Movie Review: Veronica Mars (2014)

Television history has several stories of series returning to the air or making the feature film jump, after concerted fan efforts.  The classic example is Star Trek, becoming a phenomenon, while relatively recent examples include Firefly (with the Serenity feature film), Futurama, and Arrested Development, after a 7 year gap.  A similar 7 year gap was to occur between the end of the original run of Veronica Mars and this new feature film, funded by a Kickstarter instigated by creator Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell.

As a film with a strong fan backing, there was always going to be certain things that would be critical in the film’s success and, generally, it would be difficult to judge as a standalone effort.  Having seen the entire original series, I thought they did a pretty decent job of the ‘catch up’ section, required for those who were new to the backstory. Once into the new plot, however, I thought things were a little shaky/hokey when they brought the old faces back in.  Luckily, this was just a brief period of uncertainty and the nods to the past and previous character involvement became more seamless, working fairly well in the end.

The plot is, as you would expect for a ‘reintroduction’, quite a standard Veronica Mars style plot, with lots of rich people getting caught up in murder plots and intrigue while the poorer people get caught in the crossfire.  As far as the fans are concerned, this is fine. In a broader context, this is a bit hackneyed and some greater invention would have been nice.  There are also some elements which just don’t sit well and really don’t seem to work, ruining the piece, but to point the key ones out that bothered me would be to give spoilers, so I’ll resist.  I’m sure you’ll know them when you see them, but all I will say is ‘that uniform doesn’t fit very well’ and leave it at that.

For viewers unfamiliar with the setup, ‘Veronica Mars’ (Kristen Bell) is a woman who has grown up with the law and justice as part of the family, as her father (Enrico Colantoni) is a Private Investigator and who previously was the town Sheriff.  After several years away from working in the family business, she finds herself in New York applying for jobs, when another murder rocks her hometown of Neptune and again involves her old boyfriend Logan (Jason Dohring). So, she has to adopt the older, sassier ‘Nancy Drew’ persona once again.

The main cast are excellent, as per usual, with the same camaraderie as when the show ended and are as easy to watch as ever.  There are some cheesy moments that push the boundaries a little with in-jokes or ‘guest spots for friends’, but as Veronica Mars always had its tongue slightly in its cheek, it just about survives these moments.  With many series regulars returning, not all of them get the screen time, or explanation of their current lives as we would like, such as ‘Mac’ (Tina Majorino) and ‘Wallace’ (Percy Daggs III) being just used as plot devices or almost like window dressing, which is a massive shame, especially in the case of Majorino.  Those particular characters were Veronica’s close friends, so some more interaction, other than being ‘someone to go to a party with’, would have been good.  Similarly, Piz (Chris Lowell) gets the raw end of the story deal.

Those criticisms aside, the film does a fairly decent job of both keeping fans happy and working as a standalone effort, with enough charm and wit to keep most people entertained.  Yes, it could have been better, but with the budget being relatively low (it was comparable to what was spent on the Season 1 finale) and with some backstory to fill in, a delicate balancing act had to be done.

Overall, a good effort, and an enjoyable one.  Let’s hope that rumours of a sequel turn into reality and that the Veronica Mars world can be explored to a greater depth, including some of the darker elements.

 

 

 

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