What Comic-Con would be complete without a rendition of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog, the live, crazy collage-version of anarchic show tunes sung by Joss Whedon regulars Nathan Fillion and Maurissa Tancharoen? Well, a year ago, it seemed little other than a novelty, but 2010 sees the cult Internet hit becoming a regular event here at SDCC. I’m sure it’ll be better next year when a mother isn’t changing her newborn’s big poopy diaper right next to me, which in this case tended to accentuate the ‘horror’ part of it all. Awesome.
If you couldn’t get in to RiffTrax, the MST3K spin-off at Comic-Con, Dr. Horrible is the next closest thing to such fare as Manos: Hands of Fate and a midnight viewing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The movie’s got some gems in it — namely NPH’s sincerity in playing part affable, earnest citizen and part maniacal scientist with a PhD in Horribleness. I’m re-watching episodes of Firefly, and slowly entering back into the World of Whedon — but I had a feeling Nathan Fillion would be a riot as the manhood-obsessed Captain Hammer, who’s excellent at pummeling scrawny Dr. Horrible every chance he gets. The music is bad, which makes it all the more endearing. It’s like watching something between an Ed Wood movie and something obviously unmistakably Joss Whedon.
But to be honest, it wasn’t nearly as fun as I expected. Where it lost me was the audience participation thing — it’s not fun when all our quips and insults and stuff are pre-prepared and printed out neatly in a booklet! Can you imagine getting shit like that at a midnight movie screening of Evil Dead? Granted one’s clearly had more longevity, but the plain and simple truth is that even if our retorts aren’t witty, we can at least own responsibility for them. It’s much more fun when you come up with your own, or as with Rocky Horror, what those other semi-professional actors volunteer to shout out loud. The movie itself, however, was a lot more fun than I thought it would be, if for no other reason than its uber low-budget take on a super villain you actually do feel sorry for (it’s helpful that the title character is portrayed by Neil Patrick Harris), and that superhero who’s a huge douchebag. If you get time, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog makes for a fun bonding experience at Comic-Con, especially if you’re a newbie. Or if you’re hoping for something better than 2 and a Half Men.
Words by Jeff Nau, Photos by Dustin Downing
