Angsty teen, Shinji Ikari, has been summoned by his father. Instructed to arrive in the town above the institute in which his father works, no sooner does he step off the train than he is caught in the crossfire of a battle between a giant robot and a giant arthropod monster. As he is rescued by his ever-late escort, Lt. Colonel Misato Katsuragi, Shinji learns that what he is witnessing is part of humanity’s last stand. The robot, an Evangelion, is defending the city from one of 12 angels that are coming to destroy the world. Being crazy Japanese animation, teenagers are the only people able to pilot these things. And Shinji thought his mad scientist father may have really loved him…

Evangelion 1.0 is the first of a planned tetralogy of films remaking the original “Neon Genesis Evangelion” series for the big screen. The original series being one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful anime of all time, both in Japan and globally. This remake is being entirely managed by original creator/mastermind Hideaki Anno and remains very faithful to the original, albeit less convoluted in order to make more sense in the compressed time afforded the film format.

Anno’s animation style is very reminiscent of the intricate hand drawn style of Hayao Miyazaki, who was somewhat of a mentor to Anno, although the subject matter is tonally quite different. In terms of story, the name says it all; ‘Evangelion’ being a gospel-like collection of tales, ‘Neon Genesis’ being the new beginning of humanity. Evangelion 1.0 is an intricately crafted tale of the reckoning, coming in the form of Godzilla-inspired creatures and mad scientists harnessing the very essence of what it takes to be human in order to fight those monsters. There’s mumbo jumbo aplenty but it all makes sense in context and it’s one hell of a ride!