Commentary The Musical

Ok, maybe this is cheating but who cares, it's my website and my reviews and I want to do this so suck it up. Today's review, the commentary of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Why would I do a review on a commentary track? Well this isn't just any commentary track. It's a musical all its own! How amazing is that?

The second song is all about the WGA strike of 2007, something that shook the industry and inspired Joss Whedon to make this. In-between the songs the actors and writers play exaggerated versions of themselves. Like when the groupie, not Maurissa Tancharoen but the other one, paid Joss Whedon $10 to sing a solo. What was the solo about? Paying $10 to get to sing a solo. It was so meta. And it wasn't really a solo because Nathan Fillion jumped in on it after paying Joss $15. Who comes up with this stuff?

Nathan follows it up with another song, this one about how he is better than Neil Patrick Harris. I mean i love Nathan Fillion but come on. That's a hard one. Felicia jumps in with her own song about art, or about how sexy Nathan is, or her show the guild. She's all over the place.

Zack raps, what? Zack Whedon raps his song. I like it. But as cool as his rap is, and it is cool, after I finish talking about the Commentary I'm going to review the Dr. Horrible comic book he wrote, that's right there is a comic book. Say what! OK back to the commentary, he spends his whole song trying to act like he is all hard and thug but his brother Jed keeps point holes in all of his stories. It's so funny and really reminds me of Eminem. Maybe Zack is the next Slim Shady, we can only hope.

Simon Helberg, of Big Bang Theory fame who plays Moist on the movie drops by to sing a song for his character that was cut out. It's so corny, and you guys know me, I love corny shit, it's just how I am, don't judge me. Please don't judge me, I just want to be liked.

Ninja ropes, I'm just going to leave this here. Words can't describe.

Next up the groupies sing. Telling us what the movie is really about, namely them. I mean if you have seen the film you can't think it's about anyone other than the groupies. They really carry the film and give it the heart that it needed to elevated it to the next level.

They ask Maurissa why she didn't play the part of Penny and she answers simply because she is Asian. She sings about how Asian people can't get roles that aren't just stereotyping. It leads into Joss's song. Oh shit son the man himself sings! He sings about how it feels to be a film maker. A story telling. How no one appreciates what they do and just tear into it as if they are entitled to the story, as if the artist who created have no feelings.

After his song everything falls apart and everyone leaves, but for NPH who stays to sing his own solo. He sings about how great he is. He can do the whole show himself, I mean he is NPH. He starts to lose it at the end, his isolation drives him crazy. It's so funny, he plays crazy so well. As amazing as Dr. Horrible is the Commentary is almost even better.

Just as NPH is about to cry everyone comes back and patches things up just in time to say goodbye. Aw isn't that sweet!

Ok so now for the review on the comic book written by Zack Whedon because why not? The intro alone is worth the price of the book. It is a email convo between Jed, Maurissa and Joss talking about writing an intro to the book with special guest Nathan FIllion just for kicks. It's full of laughs. No really, it is.

First up we have Captain Hammer: Be Like Me. It's basically a PSA from Captain Hammer telling people that super villains are everywhere. The nerdy emos and the smart people. Report them all to the police because otherwise you will become their sidekick and end in jail with some big guy who likes you. Captain Hammer is a tool, but we love him.

The Second story is all about Moist, called Moist: Humidity Rising. This is the origin story of the B character that we all needed. As a young child he was dry, too dry. His dad wanting to help got him a radioactive humidifier that turned him into Moist. A man so pathetic that even sex hotlines hang up on him. Poor sap. He sees Dr. Horrible get beat up and is inspired to help him. That shows you what kind of guy he is. He is inspired by people who get beat up, not the ones who win the fights. Go figure.

Next: Penny: Keep your Head up. Penny does too much. Way too much. She goes out of her way to try and help everybody all the time. At the expense of herself. She goes on a date with a guy so nerdy he makes me look cool, hey am I cool? Who knows. Anyways, she swears off guys, did she sees Dr. Horrible!

The Evil League of Evil. Where the Horse is king. And he can talk, something that the rest of the ELE doesn't seem to know till the end. Johnny Storm tries to stop them from killing the town by poisoning the water supply while the heroes are gone but he has to freeze the water to do it. He is now seen as a villain by everyone. Poor sap.

Last up, Doctor Horrible. It explains why he was in line in the other stories and sets up the movie nicely. It shows how he grew up loving a mad scientist super villain who killed a super strong hero and wanted to be just like him. The boy needed better role models.

The graphic novel collected all of these short stories setting the stage for the film. They are an incredible read that adds a great deal of depth to the world. Any fan of the film should check it out.