I finished Code Geass S2, so I finally read Martin's spoilers from post 16. My understanding is that the Resurrection movie is an alternate timeline where I'd need to watch three recap movies with slight changes, which I really don't want to do, so I don't think I'm going to watch it. Still, I'm open to being convinced otherwise if people think the movie is worth it.
In any case, I'll do the Code Geass write-up tomorrow and just do spoiler-tag thoughts if I end up watching the movie over the weekend. Just to quickly respond to Martin's first two spoiler-tags:
I'm pretty sure Episode 22 was the Euphy massacre. I actually liked it! I don't usually enjoy darker story elements like that, but this was a good example of one where it was used well and not just for shock value. In Code Geass S1, I hated it when Cornelia killed a bunch of civilians. She did it to draw Zero out, sure, but her soldiers all mindlessly followed the order and mowed down mothers holding babies and whatnot. Not only that, no one reacted to it at all, not even supposed good guy Suzaku, so in the end it was just pointless shock value to make the viewer feel bad. She could've done literally anything else to lure Zero out and it would've worked just as well. That sucked. The Euphy massacre, by comparison, was a confluence of things that all made sense and created a legitimate tragedy. Lelouch didn't mean to do it. Euphy didn't want to. The soldiers were confused and not sure what to do, at least at first. Plus, the whole world reacted with horror and disgust. It was set up well, played out realistically, and had actual consequences. When it comes to dark/bleak story elements, I appreciate it when a story does it like this and not just 'lol here's sad stuff, feel bad now' like the Cornelia massacre from S1.
As for the Suzaku redemption arc, I disagree that he had one. Even in his last duel with Kallen, he was still whining that she didn't try to change things from within the system like he did. Motherfucker, did you really not learn anything during this whole story? Suzaku was the same piece of shit he always was from beginning to end. Lelouch really should've found someone better to leave his legacy to. That world is doomed with him in charge.
While I'm at it with spoiler thoughts:
From the Crunchyroll comments and reading about Code Geass elsewhere, I've seen a lot of hate for Rolo and Nina. Honestly, they were fine. Rolo is even on the shortlist for favorite character (I haven't decided yet, it's between him, C.C., and Kallen). I know he did the bad thing, but he was still a compelling character. Nina did the bad thing too, but her biggest flaw is just that she's an idiot who seemingly couldn't comprehend that her big fancy bomb was, you know, a bomb. I'd have respected her as a character a lot more if she stayed deluded and crazy all the way to the end. Having her snap out of it so quickly just makes her seem like a moron.