Evangelion 1.11 (You Are Not Alone) - BD Review

"Evangelion 1.11 You Are Not Alone" is not light years from its earlier Gundam beginnings but the technology sure makes for some spectacle. Having seen the premiere cut at Anime Expo last year, the BD definitely enlightens in terms of some of the visuals and sheer scale. The moments that really speak in the film are not the explosions and the re-creation of Tokyo III (although that indeed is a spectacular feat) but moments like when Icari is sitting overlooking a fog-filled valley and especially when the power grid starts to go out all across Japan. Stillness is not often valued in this genre since everything is always moving at such a breakneck speed but the abstract approaches can be both enlightening but also at times jarring. Some of these inferences like a small ode to "Solaris" as well as "2001" however might be a little bit misplaced. The one narrative point that plays similarly across both language tracks is Shijani's whining. It was a little bit too much at the original screening and brings down the picture a little bit. Rei, by comparison, is played as the delicate flower with venom, using an "almost caricature" in terms of a female role. By far the most interesting character is Marito, who is in charge of the mission to defend against the angels but we only see a slight glimpse of her personality. The most telling scene is back at the apartment but the story structure on her is not as edgy as one might think as far as an overall perception. In general what comes across is an intense sense of style and pacing but a little overwhelming in terms of story strength. The extras are basic but exceptionally cool for this kind of release. There is the "Building Of Evangelion" with both the film score and Ravel's Bolero used as background which shows the different shots being created simply from time-code elements. It works fantastic as background. The promo music video which also uses classical music is exceptionally well created with a distinct sense of pace. The news (advance teasers) and movie previews are all right but they use different pop songs as well as a version of "Fly Me To The Moon" which, while probably promotes it to the mass audience in Japan, is slightly misleading in terms of the movie's tone. In terms of other previews, "Gunslinger Girl" has the most pep touting its BD release as well as "Abarion" which still has a space rage running through it. Out of 5, I give the BD release of Envangelion 1.11 (You Are Not Alone) a 3.