Review of Act III of Dr. Horrible.
It's from Television Without Pity. Also, this one from Jim Treacher at Blowing Smoke the Movie. And Wizbang, TV Squad and IGN.com as well. Also, Time magazine
[ edited by speechlady on 2008-07-21 18:32 ]
July 19 2008
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And I thank them for not taking the "My Fair Lady" approach. (Originally, Eliza never returned and it ended with Prof. Higgin's song alone, but despite all that she had said about her future with the other guy, they rewrote the ending to make her come back without sense and people ate it up... they dumbed it down. I'm glad they didn't do that with Dr. H.)
TheGamut | July 19, 06:13 CET
It all just proves that everything is not fun and games, and that even silly (not insignificant kind of silly, but goofy silly) can still be dramatic and impactful.
Can we get a commentary track for all of these acts?
And can I get the Dr. Horrible opening theme as a ringtone? Anyone? Anyone?
the ninja report | July 19, 07:08 CET
littlexander | July 19, 07:13 CET
***crickets chirping pretty loudly*** it must be warm out.
I guess it's just me then.
RavenU | July 19, 07:21 CET
chance | July 19, 07:58 CET
joss and co. had the talent and grace to make me feel like they were giving me everything they had in acts i and ii, only to make both feel like pale foreshadowing with the third.
don't worry, captain hammer will save us.
sleeper | July 19, 08:12 CET
I have to say, I'm not terribly in love with the ending. I had been hoping that Penny would see Dr. Horrible as an evil villain, just as DrH kept hoping, and then been totally unimpressed by it. Although, admittedly, they both accomplish the end of making him successful as a villain, but not getting what he really wants (he just wants to be loved!).
I hope a hypothetical sequel doesn't dwell too much on the "villain succeeds but at a cost" angle. A sequel shouldn't be an epilogue, and we already have Mark Waid's Empire. And Dr. Horrible can't become a real, non-low-rent supervillain!
[ edited by rufustfyrfly on 2008-07-19 17:41 ]
[ edited by rufustfyrfly on 2008-07-19 17:42 ]
rufustfyrfly | July 19, 08:39 CET
Loved the cameos by Drew Goddard, Doug Petrie, David Fury and Marti Noxon. Is the Dave Tratchenberg with a producer credit of any relation to Michelle?
Also, Bad Horse is currently vying for the place of "my favourite supervillain evarrrr" against Luthor.
Liam Mars | July 19, 09:02 CET
TheGamut | July 19, 15:13 CET
So you are happy that they were true to the source material?
(scratches head and looks quizzical for which I am sure there is a combination of punctuation marks...)
newcj | July 19, 09:17 CET
WCityMike | July 19, 09:21 CET
[ edited by napua on 2008-07-19 18:39 ]
fanbuoyant | July 19, 09:38 CET
[ edited by quantumac on 2008-07-19 21:29 ]
[ edited by quantumac on 2008-07-19 21:31 ]
quantumac | July 19, 12:27 CET
WilliamTheB | July 19, 12:43 CET
Tonya J | July 19, 13:21 CET
Not to mention Giles (not ultimately fatal, but still!).
But nevermind the main character chest wound deaths--how about the hundreds and hundreds of staked vampires?
rufustfyrfly | July 19, 14:04 CET
Joss says there'll be two commentary tracks on the DVD, one of them musical. You'll just have to be pateent. :)
ETA: Hee, I don't know what pateent means but hopefully it's similar to patient. ;)
[ edited by cabri on 2008-07-19 23:24 ]
cabri | July 19, 14:24 CET
AuntArlene | July 19, 16:56 CET
RollingInKittens | July 19, 17:10 CET
The man is a monster, clearly. ;)
Grr. Argh.
Haunt | July 19, 17:10 CET
Cap.Hammer's from canada he's used to to the ("F@#$ing cold")...
myspace.com/hostilebrowncoat
Hostile17's back | July 19, 17:16 CET
It stops time, not makes things cold.
@theonetruebix | July 19, 17:18 CET
Ah, he did, cabri? Cool. I was just thinking that apart from the musical commentary, I'd also like a regular commentary track on this with probably some more insight. Still looking forward to the musical one as well, though. I have no idea how that'll work out, in practice. Will it feature songs we'll end up loving, or will it be more of a gimmick? Guess we'll have to wait and see. Being 'pateent' is hard ;)
GVH | July 19, 17:31 CET
[ edited by spikeangellover on 2008-07-20 02:34 ]
spikeangellover | July 19, 17:34 CET
GVH | July 19, 17:38 CET
Meanwhile, in case people haven't seen them, and just for the record, taken from iTunes these are the loglines for each act, in order.
@theonetruebix | July 19, 17:39 CET
Deleted rest of very long post as I mistakenly posted here instead of thread I'd intended to post in. Oops and apologies.
