Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance

Evangelion 2.0 (2009) is the second of the four Rebuild films and the one most people rate highest. Order first: watch Evangelion 1.0 before this. You do not need the television series, since the Rebuild films retell the story from the start, but arriving here cold means you will not know who anyone is. The first film largely repeated the series. This is where the two diverge. Two new pilots arrive, Asuka and Mari, and the story moves somewhere the original never went. Shinji changes too. He is no longer paralysed the way he was on television, he actually tries to act. The animation is a clear step up across the series. The fight sequences, particularly the last twenty minutes, are among the most discussed in the genre. The ending then stops somewhere that divides the audience completely. Good for: anime, mecha, and science fiction. It is also a reasonable door into Evangelion for anyone put off by the length of the series. Less good for: the pilots are teenagers and some camera choices are uncomfortable, a criticism that follows the franchise throughout. Do not expect a resolved story either. The series continues.