Warning: long review and spoilers ahead.

I heavily considered giving this movie a 10 at first. It's my favorite ending to a franchise that I have grown to love so much and it hit on a lot of the points that I was always really bummed the original series never did. But alas, the movie still has a bunch of different things that I think were just plain bad writing or a bit of an oversight. These things were pretty minor in the grand scheme of things, but they still stuck with me a lot after finishing the movie. Hence why I don't think I can give this movie a full 10. I wanna break this review into positives and negatives so I can address some of the mistakes I think this movie made while also giving it its well deserved praise. Besides, I think a lot of what this movie does well goes without saying, and I don't think I could even list everything I loved about this movie because it would be a very long list. I'll start with the negatives so I can end with the positives.

Negatives:
-I believe they fully bungled the character of Mari Makinami Illustrious. I actually am pretty okay with her as a final love interest for Shinji, I was happy to see them together as I think it's the healthiest relationship Shinji could've had, but it doesn't make up for the fact that she has been lacking in character development and moments with the other characters since she was introduced. It's been an aspect that has frustrated me through watching all these rebuilds because I wanted to get to know her but felt like I never could. This movie did not help much, as excluding her from deep character moments like the scenes in Village-3 was a strange choice that I can't understand.
-The plot went a bit TOO far into the realm of confusing nonsense. I mean, yeah, as soon as you enter the world of "un-reality" this is bound to happen, but considering I understood the plot and lore of the original series fairly well, I have not been able to fully understand what the hell goes on in the last hour of this movie. Even with a bunch of additional readings, I'm still lost as to the specifics behind Gendo's plan, the details of the Eva pilots not aging, and what the hell an imaginary Eva even is.
-I was not a fan of how they changed Asuka for this movie. I don't think she was a bad character per se, I think she still had a lot of depth, but for the most part she was just mean to Shinji. I'm not a big fan of how many people are mean to Shinji in the rebuilds in general, but I won't make a whole point just for that. The decision to turn her into a clone was interesting, but ultimately amounted to nothing in my opinion. Seems like the revelation of that plot point didn't have a lot of explanation, as I don't think we know at all what happened to the real Asuka.
-The existence of the different types of spears that changed to the users will felt like a stupid plot point to me. The last spear that was used to undo the existence of the Evas was also just literally Deus Ex Machina. Not the worst way to add something into a story but the inclusion of all these spears did not feel like a plot point that was well built up to.
-Gendo realized the error of his ways a bit too easily. I'm a huge fan of the fact that Shinji and Gendo were able to have a heart to heart, however, for a man who was knowingly ending all of humanity with a plan he had probably 15 years to reflect on, he was able to change his mind pretty quickly with little influence from Shinji. In a way, this movie can feel a bit rushed at times, as Gendo's turn feels very quick, alongside the exclusion of scenes with both Kaji Jr. and Kaji Sr., and of course the lack of character development for Mari.

Positives:
-This movie is absolutely beautiful. I loved the beauty of the scenes in the countryside, as it highlighted the natural side of the world of Eva that we hadn't gotten to see that much of. The use of CGI was great as well, it made for some great trippy scenes near the end of the movie and gave the fight scenes an extra punch of something special.
-I'm so happy to see an Evangelion give Shinji a happy ending that feels earned. I didn't love episode 26 because Shinji's newfound self love did not feel logical in my eyes given the events of the episode, especially given the fact it essentially takes place over the end of humanity. End of Evangelion gives Shinji a pretty somber ending given the way he treats Asuka at the very end. But in this movie, we actually get to see him work through his depression in a real life setting and apply a newfound resolve into a satisfying conflict with his father. Meeting his father on the train, a scene used to represent where Shinji wrestles with his own thoughts, was super poignant. And having both his parents prevent his sacrifice and send him off with love at the end feel like the happiest possible ending for him.
-They didn't try to make a weird sexual scene between Shinji and Misato this time! Woo! Yeah, I know Misato's sexual nature is a key character flaw that makes her interesting, but I much prefer her as a strong mother figure in Shinji's life rather than trying to write her as a complicated love interest. A change for the better in my eyes.
-Relating Gendo's backstory to Shinji's was a genius move. It showed me that those characters are very similar, a fact that can be traced back all the way to the original series. It showcases Shinji's heroism in that even though he faces the same obstacles as his father he is able to still forge a hopeful path forward and is resolved to change. It's a triumphant moment that Shinji never gets in the original series. Also, the idea that Shinji is where the soul of his mother resides, not in the un-reality or wherever Gendo thinks it could be, is a really touching message that I think can be applied to real life. We can let our lost love ones live on inside the ones that they loved.
-And finally, I am so happy to say we finally have an Evangelion story that ended on a super strong note. As previously stated, I did not like "congratulations" or "how disgusting", so I was worried about this one doing something weird, but it was exactly what I could've hoped for. Seeing Shinji grown up made me so happy, even though I only "met" him a few months ago. And seeing the fusion of the animated world and real world as a representation of Anno and the audience moving on from Eva was beautiful. It was a lovely, hopeful ending that thrived where the other two fell short in my eyes.

So yeah, despite the many flaws I felt the need to list, I still loved this movie. My favorite Evangelion rebuild film and my favorite take on an ending for this series. My love for this movie makes my negative takeaways sting even more, as I just wish I could've seen this movie as being near perfect. But I suppose it is fitting for the final Eva installment to have writing issues, as I think every chapter of Eva has suffered the same problems. All that aside though, this film has certainly cemented Neon Genesis Evangelion as one of my top ten favorite fictional stories of all time. Even throughout the series's flaws, it always gave me something deep to think about, which is way better than a story that you consume and forget about days later. So thank you Hideki Anno for crafting a touching story I will never forget.