|
|
| Sunday, July 20, 2008 04:10 PM |
| (Last updated on Monday, July 21, 2008 03:50 PM) | | On the Viewer - Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog |
 by Fëanor |
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is a little video project that Joss Whedon dreamed up during the writers' strike, just to keep in shape. He wrote it with his brothers Jed and Zack Whedon, and Jed's fiancé Maurissa Tancharoen. It stars Neil Patrick Harris as a low-rent supervillain named Dr. Horrible, Nathan Fillion as a shallow jerk of a superhero named Captain Hammer, and Felicia Day as a very nice woman named Penny that Horrible meets and falls for down at the laundromat. The narration is delivered by Harris straight to the camera, in the form of a video blog. And it's a musical, which means people are constantly breaking out into song.
Dr. Horrible's one goal in life is to be accepted into the Evil League of Evil, sort of a very exclusive club for the nastiest supervillains. Actually, the problem is that he really has two, ultimately conflicting, goals in life: being accepted into the Evil League of Evil, and getting Penny, the girl of his dreams, to notice him. It doesn't help that he's constantly being thwarted in his evil schemes by Captain Hammer, who's essentially the big dumb successful jock to his brilliant vengeful geek.
Dr. Horrible is really quite fantastic. All three of the main characters are perfect in their roles, especially Harris, whose performance is both hilarious and touching. The writing is, as usual, littered with Whedon's special brand of clever, sarcastic comedy; there are tons of quotable lines, like the part where Captain Hammer reveals just what the Hammer really is, and the part where Horrible suggests Hammer might be a little like pie. The songs are catchy and fun, and all the performers are surprisingly good singers. And how can you not love Dr. Horrible's sidekick, Moist?
The video is presented in three acts, and the first two are enormously fun and entertaining. The third act takes a slightly surprising turn for the dark and dramatic, and ends on a crushingly depressing note. I say only slightly surprising because this is Joss Whedon we're talking about; of course he would have to torture his characters and take away all they love! Still, even the dark and depressing bits work really well, especially that last shot of Harris singing right into the camera.
Dr. Horrible is currently free to watch right here as a three-part streaming online video, but it will only stay that way until midnight tonight, when it will be taken offline. Eventually you'll be able to download the whole thing for a small fee, or buy it on DVD. But give it a watch now while you can. It's totally worth your time. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
