If you’re a Joss Whedon fan and you haven’t heard of his latest project – Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, then where have you been? During the recent writer’s strike, Joss decided to do something unprecedented….he filmed a movie to be exclusively shown on the internet. Yesterday was the official release of Act 1 and it was bombarded by thousands (or so I’m assuming since it took me until today to actually load the page). The movie stars: Nathan Fillon, who plays Dr. Horrible’s nemesis Captain Hammer (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly); Neil Patrick Harris, as Dr. Horrible who is trying to get into the League of Evil (Doogie Howser, M.D., How I Met Your Mother); and Felicia Day, as Dr. Horrible’s crush (Buffy the Vampire Slayer).
In the first act, we’re introduced to Dr. Horrible as he goes through his email on his weblog. He gets interrupted by a friend who is bringing his mail in when he notices the application acceptance letter by the League of Evil. His lifelong dream is to be admitted as a member and he finally sees his chance. He just needs to accomplish a really evil crime and he’s in. He has two problems though: his nemesis, Captain Hammer, is standing in his way – always spoiling his plots; and he’s distracted by the presence of Penny, the girl he has a crush on that he hasn’t really talked to yet.
I just watched the first act and I was laughing through the entire thing. Oh my god, I didn’t realize that Nathan Fillon or Neil Patrick Harris had such good voices. Just the various facial expressions that Harris goes through was comical enough to get me going. Then add in Fillon doing his best “look at me, I’m gorgeous” pose while saving the girl and singing…I couldn’t stop laughing. Did I forget to mention this is a musical? All the actors sing at some point and they do a really good job of it. I should mention that laughing was a very good thing. It is obviously a comedy and if you’re a fan of Once More with Feeling, the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, then you’re going to love Dr. Horrible. I can’t wait for the next act.
If you want to get in on all the action, then make sure you check out Act 1 today because Act 2 comes out tomorrow and the site is going to busy yet again. The third and final act will be out on the 19th and then on the 20th, the entire film is going to be taken down (I’m hoping at midnight on the 20th so people have time to see it). There’s talk of it going straight to DVD after the 20th, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll be able to buy it as well.
