Rock It, Raccoon: Zen Pinball 2 Guardians Of The Galaxy
With bonus Marvel film chatter
Zen Pinball 2 isn't my digital pinball flavour of choice. I prefer the recreation of actual tables, even if sometimes imperfect, to the shiny Marvel and Star Wars licensed fare of Zen Studios. I still dabble in the lightshow occasionally though and a new Guardians of the Galaxy table seems like a good excuse to shake off the ball rust. Judging by the trailer (below), the new table will fall in the Zen tradition of ramp-heavy high-scoring theme park tables. Lots of bang for your buck (actually $2.99), but not necessarily a whole lot of skills and processes to learn.
Urination and Other Quips, the Star-Lord Story.
The Guardians of the Galaxy table will be available on July 30th, to coincide almost exactly with the release of the film. I'm looking forward to the film, mainly because it's such a preposterous film to have made. I need more strangeness in my big budget fare and after the solid but unsurprising Days of Future Past, I'm hoping Guardians of the Galaxy will walk on the weird side.
I caught up with the Marvel movies during my flights to and from Firaxis (less 'popcorn' movies, more 'what the fuck is this foil-wrapped atrocity' movies). They've all become rather formulaic. I say 'become' but I think they have been since the first round. Iron Man 3 frustrated me because its final overblown action sequence seemed to contradict the theme and the whole plot seemed to exist very much outside the established narrative. Sure, Tony is feeling the repurcussions of The Avengers showdown but everyone else, including the entirity of Shield, manages to make themselves busy off-screen while America is assaulted.
Thor: The Dark World had some action when worlds began to collide but the thunder god saving the world alongside a bunch of wacky scientists seems even more ludicrous now that he has actually been part of a superhero crew. Threat levels rise but snarky humans still save the day and develop oddball comedic romantic interests.
The Winter Soldier though? Winner. Lots of physical action to sit alongside the CGI-loaded scenes, and character and plot that fit the themes as snug as a spandex crotch-glove. Bravo.