Snowball Reviews...Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog Acts 1-3 Complete

So it's finally here, the first act of the long (well at least a year...wait okay maybe less then a year...you know what I mean) awaited arrival of Joss Whedon's foray into the world we call web by releasing his Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog starring Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother, Doogie Howser), Nathan Fillion (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Firefly), and Felicia Day (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The Guild).

Sorry long sentence.

Anyways, this project created by Joss himself along with his brothers Zach, Jed, and Jed’s Fiancé Maurissa Tancharoen was a cool project about “...a low-rent super-villain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to.” according to Joss himself. Plus it's a musical!

With that, I would post the video of Act 1, 2, or 3 on this post, however the Internet version will only be available for at least until the end of July, so I'll just link you to http://drhorrible.com for all the details.

I will be updating this post specifically when I see Acts 2 and Act 3 so you can read each review.

Click "Read More" to read my review.

Every time I watch a Joss Whedon penned/directed/created project, I am always astounded at the concepts Joss comes up with. Teenage girls slaying vampires, A Western set in Space, or a wannabe super villain who is shy to talk to the girl of his dreams. Of course his flair for humor, storytelling, and unique ideas for the format he works in, all comes in the big package we call Joss.

Can you tell I'm a fanboy yet? Of course you can. I'm such a fanboy that I want to join his Dollhouse (pun intended) of Actors, knowing full well he pulls each one of his dolls out to play when the time comes.

However, I will be objective and leave my journalistic integrity intact to review the below Acts.

So let's put on the reviewer pants.

POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD

Act 1:
Okay you know in the title that this is supposed to be a blog of a villain right? I don't know why, but that concept was lost on me until I saw the first opening minutes. With greater video and audio quality of a YouTube video Dr. Horrible records his, let's say daily video blog (because being a low-rent villain he may have quite a bit of time on his hands)and answers his emails on webcam. This was one of those moments where I thought "Why didn't I think of that?" But soon I realized, oh yeah Joss did. I really enjoyed this, and if this was an actual YouTube or Video Blog, I would subscribe to it because it's actually quite enticing.

I won't get into the story of it just in case people haven't seen it yet, but let's just say the acting is spot on by all those involved, and you can tell that Neil, Nathan, and Felicia were having fun, and it shows on screen.

There are four musical numbers in this Act and each one in it's own is perfect Joss style. Much like the musical episode of Buffy, Joss should be writing a full on musical by now. He should definitely watch Evil Dead: The Musical just to see how great a medium it is. Honestly, when I saw Evil Dead, thinking back on it now, I could have sworn Joss wrote it. It had his style. At any rate, I can't get the laundromat song, and the "Man's gotta do" song out of my head all day, so that's saying how good the music is and doesn't slow or stall the story at all.

Act 2:

I can't believe it, but I'm seriously conflicted. Not with the second Act, the second act was great, but with Dr. Horrible! Maybe it's Neil Patrick Harris' great performance, or maybe it's the awesome writing by the Whedon clan, but I don't know who to root for! I mean I want "Billy" to get the girl of his dreams, Penny. And I want Dr. Horrible to get the best of Captain Hammer to prove he can achieve also his dream to rule the world. But I guess that's the complexities of rooting for a villain.

This is new to me, so bare with me.

Anyway, this Act I have to say really steps up the conflict than the first Act. We see the true deep ideals of Billy/Dr. Horrible and see his view of the world, which when you think about it, you kind of get on board with it. Much like the classic 3 Act Structure in a story, Act 2 is where we see the conflict climb to the climax and the third act is going to be just a downhill spiral into awesomeness.

Comedy wise, this act had me laughing out loud more than the first act. Which is embarrassing, especially when watching it at work.

Yeah, I can't go into the cafeteria anymore.......

Moving on, favorite comedy moments, the "Freeze Ray needs work." and "These are not the hammer.....The hammer is my *you know*" LOL Classic!!!

Musically, this act has again 4 pieces that are lyrically creative and the melodies are seriously catchy. NPH and Felicia really stretch the vocal muscles in this, and you can see why that NPH does broadway and Felicia is also vocally trained. I loved their duet at the beginning of the act, and I'm amazed at how well in sync they both are.

Great act, and now I can't wait to see Act 3, just so I can see how they are going to top 2 great acts already!!

Act 3:

....Um.......
....yeah.....

WHY JOSS WHY?!

To be honest I should have seen the ending coming. It's completely Joss and didn't think of anything but what a great series this is forgetting that this is Joss; and he should be ashamed at putting me through these emotions!!!

If you have seen this act then you know what I'm talking about, but it definitely is a happy ending of sorts. Dr. Horrible did get exactly what he wanted. Even in the music you hear the harmonious choir in the background repeat "Everything you ever..." Meaning, he got what he wanted, but not what he needed.

That being said, I thought the second act was darker than the first, well the third act takes the cake! The music, the comedy, everything!

It still has classic Joss funny moments, but we really see a journey end with these characters, and this opened up a lot of possibilities for sequel material. Which is what Joss likes to do. Man, I would love to sit in a room with him for like a year and just pick his brain. But then again being in a room with him for a year would mean I would have to kidnap Joss, and that's just not a good idea, unless I was Dr. Horrible.

Which gets me thinking, hey does Joss need a Johnny Snow? I could pull that off perfectly! I mean come on, albino Superhero named Johnny Snow! Someone please get me in touch with Joss so I could pitch that to him!

At any rate, this has been a fantastic series that I am so glad I was able to participate in watching as an early adopter. I felt I came into the Whedonverse late in the game when I caught Firefly on DVD, then Serenity, then went back to watch Buffy. But this feels great that I could be a part of the audience that is Dr. Horrible, and thank you Joss and team for an amazing web series.

I cannot say anything bad about this at all. Really top notch storytelling, production, music, comedy, performances, everything.

I already bought all three Acts from iTunes, and I will definitely buy the soundtrack, and the DVD, and the T-Shirts(when Jinx gets more in, apparently they sold out). I will do whatever it takes to help make this series not only a hit, but fiscally as well. I want this web series to prove to the Entertainment Industry that we on the web are a viable audience, and with great talent and creativity, independent media will thrive and take the industry by force.

Today it feels good to be on the web.

Anyway, that's it for Act 1 and 2 and 3. I hope you enjoy these reviews. Please pass this along to anyone of your friends. I would love to hear what you think of the series.

So please comment below.

So as always I remain obediently yours.

Steve "Snowball" Saylor