Joss Whedon is possibly the most beloved television creator/producer/writer of our time. It’s obvious that I have a man-crush on him. I even met him once at a comic shop while he was perusing for stuff. Coincidentally, I got him to sign a copy of my Astonishing X-Men, but I totally forgot to get something for my mother who is also a huge, huge fan. She was peeved. Why do I mention this? Basically I wish to acknowledge my bias when going into see anything new he creates. However, trust me when I say I’ve removed myself from that bias as much as possible to review this stellar piece of entertainment for you all. If you haven’t seen it, stop reading now and do so, even if you’re not a fan of Joss. This review is full of omgspoilerz. And if you wish to know more, check out my preview here.

Act I introduces us to Doctor Horrible, the doctor with a PHD in Horribleness. He is dressed in a white Frankenstein outfit with engineer goggles above his brow. He’s sitting in front of the camera doing a video blog, taking emails, and reviewing recent events in his life. He receives an email inquiring about a woman that Dr. Horrible vaguely references on occasion. Then the real show starts. We get our first song in a laundromat, which introduces Dr. Horrible’s love interest and obsession, Penny. She’s seems nice and is very girl-next-door pretty.

Dr. Horrible’s buddy, Moist (known for his overactive sweat glands), interrupts the song with real mail. Dr. Horrible has received a letter from Bad Horse, the leader of the Evil League of Evil (read by song through his cowboy henchmen). Dr. Horrible’s entry into the E.L.E is pending and he must prove himself. So starts his next diabolical scheme - a Wonderflonium heist. Wonderflonium is the final resource for his Freeze Ray.

The heist begins with Dr. Horrible - dressed as his secret identity, Billy - tossing a device onto the van which will soon carry the Wonderflonium. Quickly, he’s interrupted by Penny, who’s on the street getting signatures for a building for the homeless. Perfect timing for the Doctor, this being his first interaction with Penny, but in the middle of a very important heist. The whole interaction is pretty funny as he tries to act cool, but at the same time, he’s completely preoccupied. In the end, he signs, and she goes away. Which means it’s time to change costumes and get down to business.

As Doctor Horrible is remotely controlling the van with the Wonderflonium inside, Captain Hammer comes to save the day (and take over the song about what a man’s gotta do). Hammer damages the device and hops off the van, but in the process puts everyone in danger, as it does not stop the van, but rather makes it uncontrollable. This is when you get a taste of what kind of skeeze Captain Hammer is, as he’s more preoccupied with looking the hero and reaping benefits than being the hero.

The van continues to barrell down the streets. Penny is in its path. Dr. Horrible is freaking out trying to stop it with his remote. Suddenly, Captain Hammer jumps out of the middle of nowhere, pushes Penny into a bunch of garbage, and waits for the van, arms extended. Dr. Horrible’s device regains enough function to stop it at the last second. Captain Hammer obviously takes credit for it all, and it works on Penny like a charm. Dr. Horrible can’t believe his eyes or ears, but a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. So, he takes the Wonderflonium and labels the entire situation, “BALLS.”

The world is a mess, and I just… need to rule it.

Act II jumps right into the lamentation of Dr. Horrible as he follows Penny and Captain Hammer around on a date without their knowledge. It’s pretty creepy, but you get a sense of the very shallow and cliche experiences these two characters are having, even if Penny seems to be deluding herself with stars in her eyes. It’s obvious that Dr. Hammer is in it as a conquest.

Back at the laundromat, Billy hangs out with Penny. They share some frozen yogurt. He finds out that Penny is going to continue seeing Captain Hammer. This crushes him.

Sometimes there’s a third, even deeper level, and that one is the same as the top surface one… like with pie!

Cut to later, and Dr. H is doing another blog. There’s a major question about his blog. Why has he not been arrested, if his face, motives, and plans are plastered on the internet? We get a bit of the answer. The police and superheroes do watch his blog and foil his plans. However, in this universe it seems that heroes and villains aren’t like normal people at all and the law only works on a physical sense, instead of a social/financial/political sense that you’d get in our world. It also seems that in order to hide your secret identity, all you have to do is put on a pair of goggles. Dr. Horrible’s plans to use the Freeze Ray on the Mayor are averted and Bad Horse changes the guidelines for successful entry into the E.L.E. Now he must kill.

At the Laundromat again, Billy discusses his dilemma (in the vaguest way) with Penny over frozen yogurt. Billy beats himself up, and Penny comes back with a song to lift his spirits. We get our first intimate moment between the two, but it’s far from close, as the subject quickly turns to Captain Hammer and how he’s probably going to stop by the laundromat.

Oh. Goodness. Look at my wrist. I gotta go.

Billy tries desperately to drop everything and leave, but fails on his way out the door. Captain Hammer has arrived. Penny introduces the two and Hammer seems oblivious to Billy as he tells Penny that the homeless will get a new home. Thanks to him, of course. Penny’s delighted and steps aside to take care of her laundry. Hammer recognizes Dr. Horrible and things turn awkward. Dr. Horrible’s crush is evident, which spurs Captain Hammer to take what Horrible wants, but not without a half dozen sexual innuendos.

The Hammer is my penis.

Dr. Horrible recollects everything terrible Captain Hammer has done to him. Now, Hammer wishes to take Penny away from him? Everything is clear and Dr. Horrible is entering a brand new day. Captain Hammer must die.

