Welcome to the Escape Velocity Collection!
We are an opinionated group of friends reviewing all sorts of fantasy and science fiction media. Don’t forget to get to know the curators and visit our curated Collection, where we discuss the stories that never cease to transport us to another world.
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- TV series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network
- Starring Zach Callison, Estelle, Deedee Magno Hall, Michaela Dietz
- November 4th, 2013 - January 21st, 2019
- 5 seasons, 160 episodes of 11 minutes each
A young boy called Steven lives his life with the Crystal Gems, three magical, humanoid aliens. Being half-Gem himself, Steven helps the Gems to protect the world from alien dangers, meanwhile struggling with the legacy of his dead mother and the normal challenges of a child’s life.
This series starts out as most other wacky animated series. You watch Steven’s silly endeavours and are charmed by his childlike spirit and humour. As the episodes continue in an easy-going manner, you don’t really expect there to be a big overarching plot or any high stakes at all. Just a comfortable watch.
And then, suddenly, an episode will come that will turn everything upside down! You realise that intricate worldbuilding, complicated characters and enthralling plot have been there all along, right under your nose. You simply didn’t recognize it.
Steven Universe is a coming-of-age story with a lot of layers. At multiple points throughout the series, you’ll feel inclined to revisit earlier episodes to look for clever foreshadowing and character motives hidden in plain view. The emotional themes this series explores – such as trauma, grief and self-love – are expertly handled. Most grown-ups can definitely still learn a thing or two from the life lessons taught through Steven’s story.
This series is definitely a gem (pun intended).
Tagged:
- Movie directed by Wes Ball
- Based on The Maze Runner books by James Dashner
- Starring Dylan O'Brien, Ki Hong Lee, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Rosa Salazar, Giancarlo Esposito, Aidan Gillen, Patricia Clarkson
- Released 26 January 2018
- Runtime: 143 minutes
- 3rd part in The Maze Runner film series
After running for their lives, Thomas and the other ‘Gladers’ finally decide to take the fight to WCKD instead. Intent on freeing their captive friends and finding a cure to the Flare-sickness, Thomas and his friends set their eyes on the Last City, one of the last safe bastions in the world and home to WCKD’s headquarters.
The final installment in this series differs little from the previous movies when it comes to narrative. The plot is simple (and at times even poorly portrayed), but it lends itself well to spectacular action scenes that are fun to watch. The characters are as they have been established in the previous movies, and will do little to further win you over. Though, I must admit I was somewhat charmed by Teresa’s arc and appreciate it for what it could have been. Also, Aiden Gillen is still there…
There is not much left to say, really. Maze Runner: The Death Cure delivers a suitable, bittersweet ending to the series. Easy escapism in a world with some interesting worldbuilding concepts.
- Book written by Emily St. John Mandel
- Published September 2014
On the night a deadly flu pandemic hits the city of Toronto, famous actor Arthur Leander suffers a heart attack and dies on-stage during a performance of King Lear. While the pandemic continues to spread, the people in Arthur’s life start to realise that the world as they know it is coming to an end.
Twenty years later Kirsten, one of the child actors who witnessed Arthur’s death, travels between settlements in the post-pandemic world together with a company of actors and musicians. As they try to keep something of the old world alive in their performances of Shakespeare’s plays, they will have to navigate the dangers of their new world.
Since this book is about a deadly pandemic, I can understand if now (2022) is not the time for you to pick it up. However, I have personally found myself oddly drawn to this subject (and to post-apocalyptic fiction in general) since the beginning of the pandemic. Of the several post-apocalyptic books that I have read during this period, Station Eleven was probably my favourite. It has a great set of characters and immediately draws you in with its mysterious atmosphere.
The majority of the book takes place either just before, or twenty years after the time of the outbreak, so the story does not go into much detail about the collapse itself. This creates some distance between these events and the reader. Both the scenes from before and from after have the same wistful, dreamlike quality about them which somehow made the book feel quite serene despite its heavy subject matter.
It becomes clear very soon that the different characters that we follow are somehow connected, and I found the way in which this mystery is resolved very satifying. All in all a great reading experience, if you feel up to it. I have just started watching the recent HBO adaptation of this book, so keep your eye out for a review of that as well!
