Can’t you see, the evil inside of me!
In 2008 when the world of television, just in the Unite States, was suffering from the biggest brain fart due to idiotic bigwigs keeping literally ‘cents’ out of the pockets of writers, the writers decided to strike back. First, they went on a strike. A few decided that making a musical on the Internet might garnish them some dough.
Both decisions were brilliant.
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog starring Neil Patrick Harris (Dr. Horrible), Nathan Fillion (that guy from Firefly and Serenity starring as Captain Hammer) and Felicia Day (creator of The Guild and starring as Penny), the story follows the failed attempts of a wannabe evil scientist trying to get into the Evil League of Evil. He has to perform a single dastardly deed to do so. Regretfully, Captain Hammer is constantly in his way and after a failed attempt at creating a freeze ray, the league ups the ante and requires Horrible to ‘kill’ someone. His target? Captain Hammer. Along the way, Horrible gets distracted by a girl named Penny, who hopes to make the world better by helping the homeless. As fate would have it, Penny gets rescued (or thinks so) by Captain Hammer and ends up falling in love with him. Hammer acts like he’s in love, but really just wants to ‘nail’ Penny, especially after finding out that Dr. Horrible is in love with her. This fuels the already budding hatred that Horrible has for Hammer.
So, this started online as a three-part act that you could purchase and download from iTunes. A good friend introduced me to this musical comedy and it’s been a torrid love affair since. It’s well written for a musical short. If you can work your way beyond the ridiculous premise (I love it, but normal people will find it ridiculous) what you will find is a competent musical that could probably stand on its own on a backstreet back alley Broadway show. Prior to his showing at the Emmys, I had no idea that Harris could sing. He is the strongest part of the trio of actors leading this parade. He hits his notes and can range from angry to subtle to sad. The guy has some range! Felicia Day is a pretty good singer, as she has sort of a mousy singing talent about her. Nathan Fillion, I love this guy — great, under appreciated actor — couldn’t sing his way out of a bag. His attempt works, but Simon Cowell would have thrown him off the show a LONG time ago.
Briefly touching upon the story, it’s completely a Joss Whedon production. He’s got a mixture of surreal superhero/villain characters mingling nonchalantly in a normal world. The normal interaction between folks is what really sales the story. Dr. Horrible is evil enough to make a freeze ray from a ridiculous sounding element, but he’s normal enough to do his laundry at a laundry mat. This sort of surreal realism helps sell the story of a struggling doctor trying to further his career, but wanting to live a normal life with the girl of his dreams. It’s a typical love story told with the most un-typical background.
As for the Blu-ray portion of it, it was made for HD. It was HD when it hit iTunes and it should be HD when it hits home video. Does it need to be in HD? Probably not, but it’s a sweet treat having it in it. The real benefit of the Blu-ray format for Dr. Horrible is the audio portion. You get the wonderful audio in 5.1 Dolby Digital and it sounds sweet! So, go ahead and memorize the songs and sing-along with the good folks.
To cap off a funny story and a good Blu-ray, you’ve got some fantastic features. Here’s what you’re looking at:
– Commentary by cast/crew
– The Making of Dr. Horrible Featurettes
– Evil League of Evil Application Videos
It may not seem like a large list, but there’s plenty here to like.