Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (Wii)

Despite the gameplay difficulty of the original Sonic Riders, it was enough of a hit to warrant a sequel in 2008, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (Zero Gravity). Like the first game, it received a multiplatform release, but skipped the Xbox platform entirely. Since I had previously sold the PS2 version I had as a kid, I eventually re-bought the game through the Wii version due to price and availability, as part of a desire to play though the Riders trilogy for the first time. On finally being able to see it through, I found this game to be an improvement over the original in many ways, creating what I thought was a more fun experience overall.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil

Despite having influenced a number of major metal acts, among them Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, Motörhead and Slash, the Canadian metal band Anvil has remained largely under the radar for most of their careers. Their dedication in spite of this would later inspire a rockumentary in 2008 called Anvil! The Story of Anvil (Anvil!), which documents the trials and tribulations the band faces around the recording of their thirteenth album, This Is Thirteen. While a previous viewing of this film inspired me to pick up a few Anvil albums myself, all of which I still own, I decided to give it another viewing shortly after watching the Spın̈al Tap duology, due to comparisons between the two bands, and found that it still holds up as a powerful story.

Sonic Unleashed (PS3)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Sonic Unleashed.

Back in 2005, Sonic Team had conceived a third Adventure entry called Sonic World Adventure, though development wouldn’t start until after the critically panned Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) (Sonic ’06). As development continued, with no set completion date and coinciding with the creation of the Hedgehog Engine, enough innovations distinguished the game from the Adventure style, including the addition of Sonic transforming into a “Werehog” during nighttime, that the title changed to Sonic Unleashed (Unleashed). Additionally, the game saw two separate builds in active development, one for HD consoles (PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360) and one for the previous generation (PlayStation 2 and Wii). Both builds of the game would launch to mixed reception from fans and critics, with more favorable scores given to the PS2 and Wii builds, though Unleashed would gain more of a cult following over the years and now has a more positive reputation than before (though this opinion isn’t universal).

As for my own experience with the game, I remember getting excited for it after the disastrous Sonic ’06 (which I may still review in the future) to the point that I played the free demo. Upon playing it as a sixteen-year-old, however, I found myself getting stuck too often because, quite frankly, I sucked at it and had a hard time finding certain items to continue very far in the game. Seeing that the fanbase had warmed up to it more, however, made me curious enough that, right after I finished Sonic Colors: Ultimate (Colors), I gave Unleashed another chance. Now at about double the age at which I had played it initially, I found myself liking it a bit more and I could see some of what fans liked about it. However, as it dragged on, I found that the final design had also held itself back from reaching its full potential, no thanks to its technical issues in the final stretch, the Medal mechanic and, most of all, those Werehog Stages.

Second Look - God of War: Chains of Olympus

Note: This review contains spoilers for God of War: Chains of Olympus.

Between God of War II and III, two portable games were released to help fill in the gaps in both the release and the story. The second of these games was God of War: Chains of Olympus, released on the PSP and developed by Ready at Dawn, serving as a prequel to the original God of War. Following the release of God of War III, this game and the second PSP game, Ghost of Sparta, were later ported to PS3 as part of God of War: Origins Collection, featuring an HD presentation and gameplay tweaks to bring them more in line with their console brethren. Though I have had experience with the original PSP release and find it to be a good reason to own the handheld, I remembered having a much better time when it was ported to PS3, which was how I decided to re-experience the game while revisiting the original Greek series. Although the game is very definitely showing its age, especially by virtue of having been a handheld game first, I still found it worth playing as a proper installment in the franchise.

WALL-E

“What if mankind had to leave Earth and somebody forgot to turn off the last robot?” This was the question Andrew Stanton posed at a now famous lunch in 1994, where, following the success of Toy Story, he and fellow Pixar pioneers Jon Lasseter, Pete Doctor and the late Joe Ranft discussed ideas for their next projects. The films that came out of this lunch were A Bug’s Life, Monster’s Inc., Finding Nemo and WALL-E, the last of which had a much longer development time, finally seeing the light of day in 2008. While longtime Pixar fans may feel divided on some apsects of WALL-E, the film received critical acclaim on release and has not only since been preserved in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, but has also seen a re-release through the Criterion Collection, the first Pixar film to do so.

