After the Second Impact, Tokyo-3 is being attacked by giant monsters called Angels that seek to eradicate humankind. The child Shinji's objective is to fight the Angels by piloting one of the mysterious Evangelion mecha units. A remake of the first six episodes of GAINAX's famous 1996 anime series. The film was retitled "Evangelion: 1.01" for its home video version and "Evangelion: 1.11" for a release with additional scenes.
This is mighty perplexing nerd kibble, its highfalutin' philosophical and psychological banter way too outlandish to seriously engage. Yet as a visceral experience, it's entrancing.
– Aaron Hillis,
Village Voice,
15 Sep 2009
rotten:
Just another giant robot movie.
– Mike Hale,
New York Times,
18 Sep 2009
fresh:
Despite largely effective English dialogue that allows key characters to acquire dimension, the plot is hard to follow, especially early on. Yet the film pulls you in as it explores Shinji's perplexing dilemma and his maturing.