Cult status and unwavering audience appreciation are strange, if helpful, occurrences in film and television. Even if something does moderately fine on its release, it can take on a life of its own after its cancellation or demise. No film has proved this better than the excellent Shawshank Redemption which did just fine at the box office on release but really took on a life of its own with DVD sales, now consistently named in best film lists across the globe.
Veronica Mars takes on this cult status in some ways. Following its premiere, the TV series did particularly well on screens and managed to hold audiences for three series, a feat which many forget is not the easiest to achieve. However, after the series cancellation, there were quite a few fans that were more than upset with Veronica off their TV screens.
Series writer Rob Thomas created a feature script for the series but Warner Brothers didn’t want to pick up on the option. With that, Bell and Thomas set up a Kickstarter campaign in order to raise the money for a Veronica Mars film that the fans obviously wanted. The campaign managed to raise over 5 million even thought its target was just two and with that, the Veronica Mars movie was born.
Thankfully, you don’t have to really have any prior knowledge of the series to watch the film, although in some cases it can be quite helpful. As you are probably aware, Veronica began her career as a Private Investigator during her teenage years and progressed through college, eventually earning her PI licence. However, the movie fast forwards a few years and Veronica has moved on with her life, living in New York with her boyfriend and a fancy new career as a lawyer.
However, just as she is about to take a new job at a law firm, Veronica discovers that an old classmate has died and the person behind the crime is an old friend, Logan. She returns to her hometown of Neptune in order to help him out but soon discovers that there is far more to her classmate’s death than what meets the eye.
The Veronica Mars movie is a lot of fun, mainly due to its lead character, the brilliant Kristen Bell who just lives and breathes the character of Veronica. Everyone else is pretty humdrum and normal, pretty much exactly what you would expect from a teen drama, but not Bell. She is charming, witty and extremely funny.
Although at times the plot and overall story can be a little drab, the script is its saving grace. Unfortunately, it does on occasion feel like a drawn out episode of the series, but this is arguably something the fans will most definitely appreciate. On top of that, the actual mystery isn’t exactly Sherlock-inspired, in fact, it’s pretty easy to crack.
For the most part it’s a lot of fun although it drags on for a little too long. Well worth checking out however, and it does make you want to go back and re-visit the old Veronica Mars moments.