Silent Hill: Homecoming (Xbox 360)

Close to the release of Silent Hill 4: The Room (SH4) in 2004, a Eurogamer interview with Masashi Tsuboyama confirmed the existence of a sequel while debunking a rumor that it had the subtitle Shadows of the Past. Following this interview, fans wouldn’t hear any additional information until series composer Akira Yamaoka confirmed in 2006 that the development team planned on returning to the series’ psychological roots a la Silent Hill 2 (SH2) and that they were playing with a “fear of the light” concept. At E3 2007, Konami would later formally announce the fifth entry as Silent Hill V, later titled Silent Hill: Homecoming (Homecoming), for release on the PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles. However, Konami would also reveal that instead of Team Silent, Homecoming would go the route of Silent Hill: Origins (Origins) and be handled by an American developer, The Collective, later named Double Helix Games after a series of mergers. Information released afterwards also revealed that many of the original ideas didn’t make it into the finished product, but that the team wanted to stay true to the essence of the series while improving combat.

Homecoming’s full release would come in 2008, to mixed reception from critics, but would never see a Japanese release for unknown reasons. Fan reception also proved divisive, with some more receptive of the Americanization of the series while others viewed it as the worst entry in the series. Like Origins, Homecoming is also pretty easy to come by and is perhaps the cheapest one on the market, with my physical Xbox 360 copy only setting me back about $20 (I went for this platform since I could actually find it in the wild). Having no nostalgia for the series, I went into Homecoming with an open mind and played on an Xbox One to eliminate the possibility of dealing with the infamous perfect circle scratch. After completing two full playthroughs and viewing all five endings, I feel a little torn. While certainly very American in its approach, and pretty flawed, it’s also not as bad as I was led to believe.

Silent Hill: Origins

After Team Silent disbanded following the release of Silent Hill 4: The Room (SH4) in 2004, Konami shifted development of further Silent Hill entries to American studios. The first of these games, Silent Hill: Origins (Origins), started development under the Los Angeles branch of Climax Action as a PSP-exclusive prequel to the original Silent Hill (SH1). However, development didn’t go that smoothly. When the game was originally announced at E3 2006, it featured a radical departure from the conventional formula and not only more resembled Resident Evil 4 in its design, but was apparently intended as a dark comedy inspired by the TV series Scrubs. Following issues with the game engine and a confused vision, Climax closed their LA branch and transferred development to their UK branch, where Origins was essentially remade from scratch by Sam Barlow, who rewrote the script and altered the level and monster designs within a week. This version of the game intentionally followed SH1 more closely in its design, with the idea of giving fans a more genuine Silent Hill experience, and released in 2007.

A glimpse at the original vision of the game.

Today, Origins is also one of the more affordable Silent Hill games one can buy, much like the other American-developed entries, and I picked up a $10 digital PSP copy during the period where Sony said they would shut down some digital storefronts. Once I finally got around to playing it, I noticed on startup that the game recommended playing it in the dark with headphones on. For the sake of this review, I decided I would follow this recommendation as much as possible, at least during the first playthrough. After three full playthroughs, in which I viewed all three endings, I could see Climax’s intent in closely following SH1’s design and how they managed to make the series’ formula work well on a portable platform. However, I also realized that Team Silent had a point in their approach to SH4.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Ultimate Sith Edition (PS3)

Note: This review contains spoilers for the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, the Original Trilogy and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

A long time ago, before Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm, LucasArts existed as a well-known game studio. They not only made a lot of adventure games for multiple platforms, but also, in their later years, plenty of official Star Wars games. One of these was the 2008 game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, a game that bridged the gap between the Original and Prequel Trilogies while introducing the character Starkiller, who had a good amount of notoriety at the time. A year later, in 2009, the game would also receive a release called Ultimate Sith Edition that collected all of the DLC while also offering additional costumes. Twelve years later, I had the urge to revisit the game, both in part to finally play through the DLC campaigns and see how well it had held up after so many years. While still a fun experience today, it has admittedly started showing its age.