Tagged:
- Audio drama written by Alexa Polivka
- Produced by The Lunar Company
- Released in 2021-2022
- Starring Allegra Rodriguez Shivers, Christian T. Chan, Reginald West, Amy Lyndon, and others
In a future where humans live throughout the galaxy, Alexine Prometh is close to a ground-breaking discovery. Her Abacus Project could change the human mind. For the better, she thinks, but are the plans of her company with ties to the government just as benevolent? And will anybody try to stop her research?
Earth Eclipsed is a nice don’t-think-too-hard-and-come-along-for-the-ride science fiction audio drama. The production quality is good, the plot is fine. It’s not complicated, but it does not try to be: bad guys vs good guys, fighting, heisting and scheming in space. Maybe not really my cup of tea, but amusing nonetheless.
However, there were a couple of things that let this audio drama dip below the bar of 3 stars. After the first two episodes, the writing was really getting me angry. A bit cheesy is fine for this kind of story, but there are limits. You can only hear so much ‘No, I can’t tell you, it is just too painful’ and ‘There is a lot you don’t know about me’. And it got worse. In combination with some bad accents (supposed to be French? Russian? Space European?) and character clichés, I had to have a bucket ready.
My expectations were lowered and I thought about quitting, but I am glad I continued, because I was pleasantly surprised by the last episode. It saved the day and let me end with a relatively good feeling about the series.
Tagged:
Reviewed by:
- Video game eveloped by Bioware
- Released in 2011
- Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, macOS, Macintosh operating systems, Classic Mac OS
Dragon Age II follows the story of Hawke, a refugee from the Fifth Blight, and their rise to power, a journey spanning over a decade. After fleeing Ferelden, Hawke and their family have to build a new life in the city of Kirkwall. Though life as a refugee is hard enough, Hawke soon discovers that Kirkwall has problems of its own. The tensions between mages and templars are running high, and the presence of an army of Qunari also comes with some inevitable difficulties.
Dragon Age 2 is often seen as the lesser of this series but don’t let that deter you from playing it. First of all, you’re gonna want to play it to get the full story for when you move on to Dragon Age: Inquisition. But I think Dragon Age 2’s real problem is that the other two games are just too good.
This is, and I think many would agree with me, the funniest game in the series. You play as Hawke, and at each dialogue option, you are given the choice between a diplomatic, humorous and aggressive option. A word of advice: the humorous options are the best. This game features some quite dark themes, but Hawke is definitely the funniest protagonist of the series and the humour balances out the darkness quite well. That is, if you choose the funny dialogue options. I also very much recommend playing as female Hawke because her voice acting is phenomenal and to this day the only impression I can actually do.
This game features some great characters, as well as some characters I like a little less. Look, I usually love the generic white male love interests Bioware throws at me, but both Anders and Fenris are the worst and I hate them. I ended up romancing Isabela, who is also the worst but great, and I would have romanced Varric except Bioware hates me and won’t make that an option.
One of the things the game gets the most flak for is the environments. While Kirkwall is well designed, you never leave the city during the game. This might have been fine, if it weren’t for the fact that environments get constantly reused, so that at a certain point you’ve been in the same underground harbour about four times for different quests. People joke about how the game is told from Varric’s perspective, and he doesn’t care too much for the details, explaining why all levels look the same. The game even features one scene that is very clearly told by an unreliable narrator, which does support this idea. Still, it can detract a little from the experience.
If you’ve played Dragon Age: Origins and/or Dragon Age: Inquisition, you simply must play this game as well. I certainly wasn’t disappointed.
Although this game was heavily criticized (not entirely unjustified), I think it deserves much more love than it has actually gotten. The fact I give it 4,5 stars instead of 5 has purely to do with some clumsy game elements, such as the many reused maps and the random spawning of enemies (though I have to say Inquisition has provided an entertaining in-game explanation for both, relating to Varric’s unreliable narration).
As for the plot, I actually think DA2 has the best writing of all the Dragon Age games to date. Instead of the more classic ‘zero to hero fights evil’ narrative, Hawke’s story explores themes of a more realistic gray-and-gray morality and the challenges of choices that don’t have a clear cut answer. Most of the time, Hawke feels more like a protagonist that just tries their best (or not), than a real traditional hero. I felt like this was a very refreshing and interesting perspective. The rest of the cast is similarly complex. It should be noted, however, that the game never becomes too grim despite these elements, partly due to varied and well-applied humor. Another unique aspect is the division of the story in three acts, separated by significant time jumps. This allows for consequences to choices you wouldn’t otherwise have encountered.
