Starship Troopers‘ Neil Patrick Harris (okay, okay, it’s Doogie Howser as a supervillain) plays the titular Dr Horrible, a wannabe supervillain whose inventions don’t quite seem to work the way he’d like them to. He’s not giving up, though – he’s determined to enter the Evil League of Evil, and he’s managed to get the attention of uber-villain Bad Horse. All he needs now is to steal the final component for his freeze ray (a weapon that will allow him to stop time and wreak havoc on an unsuspecting world that way) and then he’s practically guaranteed a place in the League. It won’t be easy to get to that point, though – especially not with Captain Hammer (“corporate tool”) constantly hanging around, saving the world and smarming it up all over the place, inadvertantly stealing Penny, the unrequited love of Dr Horrible’s life, right out from under his nose. Fillion is a fully fledged Whedon alumni, but Act I of Dr Horrible also features an all-grown-up (and virtually unrecognisable!) Felicia Day, who played a Potential Slayer in Buffy season 7. The Whedonisms stretch beyond the casting, too – the dialogue is very Buffy-esque, and who else would christen a mysterious science-y substance “wonderflonium”? If there are any Buffy fans who don’t enjoy this, I’ll be amazed. That said, it’s not perfect. The sing-along component would have been aided immensely by some subtitles, even optional ones, and the first Act starts off pretty slowly. The brilliant finale makes up for it, though, and the songs, well, the songs are ace, and there are so many of them! From the one about laundry day and the girl in the laundromat, the Bad Horse song (the thoroughbred of sin!), Penny’s begging song, Dr Horrible’s wistful “a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do” song, Captain Hammer’s co-option of that song and the duet with Penny, the musical content is all brilliant. Watch Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog at Dr Horrible.com, or download the episodes from iTunes. Or, for more Whedon-related reviews, check out our reviews of Buffy season 7.
