Movie · 2009 · Animation, Science Fiction, Action, Drama · 1h 52m · NR · Japanese
Curator score: 2.2/10 (29.2K ratings)
In the War Between Heaven and Earth, Salvation is Machine.
Overview
Under constant attack by monstrous creatures called Angels that seek to eradicate humankind, U.N. Special Agency NERV introduces two new EVA pilots to help defend the city of Tokyo-3: the mysterious Makinami Mari Illustrous and the intense Asuka Langley Shikinami. Meanwhile, Gendo Ikari and SEELE proceed with a secret project that involves both Rei and Shinji.
A high-voltage, emotionally volatile mecha sequel that trades some of the original’s restraint for bigger spectacle, sharper character shocks, and a genuinely devastating final stretch. It’s messy on purpose, often thrilling, and built for viewers who want anime action tangled up with psychological dread and apocalyptic stakes.
Best for
fans of psychologically intense sci-fi
viewers who like operatic anime melodrama
people who want large-scale mecha action with emotional fallout
audiences open to surreal, abrupt tonal shifts
Skip if
you want a straightforward standalone story
you dislike fanservice or sexualized teen character design
you prefer clean worldbuilding over symbolic ambiguity
you are looking for a calm, character-light action film
Overview
This sequel feels like the point where the Rebuild project stops merely revisiting familiar ground and starts cutting loose. The action is more muscular, the animation more expansive, and the emotional turns land with real force, especially as the film pushes Shinji and Rei toward choices that feel both intimate and catastrophic. It’s a movie that wants you unsettled, not comforted.
Worth noting
What makes it work is the tension between mechanical spectacle and raw vulnerability. The city-scale battles are impressive, but the film’s real engine is the pressure it places on its characters: longing, guilt, dependency, and the desperate wish to save someone at any cost. That combination gives the ending its punch, even when the plotting becomes deliberately extreme.
Bottom line
It’s not the most elegant entry in the franchise, and some viewers will bounce off its tonal whiplash or the way it handles Mari and fanservice. But if you respond to anime that treats apocalypse as emotional crisis rather than just destruction, this is one of the more memorable and punishing versions of that idea.
Top Letterboxd reviews
cameron fetter (5★) · 1649 likes
this felt like watching evangelion for the first time. it made my stomach hurt
James (5★) · 1495 likes
Half way in to 2.0 I was wondering why it was so similar to the series since I heard it was way different compared to the series compared to 1.0, then Asuka piloted Unit 04 instead Kensuke, and she got her shit fucking slapped, then Rei fused with the Tenth Angel, then Shinji almost causes fucking Third Impact, and then my mind gets fucked yet again.
adambolt (4★) · 1390 likes
who is this british woman and why is she in my evangelion
Willow Maclay · 1135 likes
Shinji Ikari's out here having the biggest "whoops, my bad" moment in the history of humanity.
Violet (2★) · 889 likes
None of you mfs can justify Mari's existence to me
1995 · Action, Animation, Science Fiction · 1h 23m · NR · Curator 8.7/10 (568.8K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A landmark of philosophical sci-fi animation with a similarly cool surface and deep questions about selfhood and embodiment.