Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog - Joss Whedon's Musical Masterpiece About a Super Villain
Written: Jan 10 '09 (Updated Apr 27 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fun, entertaining musical with a great cast.
Cons: Short
The Bottom Line: Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is a very entertaining, interesting musical from Joss Whedon. People that enjoy his creations should definitely check this out.
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| dragonfire88's Full Review: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog |
I became hooked on Buffy the Vampire Slayer several years ago. After that, I started watching other things that Joss Whedon created, like Firefly and Angel. I loved those shows and Serenity even when Whedon did things that upset me and I kept hoping for new projects from him. In the summer of 2008 I first started to hear about a new project he was working on that was going to be released just over the internet. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, a musical about an aspiring super villain, was released in three parts on the internet in July of 2008. It was very popular and eventually released on DVD in December of 2008.
Billy, who used the name Dr. Horrible for his super villain name, dreamed of being able to join an evil organization, the Evil League of Evil. He had evil plans, but they tended to go wrong in some way. Billy was also hoping to work up the nerve to talk to Penny, the woman he had a crush on. Just when it seemed like he was making progress with Penny, his nemesis Captain Hammer showed up to foil the plan and dazzle Penny at the same time. Billy then came up with a new plan that he felt was guaranteed to impress Bad Horse - the leader of the Evil League of Evil - and get him in the Evil League of Evil while still hoping to develop a relationship with Penny.
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog had a fairly well developed plot even though it was only 42 minutes long. Billy, as Dr. Horrible, was very determined to get into the Evil League of Evil. Some of the show was set up like Billy was doing a video blog, sharing his evil plans and then how they went wrong - like when Dr. Horrible showed up and threw a car at his head. That way of sharing some information worked really well and was entertaining. Other things, usually when Billy was interacting with Penny in some way, were shown as they happened. There was a full arc to the story and things were resolved by the end. I didn’t think the story was predictable in any way and there were a few surprising things that happened. With the one thing, I was surprised and yet not surprised all at the same time. I’m not going to say anything more specific because I don’t want to spoil anything for people still wanting to see this, but I think anyone who has seen it will know which thing I’m referring to.
I thought that Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog was very entertaining. Several things that happened were funny, even during a few of the movie serious moments. That sort of thing was frequently done in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly as well. This had the same type of humor that Whedon used in his other shows, which sometimes has been more subtle. Dr. Horrible and Captain Hammer both said and did things that were funny. Dr. Horrible was really funny when he was making his video blog entries. I thought that the humor worked very well for what was going on.
I have liked several musicals and I tend to like most superhero movies - in fact I seem to be compelled to see all of them I come across, which explains why I willingly sat through Catwoman. Anyway, with how I like musicals and movies about superheroes, I loved the idea of a musical about a budding super villain when I first heard about Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. The concept was a bit different, but I think it worked wonderfully and made for a very entertaining, if short, movie. The songs were great and really worked to move the story forward. The first song, My Freeze Ray, has Dr. Horrible singing about his newest evil invention as well as his desire to finally talk to Penny. I thought the songs were very well done and some of them were rather complex. Dr. Horrible, Captain Hammer, and Penny did the majority of the singing, though a few minor supporting characters also sang in a few of the songs. All the songs were very catchy and I really liked them so much that I plan to pick up the CD soundtrack. Whedon also did a wonderful musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Once More With Feeling, that was one of the best episodes of the series. The songs for this movie did remind me a bit of the ones from Once More With Feeling. People that enjoyed that episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer should also give this a chance. Jed Whedon, Joss’s brother, wrote several of the songs.
Billy had been interested in Penny for a while before Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog began, but he’d been too shy and nervous to talk to her. Just when he finally started to make a connection with her, Captain Hammer turned up and started showing interest in her. She did seem to be extremely dazzled by Captain Hammer after they met even though the meeting wasn’t under the most romantic circumstances. That set up a love triangle that would ultimately be resolved by the end of the movie. After their first short meeting, Billy and Penny did start to talk and spend a little bit of time together even while she was starting a relationship with Captain Hammer. There weren’t any sex scenes in the movie, though Captain Hammer made it known to a lot of people at one point that he and Penny had sex. There were a few suggestive lines, like when Captain Hammer called a certain body part a hammer.
