DeadSetMisawa

So the premise is that you play as a character that goes around and attempts to defeat these sixteen colossi in order to save a girl. And that's all he does? Nothing else? Sounds simple, and yet, there is much substance to be found in Shadow of the Colossus. I know this game is older now, but I just got around to playing it about a month ago. I can safely say that this is the best game that I have played all year and the only one that has made me sit down for up to five or six straight hours. Time absolutely flew out the window, that's how captivated and intrigued I was.

You play as Wander, and with your faithful companion and horse Agro, you traverse a vast and beautiful landscape, which is rich with almost every kind of landscape you can think of, and buildings that are marvels of architecture. There are times when all you do is ride for about ten to fifteen minutes, just trying to get to one place. Sounds boring, and believe me, I thought it would be, but it isn't one bit. You'll find yourself just looking around as the scenery changes and even stopping a few times to take a good look around at the marvelous land.

But like I said, the whole objective is seeking out and defeating these sixteen colossi, and that is where the true fun begins. Some are giants (and by giant, I mean like you can barely see their head if you're looking up), some take to the air and some to the sea. No matter the shape and size of the magnificent beast, each one of the battles is breathtaking, and I found myself fighting some of them for an excess of a half hour. It brings the term 'battle' to a whole new level that a video game rarely sees. And because of the story, you'll actually find yourself feeling bad for some of these colossi.

All in all, like I said, the game is incredible. To paraphrase something that another user said, 'if you're a video game fan, you absolutely have to play this game. and if you don't play games, you should still play this game.' It's just an experience that you may not find in a game for a long time.

I think my opinion on this film may be a little biased, for one particular reason. I just don't think Will Ferrell is that funny. I think he is funny to the capacity where he is great at bit or supporting roles. For instance, I liked his character in Old School before he became the Tank again and reverted back to his old ADD ways that somehow got him fame on Saturday Night Live. So for me, I just don't and probably will never see him, as a great comic.

Having said that, there were parts in this movie that were incredibly funny, most of them involving other characters, specifically those of John C Reilly and Sacha Baron Cohen's. Oh there were parts where Mr. Bobby had some great lines or moments, but half the time he would inevitably stretch out the joke for another two or three minutes until you feel like yelling 'NEXT SCENE!'. Then again, I'm sure some people enjoy that style of his so this probably won't apply to you.

Still, these moments, thankfully, are made up for by the aforementioned supporting cast and by Ferrell keeping himself in check sometimes. Yes, he actually let's other people steal some scenes, which I didn't know he was capable of, but he did and it was very beneficial to the flow of the movie and establishment of certain characters. All in all, it's a good movie with some laughs to pass the time. If you enjoyed Anchorman, you will most likely enjoy this.

The Scary Movie franchises might be the same old stuff every time, but you could usually find some genuine laughs in all four of them, even if they recycle the same jokes. Both the Wayans' and Zucker made their movies unique to their own style, and on most levels, they each panned out to where you can enjoy them if you just turn your brain off and smile.

Unfortunately, with this movie, that luxury does not exist. It really, really, does not exist. I'm going to take a guess and say that the two of the six writers from the Scary Movie series that took on this project, were the ones who had the luxury of writing the most obvious jokes from the film series (i.e. the 'i've taken balls to the face before' line from Scary Movie 4).

Unfortunately for everyone, or maybe fortunately if you think my writing or opinion is crap, I can't give this a full review. What I can do though, is honestly state that this is the only movie in the past few years that I have purposely turned off. Oh yes, I sat through Phat Girlz, and yes, I sat through Kangaroo Jack. This one, however, I just could not muster up the strength to make it. I got maybe a half hour in before I just walked away.

If you're a parent, or are around a child of about ten-twelve years old, imagine every joke that you have heard from that child, and you've pretty much got the script of this movie. And unless said child is a miniature George Carlin, you know that is a bad sign. You can see every joke coming about ten miles away. Even if you know what movie they're about to make fun of, you can still accurately guess which parts they will be parodying, and I use that term very loosely. Not only is this movie obvious in its attempts at mustering up laughter, it's sometimes just painful to watch because the jokes are so rehashed that you might find it uncomfortable to view because you know that at the time, these people actually thought this would be a good idea.