Loveable Freak Reviews: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

  Ugh! I've been sick the last three days, and I'm quite sick tired of it! Oh, well. I decided to take advantage of staying in bed today and desided to finally get around to watching something I've really been meaning to see,  Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog!

  The behind-the-scenes story of this musical is simple: Joss Whedon (the genius who wrote and directed the super-special-awesomeness that is The Avengers movie (and apparently helped co-write Toy Story... holy crap this dude is awesome!), along with his brothers, Jack and Zed, and his sister-in-law Maurissa Tancharoen had an idea. They decided, during the time of the 2007 Writer's Guild Strike, that they would make something. A small, inexpensive, yet professionally-done project, avoiding the problems that were being protested at the time. The result was a three-act web miniseries, called Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. The whole thing was done out of Joss's own pocket, and everyone did it despite the fact they weren't going to be paid at the time. (Of course, they later released it on iTunes and on DVD, so in the end everyone got paid. Heck, they still made a profit.)

  Anyway, the musical revolves around aspiring supervillian Dr. Horrible (played by Neil Patrick Harris), who is trying to get into the supervillian group known as The Evil League of Evil. He has, of course, a video blog documenting his schemes and answering fanmail. Outside of his attempted villiany (in his mild-mannered alter ego, Billy), he tries unsuccessfully to get the girl of his dreams, Penny (played by Felicia Day). But when Dr. Horrible's nemisis, the superhero Captain Hammer (played by Nathan Fillion), "rescues" Penny, and proceeds to go out with her... well...

Thank you, River...

 ...let's just say the end result's not pretty and leave it at that, shall we?

  I liked this musical. It's a really good story. It manages to get what could be a whole movie across in 42 minutes all together. The ending is really sad, but I won't share why. Dr. Horrible is quite sympathetic. And I can see where Dr. Horrible's motivations are coming from. Plus, I'm a fan of Neil Patrick Harris, and he does great job. We also have Captain Hammer, who is the exact opposite. But luckily, Nathan Fillion is able to make him at least a likable kind of horrible (no pun intended). And the love interest, Penny, is likable, too.

  But the big thing here is the music!  I really like the songs here, which is good for any musical. The ones that really stand out (that I like the most) are "My Freeze Ray", both versions of "Bad Horse Chorus", "Brand New Day", and the final song "Everything You Ever" is pretty good, too. I'll definitely buy the soundtrack on iTunes.

  So, some last minute thoughts:

• My only problem is that it's so short. Yes, it's good and gets everything across. And yes, there's no padding. But still, I'd expected it to be longer. But, there is going to be a sequel, so...
• I am quite dissapointed in The Avengers fandom, specifically the Loki fans, after watching this/hearing the soundtrack. Seriously? With the big deal y'all make over the fact Loki changed into a horse and got pregnant in Norse Mythology, you've neglected to make a "Bad Horse" video with Loki on YouTube? For shame! We have ones for Moriarty from Sherlock, The Master from Doctor Who, and waaaay too many for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but no Loki yet? Tsk, tsk. I thought I knew you, fandom. (Note: I don't check Tumblr, so there might be one there. If you've seen one, readers who are on Tumblr, let me know) 

  Well, that's all I have to say. Sing me out, Neil Patrick Harris!