Veronica Mars

This is one of the most satisfying movies I have ever seen! Then again, I am a bit biased since I helped back the movie on Kickstarter.

I was a huge fan of the show when it was on the air and was ecstatic to hear about the movie. It's been almost a year and we finally have it! It was well worth the wait and the contribution to the Kickstarter campaign.

For the first few minutes of the movie, there is a slight recap of the TV show featuring clips with a voice over by Veronica Mars. This is used not only as an introductory piece for new watchers but also a walk down memory lane for the fans.

As expected, there were plenty of "inside jokes" that were casually thrown out in dialog. What was brilliant, though, was the fact that they weren't obvious. They blended with normal conversation and were just added bonuses for the fans and for new watchers it was just another example of how great the dialog was. You don't need any background information about the show to watch this, you won't be left in the dark with the inside jokes.

The movie is self-contained but leaves space for a sequel in one form or another. Characters grow and change during the movie, so it's not just a movie to have a movie.

Characters from the show are brought back but not in a pushy sort of way. It is a large cast but everyone has a proper place. You don't have anybody from the show return for a only second, everyone gets good face time without it being overwhelmed.

Overall, I highly recommend this move to anyone.

Unfortunately I never watched the series when it was on TV so I went into this movie knowing that I would not fully understand the background of most characters. However, I went into watching it knowing that some of the audience would be in the same position as myself so I wanted to see a decent enough stand alone movie.

This film was funded by a Kickstarter campaign that racked up close to 6 Million dollars and broke records on Kickstarter for fastest campaign to exceed 1 Million and 2 Million dollars. Lots of the people who helped fund the movie where recruited as extras in the movie. A funny cameo is of Dax Shepard in a club who is Kristen Bell's real-life husband. He is always such a funny guy.

During the movie I felt that there was not much depth to the emotions and characters, felt as though it was still part of the series or an episode just lengthened into a movie. The story was decent and kept me watching, however, I wanted more intensity. The humor was a great part of the movie, had a few great laughs. There were a lot of characters I thought that did not get much introduction, which I assume I missed since I did not watch the series. Non the less, this movie was enjoyable to watch at home. Kristen Bell is a great actress and held here own in this movie. This is no Sherlock Holmes movie, however, it is a fun mystery movie that could easily get a few sequels of different mysteries for Veronica to solve.

Check it out if you are a fan, if you are not a fan it is a basic mystery movie with minimal depth to the characters besides Veronica.

Till next time, watch Hit N Run

Jason Lucas THOUGHTS OF A MOVIE ADDICT Face Down Entertainment

Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) is trying to leave the drama of Neptune, California behind. She's interviewing for a lawyer job at a large firm. She's dating the safe Piz (Chris Lowell) now. Then she gets a call from star-crossed ex-boyfriend Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring). He's been dating pop star and fellow Neptune High alum Bonnie DeVille. He's in trouble as the prime suspect in her murder. Veronica gets drawn in on another Neptune murder. It's the 10-year high school reunion and she's forced to go.

This is like hanging out with old friends. The gang is back and there's a new murder. How much enjoyment one gets from this movie probably depends on if that person saw the TV show. They bring back all the characters no matter how necessary to the main plot. Everybody gets to have their part. The movie exists for fans to catch up on these people. The Kickstarter campaign probably convinced Rob Thomas that this movie is more for the fans and it works well for that. For TV show non-watchers, this is a functional murder mystery but there are a lot of relationships with history that these people are unlikely to get.

Always loved it and the new series was, while not as good as the original, very good too.

Excuse the use of the Sade song title, but it really sums up my feelings about this film. I wanted to like it, I really did. I liked the TV show, and even contributed to the Kickstarter campaign. I'm not sure what I expected, but what we got was basically a 2 hour TV reunion show (2 hours if you had commercials, the film is only 105 minutes).

In 10 years, the residents of Jupiter have gotten older, but not smarter or wiser. And, sadly, even though all of the actors expressed great enthusiasm for the project, they all seem a little tired. They're happy for the pay checks, but in the end, they are rehashing the same characters, with the same emotions and the same actions as 10 years ago. Kristen Bell always brought that world-weary sense of cynicism to Veronica Mars, even when she was playing a high school detective. Now she just seems weary. I would much rather watch her in 'House of Lies', where that more grown up cynicism shines.

Bottom line is we should all have just moved on, and let our memories of the TV show remain intact. This was not an elegant ending of a good show, but a sad reminder of what we once liked and enjoyed.