prior knowledge of evangelion. Although these redux series aimed to make evangelion more accessible to the non fans, some form of understanding of this franchise would be essential. At least grab a copy of the first redux movie's DVD before getting a ticket for this movie.

The effort would be worth it as evangelion provides a rare insight into the harsh reality of warfare, religion and self worth. Through the animation medium, viewers get the viewpoint of a child that forced to battle and kill "enemies" without ever really knowing and understanding the real reason.

It also touches on the fragile human psyche and how different people have different ways of handling stress and the problem at hand. It deals with manipulations and betrayal at it's worst and how some finds the courage to overcome fears in the name of love. Pondering at the various aspects that this movie presents and it not hard to see why this animation series remained so well loved after so many years.

Movie Rating:



(The legendary saga continues in fine form)

Review by Richard Lim Jr