Batman: Gotham Knight

Before the DCEU, there was a point where Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy colored the filmgoing audience's perception of Batman, for better or worse. The success of these films also led to an animated film project, Batman: Gotham Knight, which saw DC collaborate with multiple Japanese animation studios. I had no knowledge of its contents going in, but the idea intrigued me, which led me to stream it through HBO Max (if only because my DVR didn't catch the Toonami broadcast through their DC FanDome tie-in). Though I have mixed feelings on the Christopher Nolan films as a whole, I walked away pleasantly surprised by Gotham Knight.

No More Heroes (Wii)

Our gradual journey through the work of Suda51 led us to one of his more well-known works, No More Heroes, developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and published by Ubisoft in the US in 2008. Though we got a copy over a decade after its original release, and even got it signed by character designer Yusuke Kozaki at a character design workshop, we wouldn’t get around to actually playing it until we started burning through our gaming backlog during a global pandemic. After all the good things we had heard about it until then, I can safely say that the original Wii release of the game holds up surprisingly well, but holds itself back with some design choices that obviously came from changes in direction during development.

Resistance 2

Following the success of the PS3 launch title Resistance: Fall of Man, Insomniac developed a follow-up released in 2008 titled Resistance 2. Within the Resistance trilogy, this was one I actually got when it came out, for reasons I will disclose later, though at the time I was a little too young to actually play it. At the time the version I got was the Collector’s Edition, which includes extra digital content alongside an art book, a behind-the-scenes bonus disc and a Chimera action figure, though I would eventually end up with a Standard Edition copy of the game as well. Having finally gotten the chance to play it, I found the experience overall mixed, with many of its shortcomings stemming from some odd gameplay decisions.

Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People

Note: This review contains spoilers for Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People.

Even though I wasn’t there at the beginning, I have been a longtime fan of Homestar Runner, a Flash website created by Matt and Mike Chapman (aka The Brothers Chaps) that has been continuously updated on and off since 1996. Though I had not played anything from Telltale Games at the time, their announcement of an episodic game based on the site, Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People (SBCG4AP), caught my interest to where I played each Episode as they came out in 2008 and later bought a physical copy of the entire Season one year at San Diego Comic-Con. While it has been 12 years since I played it as of this writing, during which time Telltale Games famously shut down and the game was eventually delisted from digital storefronts, the COVID-19 pandemic and recent updates to the website after a very lengthy hiatus led to me to revisit the game to see how well it held up. After successfully getting my physical copy to run on Windows 10, I found that it held up much better than I expected and was surprised to see how much the game had stuck with me in all that time.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

Note: This review contains spoilers for Final Fantasy VII and Compilation of Final Fantasy VII

Before I actually played Final Fantasy VII, I had watched the Advent Children film and played Crisis Core when they first came out. The first time I played Crisis Core, just over a decade ago, I liked it in spite of a general lack of context. Of course, my memories of the game faded over time and after finally playing the original Final Fantasy VII, I decided to go through Compilation, which originally ended with this game. Now that I’ve finished my second playthrough, I remembered why I liked it in the first place, but now I also see more flaws, both in the story and gameplay.

Second Look - Iron Man (2008)

Note: This review contains spoilers related to Iron Man (2008) and The Avengers (2012).

In 2008, Marvel Studios released their first live-action film, Iron Man. Though the project was a risk for a number of reasons, its success propelled the studio to new heights and their continued success with the Marvel Cinematic Universe would help reshape the cinematic landscape, for better or worse. With their most recent film, Avengers: Infinity War (2018) now out in theaters, we at Trophy Unlocked have decided to take another look back at Iron Man in celebration of its 10th anniversary and see just how well it’s held up after all these years.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), CEO of defense contractor Stark Industries, is in war-torn Afghanistan with Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes (Terrence Howard) to demonstrate the company’s latest weapon, the devastating Jericho missile, to the U.S. military. Soon after, however, Stark’s convoy is attacked and he becomes implanted with shrapnel from one of his own company’s weapons. The terrorist organization the Ten Rings captures and imprisons Stark in a cave, where he is forced to construct a Jericho missile using stockpiled Stark Industries weapons. Though Tony is able to escape with aid from Yinsen (Shaun Toub), a captive doctor who helped him construct a miniature arc reactor to keep the shrapnel away from his heart, he decides to shift his company’s focus away from weapons and figure out just how the terrorists got their hands on his technology in the first place.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) before his personal transformation.

