Director: Joss Whedon
Writer: Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon, Joss Whedon, Zack Whedon
Starring: Felicia Day, Nathan Fillion, Neil Patrick Harris
Release: 2008
Dr. Horrible is a low-key supervillain, keeping the world updated on his goal of world domination by means of his video blog. He is constantly thwarted in his attempts to make the world a better place (under his iron-fisted rule) by the heroic Captain Hammer. Despite all of this, Dr. Horrible has a sensitive soul, as all he really wants is to be able to talk to the girl of his dreams. His opportunity comes when he befriends her in his civilian life only to watch as she begins dating Captain Hammer. He also learns that his application to the Evil League of Evil has been rejected unless he commits an act of pure evil (like murder). This seems like an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone...
THE SQUEE
- The format is something that was incredibly ground-breaking at the time – three fifteen minute acts, many of them delivered directly to a webcamera and it was a musical. The songs are catchy - I dare you to listen to the soundtrack without finding yourself humming at least one song later. It's a proper musical too, with the blurring of reality that comes when people suddenly burst into a five-minute song about their feelings and everyone acts like it didn't happen. Couple that with snappy direction and editing and you end up with something that feels epic at a 42 minute running time.
- This cast. This really cemented Felicia Day as a geek icon. Neil Patrick Harris already had established his awesomeness over the years, as had Nathan Fillion, thanks to Firefly, but here we learned they could sing too! The three stars manage to make every line memorable, which is important in something with a limited timeframe like this.
- The concepts suggested. This is a world with a supervillain on pair with the Green Goblin or the Red Skull called... Bad Horse. And is an actual horse. (His terrifying death-whinny...) This is a world where superheroes are an everyday occurrence, where you have to apply in writing to join the Evil League of Evil and where being exceptionally sweaty can be considered a superpower. It's no wonder that the tie-in comics were a success – the whole world is crying out for a massive story.
- All of these are secondary to the writing. As is common in the Whedon style, it is immensely quotable but gives every character their moment of heart.
THE SUCK
- After saying such glowing things about the writing, there are some parts that are letdowns. Plot-wise, the story is nothing new. The focus on the “villain” is good but Dr. Horrible is still a standard protagonist – he doesn't want to kill anyone and his primary motivation is love. Of course, this is to make him likeable – it is his story, after all. This means that everything is shown through his eyes and other characters are there to further his story rather than existing with their own motivations.
- While part of the appeal is the low-budget nature of the blog, it does make the world feel like it consists solely of film studio backlots and stages. There's an empty quality to the world that a slightly more expensive production wouldn't have. It's not a drawback per se (like I said, part of the appeal of Dr. Horrible is the DIY aspect of its production) but it does give the mini-series a different quality.
If you loved Dr. Horrible, you really should check out the graphic novel tie-in from Dark Horse that expands back stories for some of the characters and fleshes out the world more.
Dr. Horrible and Other Horrible Stories – 9781595825773 - $17.99 – 80 pages
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