As an enthusiastic fan of the short-lived “Veronica Mars” series, I have been waiting in anticipation for the film release ever since the now wildly-infamous Kickstarter campaign reached its fundraising goal.
For those who don’t know, “Veronica Mars” was a television series that premiered in 2004 and was cancelled in 2007 after only three seasons. It followed high school student Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell), who solved mysteries with her friend Wallace (Percy Daggs III), the biggest mystery of all being the murder of her best friend Lily Kane (Amanda Seyfriend). Ever since then, fans of the series have increased dramatically and, just last year, they funded the almost $6 million needed to create a movie.
With that said, many people who are not fans of the series complain about its lack of widespread appeal. However, this movie was made by the fans for the fans. Director Rob Thomas had this in mind when he wrote the screenplay and all the actors were thrilled to be part of such a meaningful project. There would have been no production without the fans, and they were keenly aware of this.
The “Veronica Mars” movie takes place 10 years after the series premiere, where Veronica is about to take the BAR in New York City. However, as she is interviewing for an extremely prestigious job, she gets a call from her old flame Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring), pleading with her for help. Trouble always seems to find Logan, but now he is in even more trouble than he’s ever been, for he’s been accused of murder. With Veronica’s help, they must track down the actual killer and clear Logan’s name.
The movie kept the balance of wit, mystery and heartbreak that the show was loved for. Old characters return, some of whom were announced prior and others just appear as a great surprise.
There are many great father/daughter moments between Keith Mars (Enrico Colantoni) and Veronica, and there are many brooding glances between Logan and Veronica — their love is “epic” after all.
Abundant throughout the film are references to the television show and the resurrection of great relationships between Veronica and the supporting characters.
The only complaint I had with the entire film falls in the mystery plot. Somehow, Veronica comes to conclusions about the events of the murder with little evidence to support her claims. The show contained many moments of Veronica huddled over school records and chasing after leads, so whenever conclusions arose, it was feasible. However, some of Veronica’s ideas in the movie were surprising and out of left field. While it’s understandable that things probably had to be cut to make the film length manageable, I think some of her conclusions were just a bit too, “Where did that come from?” for me.
As a whole, the movie is shot beautifully and the actors fell in well with their old parts, even though it has been 10 years since the series first began. It has everything I love and remember most from the show, with a reasonable absence of some key figures or motifs. Overall, the film is definitely worth a shot if you’ve watched the show, and if you haven’t seen it yet, what are you waiting for?