After 10 years, the story holds up pretty well. The major characters are very three-dimensional from the moment they’re introduced and while the actual dialogue was largely improvised, the characters remain consistent and true to themselves throughout. As a result, Tony Stark’s personal transformation is believable and Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) is a memorable villain who is very capable at using Tony’s trust in him to his own advantage. Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), Yinsen and Colonel Rhodes are also strong supporting characters due largely in part to how they interact with Stark and how well they serve the overall story. In addition, the plot is pretty easy to follow and is enough to keep viewers engaged for over two hours. The setting is also grounded very well within reality and the various twists and turns, while perhaps old hat at this point in the MCU, are handled well enough to enjoy this movie in a vacuum.

Along with the story, the special effects have also held up surprisingly well considering their age. The designs of the Iron Man suits, including Iron Monger, have a timeless quality to them and their interactions within the world are still convincing. One smaller scene that has aged especially well is one where Pepper Potts has to replace an arc reactor within Tony’s chest by reaching into a chest cavity to remove one wire and insert another.

Iron Man is also good at balancing its humorous and serious moments. The best way to describe this is that it’s serious when it needs to be and it’s funny when it feels appropriate to add a bit of levity to a scene. This balanced approach, along with the improvised dialogue, allows the film to include a rather famous line from Obadiah Stane. When frustrated at the inability of Stark Industries scientists to recreate the arc reactor technology, he yells, “Tony Stark was able this in a cave! With a box of scraps!” This line stands out not only for Jeff Bridges’ delivery, but also because it sums up how truly gifted Tony Stark is.

"Tony Stark was able to build this in a cave! With a box of scraps!"

One thing that’s hard to discuss, however, is the music. While the score does match the tone when you can detect it, including a guitar riff that repeats a couple times, it’s not really memorable. The licensed tracks, on the other hand, especially AC/DC’s “Back in Black” and Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man”, really stand out and gel well with the energetic atmosphere of the film. My only complaint with the use of “Iron Man”, however, is that they don’t play the entire track.

At the time that Iron Man came out, it was facing somewhat of an uphill battle. In order to get funding for the project, Marvel had put up the rest of their film rights as collateral, meaning that if they failed, the bank would own their remaining properties. Additionally, Director Jon Favreau’s previous film, Zathura, was a box office flop (about $64 million earned against a budget of $65 million) and Robert Downey Jr., though a talented and successful actor in his own right, was more known at the time for his past addictions and run-ins with the law. When Iron Man became both a critical and financial success, the rest of the MCU became a true possibility.

Iron Man also helped, both directly and indirectly, to reshape the Hollywood landscape. The film’s more grounded and realistic approach to a superhero movie, as well as the shifting of the character’s origin from the Vietnam War to the War in Afghanistan, helped the movie stand out from its contemporaries and gave it a more modern feeling. Tony Stark’s declaration at the end of the movie, “The truth is…I am Iron Man,” also felt fresh at the time, as unlike many other superheroes, he had forgone the notion of a secret identity and publicly embraced his image as Iron Man. The film’s role as the launchpad for the MCU also contributed toward the buildup for The Avengers, which was so successful in its unique approach to storytelling, particularly as a crossover between multiple properties, that it would change how Hollywood approached short and long-form storytelling, for better or worse.

Part of the legacy of Iron Man also involves actor Clark Gregg, who plays S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson. This movie introduced Coulson to the greater Marvel multiverse and Gregg’s performance helped the character become rather popular. So popular, in fact, that not only does Coulson show up in later films within Phase One of the MCU, but soon after his death in The Avengers (2012), he was brought back to life for a lead role in ABC’s television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which thus far has yet to make a real impact on any of the films.

Clark Gregg would get a lot of mileage out of
his role as S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson.

On the subject of S.H.I.E.L.D., however, there is a very noticeable retcon within the MCU that’s worth mentioning. In Iron Man, the way Agent Coulson talks about S.H.I.E.L.D. makes them come off as a rather new organization that had yet to really nail down their name. Beginning with Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), however, S.H.I.E.L.D. is established as having existed since WWII and named after Captain America’s weapon of choice.

