There's no other way to put it. I normally hate movies; I find that the format of a movie is too restricting and concrete to tell a worthwhile story. In particular, movie musicals bother me, because they so often tell stories suited only for a stage.
That's not the case here. This is probably the best movie I've ever seen, certainly the best movie musical. It's wonderfully acted (Neil Patrick Harris, is it possible for me to love you more?), well-written, and while the special effects can be a bit simplistic, they're always appropriate. The style of the songs isn't precisely Broadway, because it isn't precisely anything; all they really concern themselves with is whether or not they're appropriate to the storytelling. That, along with the fact that the entire thing is surprisingly grounded in reality, means that this couldn't have been a TV show or a stage show, it had to be a movie. The medium was appropriate, as were the songs.
But the best part is how grounded in reality it is. This is essentially a deconstruction of the typical superhero movie, of Black And White Morality. Dr. Horrible isn't insane, he isn't bent on world destruction, he's simply evil because Evil Pays Better. But this isn't like Wicked, which I found to be more of a switch between who was the villain and who was the protagonist than true Gray And Grey Morality. This is true Gray and Grey, in the style of Into The Woods. Even though Dr. Horrible isn't insane or bent on world destruction he's still a bad guy, working towards destruction. And even though Captain Hammer is an asshole, he's still saving people. This is a story of a bunch of different people working towards different goals; the words 'good' and 'evil' hardly apply to them. This is explored completely, particularly towards the ending. (And speaking of which, that ending… talk about a Tearjerker.)
As I said, this is one of the best movies I've ever seen, and I can't recommend it enough. There is literally no reason not to watch it, and more reasons to watch it than there are lines. If you want great acting, wonderful songs and performing, genuine moral ambiguity, well-rendered characters that you connect to, brisk plotting, hilarious jokes, lots of emotion, and so much more, there's not a movie in the world that works better than this.
Simply Amazing
There's no other way to put it. I normally hate movies; I find that the format of a movie is too restricting and concrete to tell a worthwhile story. In particular, movie musicals bother me, because they so often tell stories suited only for a stage.
That's not the case here. This is probably the best movie I've ever seen, certainly the best movie musical. It's wonderfully acted (Neil Patrick Harris, is it possible for me to love you more?), well-written, and while the special effects can be a bit simplistic, they're always appropriate. The style of the songs isn't precisely Broadway, because it isn't precisely anything; all they really concern themselves with is whether or not they're appropriate to the storytelling. That, along with the fact that the entire thing is surprisingly grounded in reality, means that this couldn't have been a TV show or a stage show, it had to be a movie. The medium was appropriate, as were the songs.
But the best part is how grounded in reality it is. This is essentially a deconstruction of the typical superhero movie, of Black And White Morality. Dr. Horrible isn't insane, he isn't bent on world destruction, he's simply evil because Evil Pays Better. But this isn't like Wicked, which I found to be more of a switch between who was the villain and who was the protagonist than true Gray And Grey Morality. This is true Gray and Grey, in the style of Into The Woods. Even though Dr. Horrible isn't insane or bent on world destruction he's still a bad guy, working towards destruction. And even though Captain Hammer is an asshole, he's still saving people. This is a story of a bunch of different people working towards different goals; the words 'good' and 'evil' hardly apply to them. This is explored completely, particularly towards the ending. (And speaking of which, that ending… talk about a Tearjerker.)
As I said, this is one of the best movies I've ever seen, and I can't recommend it enough. There is literally no reason not to watch it, and more reasons to watch it than there are lines. If you want great acting, wonderful songs and performing, genuine moral ambiguity, well-rendered characters that you connect to, brisk plotting, hilarious jokes, lots of emotion, and so much more, there's not a movie in the world that works better than this.