The biggest problem a film can have when it is written by the same people who wrote the original series it is based on that it is highly likely to also be chalked full of plot holes. Every problem that was present in the original series is on display here, from the choppy and rushed pacing to the contrived tactics that don't make any logical sense and are never properly explained to every character being unlikable and petty. (Kallen pulls a knife out on CC because she loses her temper over an extremely minor gripe.) And while I am very happy that Kallen didn't become a child murderer in this timeline since it is shown that the Valkyrie Squadron is alive and well and happily getting along with their old enemies, I am sorely disappointed that this is still the same idiotic and selfish Suzaku who murdered his friends and comrades Monica and Dorothea in cold blood. The writers were somehow convinced that that moment absolutely had to stay in the new timeline despite it completely contradicting Suzaku's character and lazily killing off some characters who would have been fascinating to explore. So I can't root for any of these scummy hypocrites as they mercilessly blast away scores of soldiers in a single shot with their totally fair odds-defying weapons. And with this in mind, I should mention how little sense the villain's motivation makes. She kidnaps Nunnally to . . . Become a goddess??? Link with the other dimension somehow? As always, things are kept infuriatingly vague to try to appear philosophical but are, in truth, shallow attempts at saying anything meaningful. There's a bit of shock value per the usual for Code Geass where some female guards only possessing bikinis and spears are gunned down by the aforementioned unlikable Lelouch and CC with a Knightmare Frame; but, as if realizing that murdering waifus in cold blood had in part given the original series a bad reputation, they fixed this with some time travel shenanigans which was the only part of the film I enjoyed from its sheer creativity. The end resolution, of course, is wrapped up suddenly and haphazardly with a plan that could have been easily interrupted had a single variable fallen out of place. The goddess-tier waifu-of-a-villainess (SO MUCH HOTTER THAN CC!!!) is shown to be sympathetic after all and likely could have redeemed herself but is ultimately killed off in an utterly baffling moment that again hints at some weird interdimensional connection with her brother that is absolutely never explained. By the end, I was just glad it was only two hours long instead of 20 like the series so I didn't have to sit through any student council meetings or school festivals. Sunrise, my interest in this series will be piqued again if you resurrect Monica and Dorothea so they can kill Suzaku and get an actual story and journey for themselves. Your fans may be easily fooled that these idiotic main characters are good people, but the rest of the anime community has actually grown up.