Those who watch Iron Man will also notice that a short sequence takes place at the Disney Concert Hall. This small moment turned out to be highly prophetic once Disney had bought Marvel Entertainment in 2009 for about $4 billion. This deal would cause some friction with Paramount Pictures, who at the time had a six-picture distribution deal with Marvel Studios, save for The Incredible Hulk (2008); Universal Pictures still owns the distribution rights to the property. After Disney purchased Marvel, they later bought the distribution rights to The Avengers and Iron Man 3 (2013) from Paramount, but they still had to display the Paramount logo on those films.

Another enduring part of Iron Man’s legacy is the post-credits sequence where Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) shows up to discuss the Avengers Initiative with Stark. This sequence would not only kick off the buildup to The Avengers, but also create a trend where Marvel would end every film with some kind of mid- or post-credits sequence (save for Age of Ultron (2015), which has no post-credits sequence), with some like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) reaching up to five end-credits sequences. Outside of Marvel, however, the impact of Iron Man’s post-credits sequence would eventually lead to other studios including such sequences in their films for one reason or another, which has essentially trained audiences to stay even after the movie is finished in the hopes of getting a surprise; in my own experience, I’ve seen more people complain when there isn’t some kind of post-credits sequence.

The moment that started it all.

Even 10 years later, Iron Man is not only a good superhero movie, but a great movie in its own right. The more grounded and realistic approach to the story and world help it stand out from other superhero films and the performances of the actors help the characters feel three-dimensional and their dialogue natural. The special effects still hold up well to this day, but the original score hardly feels present or memorable. Though Marvel Studios would ultimately copy a lot of elements from Iron Man for later MCU films, their first outing is still one of their best and is perfectly enjoyable in a vacuum (even with the post-credits scene). If you’re in the mood for a good action movie, Iron Man is sure to satisfy.

Stubs - Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (2008) Starring: Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day. Directed by Joss Whedon. Written by Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon, Joss Whedon, Zack Whedon. Produced by David Burns, Michael Boretz. Music by Jed Whedon and Joss Whedon Run Time: 42 minutes. U.S.  Color. Musical, Comedy, Drama

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is a by-product of the 2007-2008 Writer’s Guild of America strike, which impacted U.S. film and television production during its 100 days, November 5, 2007 until February 12, 2008. Idle during that time, Joss Whedon decided to produce something working with his brothers, Zack (a television writer), Jed (a composer) and Jed’s wife Maurissa Tancharoen (an actress and writer). Made for the internet as a three-part series, the production was financed by Joss and shot in and around Los Angeles with the music recorded in a home studio.

Perhaps best known for his roles on TV series Doogie Howser M.D. and How I Met Your Mother, Neil Patrick Harris is also a veteran of the Broadway stage, having appeared in the play Proof (2002) and the musical Cabaret (2003). In the mini-series, he plays the lead character, Billy Buddy, a would-be super villain, Dr. Horrible, with a video blog. On his vlog, Horrible recounts for his viewers his various capers, his applying to the Evil League of Evil and reads viewer emails, one of which asks Horrible about the woman he keeps referring to as “her”. This prompts him to sing “My Freeze Ray” as he recounts his unrequited attraction to Penny (Felicia Day), a woman he’s run into at the Laundromat, and his inability to actually talk to her.

Dr. Horrible aka Billy Buddy(Neil Patrick Harris) has a video blog.

Enter Moist (Simon Helberg), a minor villain, who can make anything damp, with a letter from Bad Horse, the leader of the Evil League. Literally a horse, Bad Horse’s minions sing the letter which informs Horrible that his application has been received and that Bad Horse will be keeping a close look at his next caper, which happens to be set for the next day.

Letters from Bad Horse come with a singing chorus.

He is in need of something called wonderflonium for his Freeze Ray, which would stop time, allowing him to speak his mind to Penny among other things. There is a van carrying a supply, which Horrible plans to commandeer using a remote control device. Penny just happens to be in the neighborhood gathering signatures for one of her worthy causes (“Caring Hands”) and interrupts Horrible’s caper by actually engaging him in conversation and asking for his signature on her petition asking the city to give a deserted building to a homeless shelter. Torn between his evil work and actually talking to the woman of his dreams, Horrible fails at both. Penny walks off disheartened by his lack of attention to her and her cause and the theft of the wonderflonium goes awry.

