Ok, many of us have seen Dr. Horrible. Some even saw it of their own volition, as opposed to me forcing them. What did you think? Particularly of the ending. Spoilers after the jump.
The ending was obviously meant to be a shock. But we enter Joss Whedon’s world at our peril, and after repeat viewings the ending just seems right…
Billy slowly descends into evil, so that by the end of Act II two things are certain: Billy is going to kill Capt. Hammer, and it’s not going to be easy for him.
At first I thought it might be a cop-out to have the ending accomplished by an accident. Billy becomes a super-villain, gets into the Evil League of Evil, and loses Penny – all accidentally. But I think it’s appropriate given his naivete – all the characters naivete, actually. Penny is naively idealistic, incapable of seeing Capt. Hammer’s own shallowness. Billy is definitely naive – he wants to save the world, but doesn’t know how. And Capt. Hammer, despite his edge of evil menace, has apparently never slept with a woman twice or felt pain.
The entire movie shows Billy / Dr. Horrible struggling with a lack of resolve, something that movies can rarely portray compellingly. At the end the ascended Dr. Horrible is a tortured, but presumably more purposeful character. By making the loss of innocence the result of an accident (but still enough culpability for Dr. Horrible to have epic angst) sympathy is maintained. At first it was difficult to imagine what would happen in a sequel, but now I want to see how Dr. Horrible deals, and what he does next. Seriously, I want a sequels.
I want sequels, too. And I actually think Joss Whedon could pull it off. (Despite his atheism.)
I need some disagreement.
Not gonna get any here, either.
“I demand constant infusions of pop culture and bloggers blogging about pop culture!!!”
Perhaps a little surprised, but eminently pleased, she agreed with him entirely.
Dr. Horrible : Evil League of Evil
Joss : Evil Guild of Writers
Forced to choose between his Career Destiny and The Woman He Loves, Joss sells out, Murders Buffy (by accident, of course), and retires to Beverly Hills so he may drink Fuzzy Navels with Ted Turner.
QED?