There were only three main characters in Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Billy really didn’t seem to be that evil or even mean, but he was very determined to get in the Evil League of Evil and impress Dark Horse. He kept coming up with ideas to show how evil he was that went wrong for some reason. Even though he was an aspiring super villain, Dr. Horrible was the hero of the story and much more likable than the superhero. When he was acting as Dr. Horrible, he was dressed in a lab coat, huge rubber gloves, and he wore goggles on his forehead. It was an interesting look that worked for the character. Neil Patrick Harris was amazing in the part and had a great singing voice. I knew he could sing since he’d been in some Broadway musicals, but I’d never heard him sing before. I’m most familiar with his work as Barney in How I Met Your Mother. This part was very different and showed just how talented he is.
Captain Hammer was the local hero that everyone loved. He was very arrogant with a huge ego, acted like a jerk, and basically thought that he was better than everyone. He was really a huge jerk, but people still adored him. It did seem like Dr. Horrible was the only one who saw the flaws in his character. Captain Hammer always seemed to foil Dr. Horrible’s evil plans, which just added to the animosity they had for each other. I loved Nathan Fillion in the part. He worked with Whedon on Firefly and Serenity, playing a very different type of character that I loved. I also really liked him in Slither and plan to continue checking out his new projects. I thought he did a very good job with the singing.
Penny was the last main character, though she wasn’t around as much as Dr. Horrible or Captain Hammer. She was a kind, sweet woman who tended to see the good in everyone. She also seemed to be a bit shy and even passive at times. She didn’t seem like the kind of person who would be taken in by Captain Hammer. Felicia Day was good in the part. She had a lovely singing voice that was showcased in a few touching songs. A few other characters turned up briefly without having a lot to do. Moist was one of Dr. Horrible’s villain friends. Simon Helberg, Howard from The Big Bang Theory, was good in the part even though he didn’t have a lot to do. Some other super villains were shown briefly at one point without them being identified. It was clear which one was Bad Horse though. There were three men dressed as cowboys who served as the Bad Horse chorus in two short scenes. Three of Captain Hammer’s groupies turned up later in the movie and even sang a bit as well.
Main Cast
Felicia Day - Penny
Nathan Fillion - Captain Hammer
Neil Patrick Harris - Billy/Dr. Horrible
Simon Helberg - Moist
Joss Whedon - Director
DVD Information
After only being available on the internet for several months, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog was released on DVD on December 19, 2008 that is only available from Amazon.com. The movie is in the widescreen format and I don’t think there is a full screen version available. There are two commentaries, one that featured the cast and makers talking about the movie and another one called Commentary! The Musical. That one had 42 minutes of new songs performed by the cast and creators. The songs didn’t really have anything to do with what was going on during the movie, but it was very entertaining and I loved it. Those songs were just as well done as the ones in the actual movie. They did tend to be a bit on the fun side, with the different performers poking some fun at things, like when Nathan Fillion sang about how he was better than Neil Patrick Harris. The normal commentary was also very entertaining.
There were some short featurettes on the making of the movie that I thought were really interesting. The cast and creators talked about how the idea was born during the writer’s strike and how much everyone loved the project. They did talk about how some scenes were shot and how the location where Billy did his video blog from was someone’s actual apartment. Many of the props there were things that the person who lived there actually owned. Neil, Nathan, and Felicia were also shown while they were recording some of their vocals for different songs. Evil League of Evil Application Videos had some of the videos that were sent in by fans of the movie. The viewers came up with some interesting ideas for super villains.
I absolutely loved Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. I watched it twice within two days, plus I also sat through both commentaries during that time as well. It is a wonderfully entertaining, and deserves to been seen. Fans of the cast or of other things that Whedon has done should definitely give this a chance. I have read that the people involved with this haven’t ruled out the idea of a sequel. I would love to see more of these characters. As far as I’m concerned, this movie further shows Whedon’s genius at creating entertaining shows and movies.
www.drhorrible.com
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Recommended:
Yes
Viewing Format: DVD
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