Despite its low-budget roots, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog really delivers the goods when it comes to offering a humorous, yet strangely moving, look at the life and times of the film’s titular villain. Produced and directed by Joss Whedon, creator of fan favorite shows like Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dr. Horrible encapsulates Whedon’s trademark mix of humor and drama.

The story for the film is very much like it sounds from its title. Dr. Horrible (Neal Patrick Harris), a villainous mad scientist attempting to make it into the big leagues, uses his internet video blog to document his day-to-day evil deeds and stay in touch with his fans. When not bragging about his newest evil plot, he’s either railing against his archnemisis, Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion), or mooning over the girl at local laundry (Felicia Day). As the film opens, Dr. Horrible is finally getting his big break when he receives an invitation from the ELE (Evil League of Evil) which is run by none other than Bad Horse, The Thoroughbred of Sin.

Yes, the story for Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is incredibly ridicules at times, but that’s what makes it so awesome. Well that, and the totally awesome musical numbers. Seriously, I loved the music for this film. Despite its lack of any sort of fancy special effects or even a decent budget, this movie is everything that I had hoped the rather disappointing Repo! A Genetic Opera would be. In fact, my only disappointment was that it was over so quickly with no sequel in sight :(

Although the film can be found for free on the internet via places like Hulu, I highly recommend getting the DVD that is packed with some great extras. Not only does it include two commentary soundtracks, one of which is a musical as well (!), but it also contains a bunch of hilarious fan-produced musical ELE application videos. These videos are a riot to watch and I’m hoping that some of these fan produced songs will be included on the Dr. Horrible soundtrack, or at least made available to the public in some shape or form.

All in all, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is a short, but sweet musical that more than makes up for its low budget roots by being both delightful charming and musically memorable.

Bottom Line:
If you’re looking for a fun little musical or you’re a big Joss Whedon fan, you can’t go wrong with Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Watch it for free online if you must, but the DVD release is absolutely the best way to go with its array of great extras.

Final Score: 5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by: LC1
Review Format: DVD