Hideki Ano is the man i tell ya hwat. Just saw this in theaters w/ a friend because the local theater had it on, and it was a blast. Very reminiscent of Evangelion; most obviously "there is a big monster and we (the government) have to take it down", but also:
- The ways in which the monster is used as a prop to trigger the real juicy political/emotional conflicts
- Lingering shots of machinery/infrastructure/crowds of people to get a grounded sense of what's going on, and demonstrate that these operations are more than just one person imposing their will, but a collective organizing towards a common goal
- The "don, don, don, don don-don" music that plays whenever there is a tense scenario (score in general seemed very similar i think!)
- Misato for president of the united states of america
I can see why it was a flop with foreign audiences: the CG is real bad, and the movie mostly consists of people talking about things rather than directly fighting the big monster.
I can also see why it was critically acclaimed in Japan: very simple, positive message about the tenacity of the Japanese people in times of crisis, if only these darn old politicians would stop ruining everything.
i rate it "hit Godzilla with a skyscraper"/5. highly recommend if you like Eva 1.0