What all blogs should be like. Neil Patrick Harris is hit or miss for me. I think he's always at his best when his performances have certain musical aspects, so I'm quite satisfied with his efforts in this fine little miniseries.
The first act starts strongly with Dr. Horrible being his non-famous self having a crush on a girl he sees at the laundromat, but being too shy to talk to her. No worries though, he's just a few weeks away from real audible connection. At the end of it, we get to know Horrible's opponent Captain Hammer, as testosterone-filled as unlikable, who puts in a nice duet with Penny, Horrible's crush. On a side-note, Simon Helberg plays the friend to a guy crushing on a girl named Penny. I've heard that one before.
Second act was the highlight of the whole thing. It starts right away with a beautiful (non-)duet of Horrible and Penny and resembles a lot Whedon's spectacular Buffy episode "Once more with Feeling". Thumbs up also for "I ordered one frozen yogurt and they gave me 2" Penny grows closer to both guys and NPH ends the act with a powerful "Brand new day".
Unfortunately the level sinks a bit in the last act. As goofy as the whole song was, the chorus from "Everyone's a Hero in their own way" really stays in your head. Also, this act is the first time where Dr. Horrible really seems like a villain. Admittedly the first two acts he seemed more like a comic-con nerd. With this change in character, also the ending was completely not what you expected.
Nonetheless, I'd recommend it. I really hope Neil Patrick Harris can score a role à la Jackman's Valjean in the next years. He really has it all to give one of the most impressive musical performances of the 21st century.
The first act starts strongly with Dr. Horrible being his non-famous self having a crush on a girl he sees at the laundromat, but being too shy to talk to her. No worries though, he's just a few weeks away from real audible connection. At the end of it, we get to know Horrible's opponent Captain Hammer, as testosterone-filled as unlikable, who puts in a nice duet with Penny, Horrible's crush. On a side-note, Simon Helberg plays the friend to a guy crushing on a girl named Penny. I've heard that one before.
Second act was the highlight of the whole thing. It starts right away with a beautiful (non-)duet of Horrible and Penny and resembles a lot Whedon's spectacular Buffy episode "Once more with Feeling". Thumbs up also for "I ordered one frozen yogurt and they gave me 2" Penny grows closer to both guys and NPH ends the act with a powerful "Brand new day".
Unfortunately the level sinks a bit in the last act. As goofy as the whole song was, the chorus from "Everyone's a Hero in their own way" really stays in your head. Also, this act is the first time where Dr. Horrible really seems like a villain. Admittedly the first two acts he seemed more like a comic-con nerd. With this change in character, also the ending was completely not what you expected.
Nonetheless, I'd recommend it. I really hope Neil Patrick Harris can score a role à la Jackman's Valjean in the next years. He really has it all to give one of the most impressive musical performances of the 21st century.