Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog review

First of all I want to make note that this review is meant for people who have already watched this. There are spoilers everywhere!

"Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" is only 42 minutes long. (Left me wanting more!) It was made for the internet by Joss Whedon. (Genius!)

It's about a minor league criminal evil scientist type played by Neil Patrick Harris (very talented!) self named Dr. Horrible who is not really that horrible but is ambitious. He has a vlog where he answers questions from followers of his exploits while he practices his "Evil Laugh of Evil" and brags about "a letter of condemnation from the deputy mayor, that has some weight...fingers crossed" which will help him be accepted as a member of "The Evil League of Evil".

It's divided into three acts like a play. In fact, I can see it become one if they wanted to turn it into one. The first time you watch it, the first four minutes have a slow WTF-is-this vibe. Once it gets four minutes in and introducing Penny, the girl that Dr. Horrible sees in the local laundry frequently and likes, you get the first song and a feeling for what they are doing with this. Yes, I watched it a second time. The second time the first four minutes aren't slow but charming as it sets up Dr. Horrible's vulnerability played strongly by Harris.

As this (mini-movie?) continues the doctor is awkward and painfully shy around Penny while he also schemes to steal some wonderflonium he needs to finish his freeze ray (ahem, Death Ray) and become the "horrible" villain he is trying to become. But in his path comes "Captain Hammer", a bragging, boastful, over confident hero who is introduced trying to foil the robbery while singing one of the funniest songs  "A Man's Gotta Do". Not only does he ruin Horrible's plan but also gets to save the girl, Penny, the pretyy sympathetic girl that just wants to open up a building fr the homeless. Distracted by Penny, Hammer is taken by her while Horrible gets to steal the wonderflonium.

Cue act two: it shows Dr. Horrible in a stunned and vulnerable state. This little scene focusing  silently on his face sets up the ending perfectly. I'll return to this.

What I found interesting was the irony of both Horrible and Hammer lying about things to Penny. Horrible doesn't show who he is and doesn't like helping the homeless or doing laundry but he tells her that he does to stay in her good graces. Hammer fakes sincerity but can't even bare to be touched  by a homeless person. May not even want to look at them. This is where Nathan Fillion (an actor of boundless charisma)  does great work with his expressions.

The melodic songs are easy to listen to, understand the lyrics, funny and at times touching. Every character gets to sing and one of the best songs was the "So They Say" one sung by several characters, even news anchors, groupies and more.

By the final act, I was already so taken by this thing (movie?) that I wanted it to last longer! And I kept getting flashbacks to "Despicable Me" and wondered if this inluenced the creators of that one.

At one point in the final act, Dr. Horrible sings a line about how  there are "no happy endings for me anyway". Wonderful foreshadowing. For when in the end the climactic fight between Horrible and Hammer comes to a head with the now named "Death Ray" playing a big part and in a not-the-way-he-thought manner killing Penny. Still in the end she sees Billy aka Dr. Horrible as himself and not the villain and all she worries about is him and that he is all right! And not to worry, Captain Hammer will save them. Then she dies. Heartbreaking.

Joss Whedon and company then launch the final song sung by Neil Patrick Harris in a more aggressive way to express how this results in his turning bitter and into a murderer now thought to be horrible like his namesake. This ends with that final two second shot of him sitting alone in a sad shock with the last two words "a thing". End.

What??? I wanted more!!! Positively freaking loved this thing! Major shout out to one particular friend who recommended this!