[ edited by Shapenew on 2008-07-20 04:04 ]
Shapenew | July 19, 17:50 CET
RanvenU -
My first reaction was, "no, I want the actors". But then it occurred to me - why not both? Dr. Horrible will probably never have a big special effects budget, so use Robot Chicken style animation for those parts. I think it's a great idea!witchlover | July 19, 18:27 CET
Shapenew, I agree that for Jonathan and Andrew, the situation was different. I'm a bit too tired (heading off for sleep soon, it's 5:30 in the morning here ;)) to make a coherent case right now, but I do feel that there's a difference between how Andrew and Jonathan got caught up in everything and the things they did, and what Billy/Dr. Horrible went through here, but I can't quite put my finger on it right now. I still feel that the perfect Buffyverse parallel is Faith.
Also: you're replying to something I said on that other Act III thread, heh :). This one isn't so large at only 27 comments ;)
Witchlover: I'm not sure about that. I'd have to rewatch the scene, but I think there was actual grief at Penny's death there. He was still a tool, but he did redeem himself somewhat during Act III.
GVH | July 19, 18:28 CET
Damn and wow
hbojo | July 19, 18:35 CET
After Act III, somebody quipped rather nicely that Joss has a PhD in Horribleness.
AlanD | July 19, 18:38 CET
Egads.
@theonetruebix | July 19, 18:52 CET
A sing along commentary for the audience to sing while watching the blog is a cool idea,(a la Rocky Horror Picture Show, except of course, it being sung), but not both singing of the commentary and the other half of the audience singing along with the songs. It'd be horribly chaotic. (See. Did it again.)
NYPinTA | July 19, 18:58 CET
NYPinTA | July 19, 18:58 CET
Shapenew | July 19, 19:07 CET
http://au.tv.ign.com/articles/892/892250p1.html
zillah | July 19, 20:38 CET
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmalion_%28play%29
TheGamut | July 19, 22:59 CET
Simon | July 20, 03:33 CET
Lioness | July 20, 04:57 CET
GVH | July 20, 05:08 CET
MysticSlug | July 20, 05:34 CET
"... in my [or maybe "the"] heart" ETA: Nope, pretty sure it's "my"
"... it went in her and she died"
Seems to be like he's actually grieving the loss and not just about feeling pain. He's certainly still a tool, but he's much more 'human' now than he was before. I see that as change.
ETA: typo
ETA-the-sequel: wait, that's wrong. I didn't add a typo, I removed one :p
[ edited by GVH on 2008-07-20 14:44 ]
[ edited by GVH on 2008-07-20 14:45 ]
GVH | July 20, 05:44 CET
I also found it very predictable.
NPH did a fantastic job on the final number!
But yeah...totally predictable Joss.
I personally assumed this was going to happen, and thoroughly enjoyed acts 1 and 2, and went in to 3 prepared for it and enjoying the ride until then.
But I'm sure it was a total shock for non-Joss initiated! I bet they though he would be saved from his evil ways by the love of his life. Or go evil and she leaves him. Which did sort of happen. But not in the way that a non-Joss initiated would have expected.
Just my two cents.
Irishrose | July 20, 07:24 CET
I wouldn't say whedonesque if filled with many "non-Joss initiated", Irishrose ;). To a lot of us, it certainly did come as a shock. I for one, contemplated the possibility, but thought the tone of Acts I & II were wrong for it (and most of the reviews went on about the funny and not the drama, etc.), so I 'fell for it again' as did many others here. And even the people who did see it coming, were still hit by the very emotional last few minutes regardless. Not everyone, sure, but a lot of us, judging from the reaction in The Other Thread :). So I guess what I'm saying is: you can leave the 'for non-Joss initiated' part off there ;)
GVH | July 20, 07:40 CET
Expecting the worse and hoping for the best.
Boy he's great.
whedon is GOD | July 20, 07:51 CET
That's what Joss always does, and what always kills me is not necessarily the deaths themselves, but the reactions and aftermath of the deaths. And in one thread or another someone else said it but I'm agreeing.
What really crushed me and what made it different than anything he did before (as the overall story) was how it destroyed both the hero and the villain, and the utter lack of uplifting hope at the end.
[ edited by pat32082 on 2008-07-20 17:10 ]
pat32082 | July 20, 08:06 CET
But that doesn't negate the fact that the death itself can be - and was for most - shocking in itself, obviously :)
GVH | July 20, 08:11 CET
The text is full of errors (they got the names of Felicia and Maurissa wrong, say that Dr. Horrible was released on YouTube and imply that Captain Hammer is one of Bad Horse' henchmen, to name a few), but apart from that, they seem to like it.
Salocin | July 24, 14:55 CET