Apologies for the double comment, but I realised that spoiler tags don\'t work on review comments and I\'ve edited my comment twice to rectify my mistake but it isn\'t going through. I\'m gonna ask a mod for help - I\'m really sorry about the spoilers. I even tried deleting everything in the comment and that didn\'t work either.
I\'ll give a more abridged version of my comment when this has been sorted out. I\'m really sorry.
I should mention that I\'m fine with the basic idea of 3.33, that it undoes the triumph of 2.22 and leaves Shinji in his worst state yet for the finale. The problem is that it takes too long to get going, and it feels contrived that nobody tells Shinji what he needs to know. The action climax also felt lacking, with an almost featureless background, and it\'s the only fight in the franchise where there was no sense of scale. Otherwise, the bonding with Kaoru was good, and it was making a point with Rei.
I haven\'t seen any of the Rebuilds dubbed, as it happens.
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After 25 years, it concludes.
The final Rebuild film isn't as easy and straightforward as the first two, but it avoids the mistakes of the third, and there is no doubt that Anno poured his all into it.
It is divided into four acts, and its most obvious problem is that they don't connect well. After a scene-setting Action Prologue, we spend the longest section among a community trying to survive after the end of the second film. This is what the third film lacked, a look at how those other than the main cast had been affected. Toji and Kensuke, who were badly missing in the series, get their chance to shine. Where the first two films were mostly action, this brings back the introspective side of the franchise, but without feeling like nothing is happening, like much of the third had. It's a microcosm of bleakness and hope. And for those who felt Shinji was too proactive, he literally does nothing but whimper for most of this.
Then comes the action climax. Now I'm sure the intention was to make the audience care during the first half, so they would feel what is at stake during the fight. The problem is that the two don't connect; we never see again most of the people we connected with, and this part is so different in cast, backgrounds, directing and even art style that it feels like a rural character drama got spliced with a psychedelic space opera. Still, there is no denying that it delivers when it comes to action.
And after that, the emotional climax. It starts with Gendo delivering a long monologue detailing his backstory and motivation. It's been needed since the original run, all this used to be confined to outside material, but I wish it was given with more subtlety. Then Shinji finally confronts him verbally and physically, giving them the frank family talk they've needed all this time... then we get more monologues by others. There is talk of the characters, their relationships, the setting, and even subtext about the franchise itself.
It helps a lot that while the voice actors earn their pay, the artists go into triple overtime. I can only describe the visuals as a mix of the old series, FLCL, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt and some more weirdness on top. When it changed to live-action in the very last scene, my reaction was "what took you so long?"
Introspection giving way to action then to monologuing with a meta angle against strange backdrops... It is a very Evangelion ending. At the same time, it feels very un-Eva in that it actually concludes matters. It isn't meaningless rambling like so much of episodes 25 and 26 were. It isn't angry at the fans or berating Shinji for not being manly like End of. Here the cast find their own peace among themselves, and Anno shows he has settled with the Cruel Thesis that defined much of his career for better or worse.