Hey, I liked it (spoilers)

Okay, now let me get this one thing out of the way. I have not seen the original anime (though I plan to, don't worry). I saw a trailer for the first Rebuild movie a few years ago and thought it looked interesting. So I watched the first two and really liked them. I even introduced them to a couple of friends who liked anime. Then I heard some not-so-great things about this third installment, and got a little wary. But I still saw it with my firends and...

I liked it. It still has amazing animation, the soundtrack is great, and the imagery and tradegy are just so out there that, as a guy who likes that stuff, I was really intigued. Oh, and the soundtrack was awesome.

The two main things I hear about this movie about why it sucked are that it felt like set-up for the next movie and that it takes a HUGE left turn in terms of the story. In fact, there is evidence that they direction they went with the story was different then where they originally wanted to go.

As for the first part, yeah it does feel a bit like set-up in parts, but I don't think that means it sucks, mostly because I know there's a fourth part coming out. Becasue of that, I can forgive the ending being a cliff-hanger.

As for the "14 years later" direction they took, and making Shinji the cause of Third Impact, yeah, that was so FREAKING CRUEL. And anything with Rei pretty much made me sad. But, I feel it was an interesting direction to take and, personally, I find the "it's your fault" angle really interesting. Probably because I'm a fan of Earn Your Happy Ending, or Don Bluth Syndrome. I feel that, the more hardship you lay on your protagonists, the more rewarding and satisfying the ending will be. Now, whether the ending will be "happy", given the history and reputation of Evangelion, is still left to be determined. Either way, I can't wait for the fourth installment.

So, thoughts?