Act III starts with Dr. Horrible working in his lab. We get to see what the public thinks about Captain Hammer. They all love him of course and are looking forward to the press conference about the Hammer sponsored homeless shelter. We’re introduced to a group of fans, two females and one very effeminate male, who are really funny and creepily in love with Captain Hammer. Finally, we see Dr. Horrible change his Stun Ray into a Death Ray, via a piece of tape.

At the press event, Captain Hammer is being his usually douchy self, as he is overly-praised for helping the homeless. Somehow it always comes back to him. There’s even a statue made of him waiting to be revealed. He starts a pseudo condescending, but totally silly, diatribe that leads into a song about being a hero. Penny can’t handle it and slips off the stage. Near his climactic finish, Dr. Horrible unveils himself from where the statue was to be, freezes Captain Hammer with his Freeze Ray, and laughs in one of the best villainous laughs in the history of the small screen.

Horrible sings about Hammer’s and society’s visage slipping, and he’s here to push it just a little more. He wants change, not only of the status quo, but he wishes to reap shallow rewards like most villains - money, fame, and women… or his his case, one woman. So, he pulls out his Death Ray and shoots wildly at the ceiling, frightening the people away and making his way towards Captain Hammer. Face to face, Horrible is about to pull the trigger, but his Freeze Ray shuts down unexpectedly. Of course, Hammer wakes and punches Dr. Horrible so hard that he drops and damages his Death Ray. Then, Hammer finishes the last word of his song before he was frozen (which is a really funny touch that I didn’t understand up till the third viewing). He picks up the Death Ray and heads over to the injured Dr. Horrible and aims. Horrible tries to warn Hammer about the now damaged and malfunctioning Death Ray, but it’s too late. He pulls the trigger and it explodes in his face sending shrapnel everywhere.

Captain Hammer is squirming on the ground, crying for his mommy, but visibly unharmed with no scratches, even on his clothes. He gets up and runs away like a 5 year old that just fell out of a tree, crying more out of embarrassment and feeling pain for the first time, than actually being mortally wounded. Dr. Horrible is also untouched. He picks himself off the ground and takes in his newly found victory. But it is quickly lost as he finds Penny lying on the ground against the wall. She has shrapnel in her chest and is on the verge of death. Horrible runs to her. Nearly weeping, he doesn’t know what to do. She recognizes him as Billy and in her dying breath tells him not to worry, because “Captain Hammer will save us.” Horrible places Penny’s body on a stretcher.

Dr. Horrible has accomplished his goal. He has defeated Captain Hammer, but not without great sacrifice. Penny’s death is seen as his fault, but to Dr. Horrible’s gain he’s allowed into the Evil League of Evil. We see his birth as a true supervillain. There’s a montage of newspapers condemning him; a bank robbery with bored, sad Dr. Horrible and fumbling Moist; Captain Hammer is in therapy, while his old fans are now Horrible’s fans; people greet and congratulate Dr. Horrible at a party in his laboratory. Finally a meeting with the Evil League of Evil. He dresses himself in a blood red version of his old costume. Doors open and we get our first look at the League and the leader, Bad Horse, who is an actual horse. The show ends with a shot of Billy looking in the camera, all alone, somberly stating “I won’t feel… a thing.” The End.

Whedon’s story is a comedic tragedy. It resonates with humor throughout, but is ultimately sad in the end. There is a tonal shift from the first two acts to the last one, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. If you compare this to other things he’s done, Whedon has a tendency to set many of his stories up exactly like this. Also, it’s not as if it’s all sunshine in the first two acts. The beginning of Act 2 is very dark, even if it becomes light very shortly afterwards.

Neil Patrick Harris makes this project shine. I’ve always liked him. I thought he was neat on Starship Troopers, and he is pretty much the only reason I ever watch How I Met Your Mother. His role in this, however, has solidified him as one of my favorite comedic actors and it’s quite surprising how nuanced and subtle he can be.

I’m not a big fan of Felicia Day’s singing voice. Don’t get me wrong, I think she’s a fine actress and absolutely adorable, but her voice is a bit too weak in areas, even for her sweet, gentle character.

Nathan Fillion is perfect in his role as the corporate tool, Captain Hammer. He brings a certain Mal cockiness and magnifies it 100%. The only thing I wish is that his song in the third act had been cut in half.

The music in this is fantastic. It’s very catchy and there’s a great variety of different styles with inclusion of many instruments. The more you listen to it, the better it gets. The great thing about each act is that they always conclude with the best song for their act and each act, I feel, gets progressively better leading to the climactic song (and my personal favorite).

My favorite part of this three act show is that while it may be the birth of a true supervillain, it’s more tragic, more touching, and more relatable than nearly all superhero origins. While Dr. Horrible is technically a villain, he’s far more heroic than Captain Hammer. He may have his priorities out of whack on occasion, but no hero is ever perfect.

A question I keep hearing is, “Do we need any more episodes following Dr. Horrible?” Well, no. I don’t think we technically need it, but do I want it? Yes, but this is definitely a project that is whole and unto itself. There’s no need to elaborate or bleed the stone dry, but if Joss can find a way to entertain us with these characters again without it seeming repetitive or trite, then count me in. I mean, how cool would it be to see Bad Horse in action?

If you haven’t seen it all yet and you can’t wait for a physical copy, I’d definitely recommend getting the “Season Pass” on iTunes and save yourself a couple bucks in the process. Please don’t pirate this, lest ye wish to hear the terrifying whinny of the Thorough Bred of Sin.