Enter Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion).

Enter Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion), a cocky, self-assured superhero who foils the theft, but also nearly destroys the radio device which Horrible is using to control the van. With Penny in the way of the runaway car, Hammer pushes her out of the way and into a pile of garbage, just as Horrible gets the controls to work, thus it appears as if Hammer stops the van, even though he clearly doesn’t touch it. Hammer confronts Horrible, banging his head against the hood of the van before Penny emerges from the garbage. She looks upon Hammer as her savior, adulation he can’t refuse, and which makes him forget about Horrible, who manages to walk away with the wonderflonium.

Captain Hammer  sings his own praises to Penny (Felicia
Day) while Dr. Horrible steals the wonderflonium.

Episode two, or Act II as it is labeled, opens with Horrible stalking Penny and Hammer on their first date and sings about the misery of the human condition. Meanwhile, Penny sings of hope and the possibility of redemption. Their duet “My Eyes” leads to Penny and Billy talking as friends at the Laundromat. Penny is gushing over her new boyfriend, while Billy is trying his best to undercut Hammer without coming right out and admitting he loves Penny.

Billy and Penny talk at the laundromat.

On his vlog, Horrible tells his viewers that the Freeze Ray is complete and that he plans to use it the next day. However, on his next entry, Horrible confesses to his viewers that Hammer and the LAPD also watch his blog and were waiting for him. This brings a phone call from Bad Horse and his minions tell Horrible in song that his application now rests on a successful assassination. This gives Horrible pause as murder seems to be a line he hadn’t wanted to cross before.

Dr. Horrible with his Freeze Ray, tells his viewer his plan.

But that line gets easier to cross when at his next meeting with Penny at the Laundromat, Hammer shows up. While Horrible tries to hide behind his Billy Buddy persona, Hammer sees through it. When Penny is out of earshot, Hammer tells Horrible that he knows who he is and knows that he has a crush on Penny. He then rubs salt to the wound by telling Horrible that he’s going to have the one thing Horrible wants, Penny. Suddenly, Horrible is not only willing to kill, but knows his target (“Brand New Day”).

Horrible sings "Brand New Day".

Act III opens with “So They Say,” a song shared by two news anchors, who report about Hammer’s sudden crusade for the homeless, no doubt inspired by Penny; Penny in turn ponders her relationship with Hammer while waiting at the Laundromat to speak with Billy; Hammer, who seems excited about being able to do the sexual weird stuff with Penny; and a trio of Hammer groupies (Maurissa Tancharoen, Stacy Shirk and Steve Berg) who obsess over all things Hammer, including a lock of his hair and his dry cleaning bill as well as offer themselves to do the weird stuff with him.

Hammer's groupies (Maurissa Tancharoen, Steve Berg and Stacy Shirk).

Meanwhile, Dr. Horrible is building his death ray to kill Captain Hammer at the opening of a homeless shelter. Mayor Hankins (no relation) is there to dedicate a statue of our hero, but Hammer turns out to be a self-absorbed jerk (“Everyone’s a Hero”). Hammer is condescending to everyone, including Penny, who looks embarrassed. That is until Horrible uses his Freeze Ray on Hammer, cutting his self-congratulatory song off. Everyone in the crowd is scared and Horrible knows it. He produces his more deadly Death Ray which he taunts the audience with.

Hammer gets the Freeze Ray, but doesn't listen to Horrible's warnings.

Instead of just killing Hammer, Horrible hesitates. That hesitation allows the Freeze Ray to malfunction and a suddenly unfrozen Hammer punches Horrible across the room. He drops the Death Ray, damaging the gun. Hammer picks up the Death Ray and holds it on Dr. Horrible. Despite Horrible’s warnings that the ray has been damaged, Hammer aims it at Horrible and fires. But the ray malfunctions, just as Horrible had predicted, exploding in Hammer’s hand, rather than firing. Hammer, for the first time in his life, feels pain and runs off looking for “someone maternal.” Having shown Hammer’s true self, Horrible declares victory, but it is short-lived. Penny, who had been nearby when the Ray exploded, has been struck by shrapnel and is mortally wounded and dies in Horrible’s arms.

