Oh wow. Got a little carried away there. Maybe I can explain myself a little more clearly now.
Reading the negative responses to 3.0, I started to get pretty wary. It wasn’t just what the opinions were, it’s that they seemed well reasoned. But actually seeing it changed my mind completely. Now I was pretty sauced, but character motivations and actions made sense to me, and specific complaints didn’t.
I didn’t feel that Misato treated Shinji excessively coldly. Shinji has been captured, incarcerated, and kept out of his Eva. I’m sure briefing him on everything that happened would be uncomfortable for her anyway, and that wasn’t the right time to do it. A lot of the “2 sentences could have saved us so much time” talk isn’t really a valid complaint in my book because it cuts out all the surrounding character motivations and events. It’s the same argument that a lot of people had about the scheme in Django Unchained, and Tarantino addressed it effectively.
[url]http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/20/quentin-tarantino-django-unchained_n_2340987.html[/url]
Main point being, consider the characters and the assumptions they're working from. Misato and Ritsuko both seem to think containment is the best option for Shinji at the moment. They are in the middle of doing a bunch of other shit that takes precedence over filling him in. Despite their perceived coldness, I doubt they’re going to stop and say “You killed everyone and we’re fighting your dad but stay on our side because he’ll use you for nefarious purposes bro.” There’s probably a better place in time and a better way to say it, especially since they thought Shinji wasn’t a threat, and weren’t expecting him to get kidnapped/recued. They are in the middle of launching an airship (I’ll get to that) and also are responsible for putting Shinji in the position to initiate near 3rd impact earlier, so I can see why they’d hold off for a bit.
EDIT: Thinking back on it, I really need to rewatch the Rei getting Shinji out of Wunder scene. I can't remember what Misato said there. This is probably where you guys are saying they should have said something different.
As far as Mari and Asuka character development, and me being an Asuka fan, I’m fine with the level of it that they’re getting. I think a lot of the problems that people have with the Rebuild isn’t actually that there isn’t character development, its that there’s less than what was in the series. Asuka has been developed, just not to the degree she was in the original. It’s a casualty of the medium. She has the amount of development someone with her plot presence deserves IMO. And Mari, well she's supposed to be all mysterious. If you like her, fine. If you don't, oh well, maybe you'll be satisfied with her explanation in 4.
Most of us were wondering why they needed an airship in the first place.
I might just be too optimistic, but I’m expecting some larger explanation in the 4th movie for loads of things. I will come back and say “That was unnecessary.” If it does indeed prove to be unnecessary in the wake of Final and was just used because it looks cool. But a lot of people around her seem really uncomfortable with the amount of “whys” getting laid on us without explanation. But I'm not sure we should be counting that as a negative when it could be deliberately used to build the mystery and anticipation for the 4th. If all this shit happened in the 4th, yeah I’d get it. But having it happen in what is essentially a movie predicated on withholding information and constantly raising the stakes right before the last movie just makes sense. Build that momentum and intrigue and what not.
I think its just a different way of approaching the series honestly. I say “We’ve got a whole movie to get this stuff tied up.” And others say “We’ve only got one more movie to tie this up, and there’s too much to tie up.” So we’ll see. Some people would count that as a flaw in itself, that the movies can’t stand on their own and you need to have the full picture to make sense of them ( I don’t). But 3.0 only reinvigorated my optimism because more questions are exciting to me, assuming they’re adequately explained. But I feel it was emotionally resonant, well paced (the most movie feeling of the series so far), provocative, and made sense in terms of the rebuild continuum. And really damn sad. I feel like it was a big step forward for the Rebuild narrative. New Eva exploring new territory, and (for me) doing it exceedingly well, is always something I’ll get excited about. I’d much rather have these than a rehash of the series.
I should probably watch it again though to see if I misinterpreted anything.
ssguy wrote:I don't get why people are unhappy with the depressing tone of 3.0. Eva without depression just isn't Eva.
That was awesome. Coming from a guy who loved the series and EoE (loved's the wrong word, more like "Oh goddammit yeah I guess okay fuck you Anno") I was initially weary of the rebuilds. Actually, I was initially not a fan of 2.22 and didn't bother with 1.11. Then my friends got interested as I talked up the series and I decided to reconsider the 2 movies.
However, I still think that an airship is a tad excessive.
