Veronica Mars Review

     There are few things in this world sadder than a great show getting canceled before their time (except maybe genocide and dead puppies). If you have ever talked television with me before, there is a good chance that you know that the CW series "Veronica Mars" is my favorite show of all time; not "Firefly," or "Game of Thrones," or even "Breaking Bad." A show about a sassy female teenage detective blows every other show out of the water. Unfortunately due to poor ratings, the show was canceled in 2007 after its third season. Even though the show was a critical success with a very passionate and loyal fan base, the CW decided to pull the plug; and the future of this little universe was unknown, but after six years something finally came up. A Kickstarter campaign was started to raise money for a movie taking place after the events of the show, it was to serve as the conclusion the show never had. In case you don't know, Kickstarter is a website where you can donate money to projects that wouldn't be funded otherwise. The movie required two million in donations by the end of thirty days or the project would be dead, it reached its goal in less than ten hours. The movie went into production shortly after, and to my own personal joy it has finally arrived.

     Nine years after the events of season three, former private investigator Veronica Mars has worked hard to get as far away from her former life in Neptune as possible. She graduated from college and is seeking a career as a lawyer living in New York City with her long time boyfriend Stosh "Piz" Piznarski. Everything is just the way it should be, but one day she gets a call from her former high school sweet heart Logan Echolls. Logan has been accused of murdering his celebrity girlfriend, and is looking at a very long prison sentence. As a last act of desperation, he decides to call Veronica in the hopes she will temporarily return to her former life and find out the truth. Reluctantly, Veronica decides to return to her home town of Neptune to help Logan as well as see some old friends. But what she thought was going to be some simple investigative work, leads her right into a web of lies and deceit. And for one last time, we get to see Veronica Mars do her thing. 

     Before I really get to the meat of it, let me start by saying two things. First being that as a fan of the series, there may some unintentional bias. Second, this is really only meant for those who were fans of the show. Those unfamiliar with the source material could still have a good time, but it's not for them; this movie is meant to act as the ultimate fan service. That being said as a fan, I f*cking loved this movie. The show ended in a way that was obviously meant to continue on with the story, but with the cancellation the fans have spent years unsatisfied. If this movie was meant to accomplish one thing, it was to provide closure to the fans who were robbed of the ending the deserved years ago. This movie brought up so many happy memories, it is filled with that trademark whit and drama I remember so fondly from the series; but like in the series, there are a few corny lines here and there. Probably my favorite thing about this movie was getting to see all of these characters again. The main characters from the series obviously get the most screen time, but even some of the minor ones got to make an appearance at some point; a couple of them were shoehorned in and often only play a part in a single scene, but it's still nice to see them. Going into this movie, I was expecting them to play it safe; have everything be happiness and sunshine with our main characters riding off into the sunset. To my surprise, that wasn't really the case. Writer and director Rob Thomas took some risks with the plot, and not everyone gets a happy ending. Now before you think I'm nothing more than a fanboy, I'll admit the movie isn't perfect. There are a few things that they could have fixed here and there, but the biggest problem I have would be that it feels rushed towards the end. The first half of the movie is stronger than the second, mostly because it feels like they were on some sort of time restraint and they needed to hurry up. I would have liked the movie to be 10-15 minutes longer so they could have wrapped things up a little better. "Veronica Mars" the movie was a project I've been on board with since day one. When the Kickstarter launched, I went and made an account with them just so I could donate. After about a year of waiting we finally get the results, and I am satisfied. The people behind the movie realize that this isn't going to be a movie that makes hundreds of millions. This movie was made by people who cared about this franchise, and wanted to give the fans satisfaction; and in that aspect, it succeeded. 

Pros: The ultimate fan service, great to see these characters again, provides closure to fans of the series, has the "Veronica Mars" trademark whit and drama, obvious that a lot of care and passion went into this project, takes some risks with the story and doesn't just play it safe.  

Cons: Really only meant for fans, a couple corny lines, a few characters shoehorned in, feels a little rushed towards the end. 

4/5 Stars