Penny dies in Dr. Horrible's arms.

But the assassination is enough to get Horrible admitted to the Evil League of Evil and he celebrates with his friends before attending his first official meeting with Bad Horse and other like-minded villains. Hammer, meanwhile, spills his guts to a psychiatrist. The end of the movie is a last vlog entry from Billy Buddy, sans his Horrible disguise looking numb and having gotten what he wanted but at the cost of losing the woman he loved.

While the made for internet series ends on a down note, the song “So They Say” actually predicts it when Penny sings with Horrible “There's no happy ending, so they say,” to which Horrible adds “Not for me anyway.” So no one gets everything they want.

Otherwise, this is a fun musical story that caught the attention of an audience increasingly looking to the closing credits, which is a lot for something only 42 minutes long. While there is some talking and action, most of the story is told in song.

Dr. Horrible aka Billy Buddy is a complex guy. While he has horrible ambitions, he is so shy that he can’t even start up a conversation with the girl he adores. He wants to be a villain but doesn’t want to really kill anyone if he doesn’t have to on his way to worldwide domination. He’d rather use a Freeze Ray to get what he wants, rather than the Death Ray. And it takes Captain Hammer humiliating him to allow himself to go that far. In many ways, Dr. Horrible is a villain you sort of want to root for.

Captain Hammer seems like someone for whom everything comes easily: strength, fame, women, but it’s little wonder that he doesn’t have sex a second time with each girl he beds. He gets undeserved credit for stopping the van, when in fact his action is what caused it to go out of control in the first place. He is the flipside of what we’ve come to look to Superheroes as being and it is refreshing.

The three main cast members are all good in their roles. While I’m not surprised at Harris’ versatility as a singer, Fillion’s and Day’s were a bit unexpected. I am much more familiar with Fillion from his television work and from his romantic lead in Waitress (2007), but I never would have cast him as a singer. He’s adequate vocally, but he has the pose down great and that more than makes up for what he might otherwise lack.

Felicia Day is one of those actresses you know you’ve seen before, but you’re not quite sure. She’s no stranger to web-based entertainment, having written and starred in The Guild since 2007, as well as appeared on The Legend of Neil, another web-based series. For those who are internet challenged, Day has guested on such TV series as Monk, House, My Boys, Roommates and Fish Hooks.

Like any good musical, the songs are an integral part of the storytelling. This is especially true in short programming like this, where every minute of screen time is important. These songs seem to be simply arranged, but they succeed in developing characters and driving the narrative forward. I’ve read people comparing the songs to those of Stephen Sondheim. That may be; again this is another area where I’m not an expert. I do know that the theme songs, “Dr. Horrible Theme” and “End Credits”, sound to me to be reminiscent to Danny Elfman.

While any soundtrack works best with the visuals, this is one case where the songs are quite enjoyable on their own.

Dr. Horrible seems like lightning captured in a bottle. Everything comes together to make this a very enjoyable experience. I know there are on-going talks about making a sequel, a project that keeps getting pushed back to accommodate Joss’ schedule. There’s a part of me that hopes they never do make a sequel. Sometimes it’s nice to leave well enough alone. For what it is, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is nearly perfect.

Stubs - The Dark Knight

THE DARK KNIGHT (2008) Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Morgan Freeman. Directed by Christopher Nolan. Screenplay by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan. Based on characters by Bob Kane. Produced by Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas, and Charles Roven. Run Time: 152. Color. U.S. Action, Adventure, Comic Book.

I will admit while I’ve seen this film at least three times, I’m a little at a loss to explain why this was such a runaway hit when it was first released, bringing in more than a billion dollars worldwide. It is very dark and a little long for my tastes, but obviously not for a vast majority of moviegoers.

Let me start out by acknowledging the obvious: Heath Ledger’s Joker was one of the highlights of the movie. It was not a performance I would have expected from Ledger, but it points to what should have been a remarkable career. Ledger’s death prior to the film’s release makes the loss of that potential even sadder.

