Review: Act I - Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog
Joss Whedon, we all know who he is, he created fan favorites such as Firefly, Buffy and Angel. He is set to release Dollhouse this fall on Fox. But it is his latest endeavor that has everyone talking about…Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog.
I recently watched Act I of this insightful online comedy and I have to say that it is everything I wanted and more! In the spirit of former musical quirky comedies such as anything Mel Brooks or the Monty Python crew have done…this latest endeavor is pretty intriguing more a few reasons…it is online, it capitalizes on the blogging craze that lots of folks can identify with and lastly, it is filled with the witty Whedon style of writing…which he combines with the creative writing talents of his brothers, Zack and Jed.
So I guess I will begin with the music and singing…nobody can doubt that Whedon can write a musical because we saw it on Buffy. I was however, a little curious how the likes of Nathan Fillion and Neil Patrick Harris would sound singing and I have to say they were right on tune. The music itself is much like the story…silly and that is what makes it enjoyable. Most of the songs are solos except for the harmonizing song at the end of the Act, where the diabolical Horrible has a run in with Captain Hammer.
So basically the story follows a low-rent villain by the name of Dr. Horrible, we first meet…well…video blogging…he even answer’s emails…fantastic! The emails relate to most of his viewers asking him about failed attempts of chaos. Until one email asks him about a girl and then we see a softer side and the first song when he talks about Penny, the girl from the laundromat. Not to spoil any of the comedy or the events of Act I but the comedy pushes on with a rock infused solo by Nathan Fillion’s character, Captain Hammer.
Ultimately I enjoyed this rock musical and the comedy but more so the story of a low rent super-villain with a heart just makes me laugh as well as his determination to get into the League of Evil. I have to say that Joss Wheadon continues to impress me with his cult like stuff, Dr. Horrible may end up getting his own permanent webshow and maybe even a 15 minute series on cable somewhere. All I can say is I wonder how Act 2 will unfold…which will be released tomorrow on July 17 but Dr, Horrible is worth checking out! Whedon seems to be making a statement with this endeavor. He seems to be somewhat angry at the studio type movies and you see this and hear this through his dialogue in the video.
You also can correlate that with Joss Whedon’s “The Master Plan” where he reveals why he wanted to do Dr. Horrible.
The idea was to make it on the fly, on the cheap – but to make it. To turn out a really thrilling, professionalish piece of entertainment specifically for the internet. To show how much could be done with very little. To show the world there is another way. To give the public (and in particular you guys) something for all your support and patience. And to make a lot of silly jokes. Actually, that sentence probably should have come first.
And somewhat later, we will put the complete short epic out on DVD – with the finest and bravest extras in all the land. We’ll go into greater detail about that at Comiccon, but we’re changing the face of Show Friendliness a second time with that crazy DVD.
You can download the movie via I-tunes or you can watched the streamed version at Dr. Horrible.com
Also check out these other Dr. Horrible websites for swag and Dr. Horrible Related material.