I’ve replayed Dragon Age 2 several times, and expect to replay it again in the future. Even when I’m not playing, I at times find myself thinking of its themes and characters. That’s a good thing.
For those who are planning to play Dragon Age 2 for the first time, with the intention to play Dragon Age Inquisition thereafter, I would advise to at least buy and play the Legacy DLC, as it lays a foundation for some of the events in Inquisition.
Tagged:
- Movie directed by Neill Blomkamp
- Starring Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Alice Braga, Sharlto Copley
- Released 2013
- Runtime: 109 minutes
In Neill Blomkamp’s action packed dystopian sci-fi movie, the people living in slums on a polluted earth enviously look up to Elysium, the space station retreat of the ultra-wealthy, were all their illnesses could be cured at the wave of a hand. After a work accident, Max da Costa, a factory labourer on probation for some crimes he did and some crimes he didn’t commit, joins forces with a local crime lord and human smuggler with an altruistic streak in order to get to Elysium and save himself – though he has to agree to one for-profit job first…
Sometimes you just want to sit down at the end of a long day and watch people in the future blow each other up. And at those times, good enough is good enough. Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium perfectly fits that bill. I wouldn’t say it’s worth inviting friends over to watch it together, but as a well-executed mindless sci-fi action blockbuster, it is more than passable.
In a sense that’s a pity, because we know Blomkamp can do better. I haven’t seen District 9 (Blomkamp’s much more favourably reviewed movie) in a long time, so a direct comparison between it and Elysium would be unfair, but I felt the earlier District 9 was the better of the two movies by a long shot. Similar themes (worth exploring!) run between the two movies, with the oppression of the ‘have not’s by the ‘haves’ being a focal point in both; I just felt that it was executed a bit ham-fisted in Elysium.
For me, that was the core issue: Elysium was let down mostly by its script (another let-down was Jodie Foster’s performance, but then, I didn’t feel she had a lot to work with). The script falls short in several ways: We don’t really know why our protagonist became a criminal and his childhood friend didn’t. There is no exploration of the political struggle for emancipation of Earth’s poor, or at least of the more sympathetic faction of the Elysium government. We don’t know why the antagonists are as evil as they are, and what they have to lose by allowing the protagonists to reach their goals. The ideas were cool , but the movie would have had to cut a lot of action scenes in order for the free up runtime to explore these more interesting issues.
What we are left with is a decent sci-fi, borderline cyberpunk, action spectacle. Action scenes and special effects are entertaining enough, but I found the movie faded from memory almost immediately after the credits started rolling. Elysium could have been thought-provoking, but ended up being eye candy and nothing more. Then again, sometimes, that is good enough.
See also:
Review: Steven Universe – Cartoon Network
A young boy called Steven lives his life with the Crystal Gems, three magical, humanoid aliens. Being half-Gem himself, Steven helps the Gems to protect the world from alien dangers, meanwhile struggling with the legacy of his dead mother and the normal challenges of a child’s life.
Review: Maze Runner: The Death Cure – 20th Century Fox
Review of the movie Maze Runner: The Death Cure. After running for their lives, Thomas and the other ‘Gladers’ finally decide to take the fight to WCKD instead.
Review: Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel
On the night a deadly flu pandemic hits the city of Toronto, famous actor Arthur Leander suffers a heart attack and dies on-stage during a performance of King Lear. Twenty years later Kirsten, one of the child actors who witnessed Arthur’s death, travels between settlements in the post-pandemic world together with a company of actors and musicians.
Review: Earth Eclipsed – The Lunar Company
In a future where humans live throughout the galaxy, Alexine Prometh is close to a ground-breaking discovery. Will anybody try to stop her?
Review: Dragon Age II – Bioware
Dragon Age II follows the story of Hawke, a refugee from the Fifth Blight, and their rise to power, a journey spanning over a decade.
Review: Elysium – Neill Blomkamp
The people living in slums on a polluted earth enviously look up to Elysium, the space station retreat of the ultra-wealthy, were all their illnesses could be cured at the wave of a hand. After a work accident, Max da Costa, a factory labourer on probation, joins forces with a smuggler with an altruistic streak in order to get to Elysium and save himself.