But while Ledger’s performance is mesmerizing, the film isn’t always. And there are plot holes that you could drive a big yellow school bus through. The Joker is depicted as a loner against the well-established mobs in Gotham City, but he has to be one of the most well-organized of all criminals ever. His plans are always flawless, not just in their set up and execution, but also in the anticipation of how people will react to the obstacles he places before them.

A prime example of that is the sequence involving transporting D.A. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), who claims to be Batman, from the City to County Jail. That motorcade is doomed from the start as the police fail to secure the route and then make one dumb decision after another. But The Joker is ready with not only a willing legion of big truck drivers and rigs but also with machine guns and bazookas. And when the police decide to abandon the route, the Joker seems to have anticipated that as well, down to the street they would use, etc.

In addition to his prowess of planning, he seems to have an endless legion of minions, even after he kills off the first group of accomplices in the bank robbery that opens the film. Doesn’t word of that sort of thing spread through the underground of gangsters?

The Joker’s crew though isn’t limited to hoods but includes truck drivers and policemen. You have to wonder how someone that burns all their money can afford to keep such a criminal enterprise going. But apparently, a guy that claims not to plan things out is omnipresent. He knows which policewoman has a mother in the hospital, while at the same time has the time to plant explosives on two separate ferries leaving Gotham. And in addition to being everywhere, no one ever seems to see him doing any of that setup.

Take for example the opening. The Joker makes his escape on a school bus by driving it through the wall of a bank building and getting in line with other school buses which happen to have space enough for his. Either all the other school bus drivers are in on the heist or the bus driver behind him doesn’t think it’s worth calling in the incident that had taken place right in front of him. Either way I find it hard to believe, even in the context of a comic-based world that no one notices a guy with green hair, white face makeup, and red lipstick.

If anything, The Dark Knight suffers from almost too much plot. The battle between Batman and The Joker wasn’t enough, so they throw in, almost wedging it in, the story of Two-Face, Harvey Dent disfigured after being burned in a Joker plot that also kills off Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Someone who had been a crusader against criminals blames Batman and Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldham) for his losses, rather than the Joker, who he is even in a position to kill at one point, but off-screen doesn’t and for no explanation.

Another thing that perplexes me is the major change that Gotham has gone through between Batman Begins and this movie. Even though three years have passed since the first film’s release, Batman Begins ends by setting up this film, which suggests the action in Dark Knight is a continuation. In the meantime, Gotham City has gone through a radical change and doesn’t look like it used to. How can that be explained? And it bothered me that every public building seemed to be new and modern. Gotham’s big General Hospital seems too new and too small for the city it’s supposed to serve. 

Usually, old General hospitals are large, marble structures dating back from the WPA days. But Gotham’s is only about four stories tall and looks much more modern. Apparently, Gotham City doesn’t suffer from any of the infrastructure problems every other major city has, where public buildings are used until they fall down. Gone too is the mass transit system from Batman Begins as well as Arkham Asylum. I think what made these changes stand out for me so much was an extra on the Batman Begins Blu-ray that discusses designing Gotham and the care they took in doing so. In this movie, all that planning seems to have been thrown out. For me, at least, it was jarring.

Getting back to the acting, Christian Bale is a good choice to play Bruce Wayne and Batman, with the exception of being Batman’s voice. In this film, as well as in the first, the voice is so different as to be almost comical. Obviously, Bale is trying to distinguish his Batman voice from his Bruce Wayne, but when you see the effort being made, some of the magic is lost. What’s worse is that Howard Wollowitz (Simon Helberg) and Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) on TV’s Big Bang Theory can both make the same voice.

Maggie Gyllenhaal is an acting upgrade from Katie Holmes, who played Rachel in the first movie, but she is not as pretty as her predecessor. Michael Caine (Alfred Pennyworth) and Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox) put in solid performances as minor though important characters in the first two (and presumably the third film as well). The rest of the supporting cast, including Gary Oldman (Commissioner Gordon) all put in good showings.

The Dark Knight has all the makings of a good movie: An accomplished director, well-known comic book characters to build on and a great bit of acting from Heath Ledger. However, it goes on too long and tries to wedge in too much story. After a while, the viewer finds himself waiting for the movie to be over, which is never a good sign. Having not seen the third and final Nolan directed feature, I think this trilogy could have made five movies, rather than three.

The Dark Knight is available at the WB Shop: