I was a little skeptical about how the production would turn out. The mini-show came out on the internet in July of 2008, when the writers were on strike, and it was a mega-hit at the time. I have the music and the DVD, and I considered getting some goggles as well to look ready for the show but, unfortunately, there wasn't enough time (or money) for that. So, we went in, hoping that the actors would be able to pull off Nathan Fillion's "Captain Hammer," Neal Patrick Harris' "Dr. Horrible," and Felicia Day's "Penny."
It went a lot better than expected! The guy who played Dr. Horrible was pretty good and his singing was decent, but I did miss Neal Patrick Harris' little quirks that he put into the character. The music was a little wacko during the show, so he was able to pull off the song without the music for a couple of seconds. My favorite song of his was definitely "Freeze Ray" because all of the people pretending to be in the laundry mat kept pulling out odd articles of clothing, such as a pair of booty shorts with "juicy" written on the back and a bright pink thong. He also was able to pull of a little reaction that Neal Patrick Harris had forgotten to pull off in the original, which impressed me because I knew they had watched the extras on the DVD!! I was, however, very disappointed when he didn't pull out my favorite line in the entire first act:
The guy who played Captain Hammer, on the other hand, had the role down pat. The entire audience cheered when he rode in singing, "A maaaan's gotta a do what a maaaan's gotta do... Seeeems destiny end with meeee saving you." He knew just when to look arrogant and how to switch from that to the sweetest expression he could muster when Penny looked at him. Nathan Fillion would have been proud. He also had two hysterical moments, one that was meant to be funny and the other one that was an accident. The first was when he looked Dr. Horrible in the face and said, without smiling (props for this): "The hammer... is my penis." The audience cheered and laughed and, somehow, he was able to keep a straight face. The second was at the end of the show. There were these people dressed all in black like ninjas who did little prop changes while the actors were on stage and one was hiding in the corner at the end of the show. As Captain Hammer yells, "Mommy! Someone maternal!" he pushed a podium off stage and, in the same whiny, crying voice, says, "waaaaaah.... waaaatch ouuuut niiinjaaaa..." Yea... you would have had to have been there. It was so funny, though, that it took Dr. Horrible a couple of seconds to recover and continue with the show. (I love Nathan Fillion's grin in this picture...)
The girl who played Penny threw me off at first, mainly because they had deviated from her stereotype as the skinny girl with red hair that the beautiful Felicia Day is; however, I really liked that looks wasn't a concern. She had a really great singing voice, especially for "Penny's Song." She especially pulled off the awkwardness between Captain Hammer and herself pretty well. This picture below is Penny and Dr. Horrible in his song, "Freeze Ray."
All in all, the show was a really good interpretation. It did make me want to come home and immediately listen to the soundtrack with the voices of Neal Patrick Harris, Felicia Day, and Nathan Fillion.
So, if you haven't seen this, I would recommend Netflix-ing it or something. It's only 45 minutes long but it is a beautifully planned plot line. Joss Whedon was able to give the characters distinct personalities and the actors were able to make those personalities shine. And, if you're not going to see it, at least watch this clip and tell me what you think:
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