Written by Amanda Rodriguez
Mild Spoilers
I’ve been a fan of the Veronica Mars TV show for the last 10 years, so it’s only fitting that I was inordinately excited about the Veronica Mars movie, where Veronica comes back to her hometown of Neptune for her 10 year high school reunion to clear her ex-boyfriend, Logan Echolls, of murder charges. The film aired in select theaters on March 14 (and is now available for digital download on Amazon and iTunes). In anticipation of the film release, I wrote a review last November called “Why Veronica Mars is Still Awesome.” Face it: I’m a marshmallow.
So, how does one of the most successful Kickstarter projects ever fare when it’s all said and done? I’m gonna go with: meh. Though the premise itself wasn’t bad and I loved being back in that world, the creator and director, Rob Thomas, just tried to cram too damn much into 107 minutes. For the show, Thomas had three years and three seasons, comprising 64 episodes at roughly 43 minutes a pop to build the story, the mystery, the relationships, the characters, the drama, and the amazing humor. 107 minutes isn’t nearly enough time to catch us up after 10 years away, to solve a crime, to build that rapport between beloved characters, and to give all the fans everything they wanted. It’s just too tall of an order.
Because they were trying to do too much, the character interactions ended up falling flat. Who have these people become, and why have they changed? Where is the biting sarcasm of Logan Echolls? He joined the military, which seems symbolic of a huge personality shift, or is it just an excuse to show him in a military uniform (whites no less)? Where’s the kinship between Veronica and Wallace or the abiding love between Keith and Veronica?
Perhaps in part because of the lackluster character interactions, the plotlines are also lacking in luster. The mystery is half-baked, and even the obligatory Veronica Mars love triangle is a weak dud of a plot point with passion being largely absent from the players (Veronica, Piz, and Logan).
The Veronica Mars movie is even a bit too gimmicky. Logan in military whites, the endless stream of celebrity cameos, and the massive wet t-shirt boy fight are all a bit over the top. Now, I like celebrity cameos, and I did laugh at the outlandishness of the lengths the movie went just to give us a glimpse of Logan in a drenched v-neck, but, dammit, VMars has come dangerously close to jumping the shark.
Dare I confess it? I also missed the clothes. Long have I loved Veronica Mars’ fashion sense, and long have I worked to emulate her sassy ensembles.
Because of a certain baby bump actress Kristen Bell was sporting, the costumers had to get creative with her wardrobe, which left us with a lot of blazers and muted colors. Don’t get me wrong; I’m grateful that Kristen Bell decided the project was important enough to film during her pregnancy. However, both Veronica and I have aged 10 years, and I was hoping to get some tips from the master on how to stay sassy into my 30s.
On the up side, the Veronica Mars movie did its damnedest to include all the important faces from the past like Dick Casablancas, Keith Mars, Madison Sinclair, Mac, Wallace, Weevil, Leo D’Amato, Deputy Sacks, Celeste Kane, Corny, and on and on. The film also saw fit to include some not-so-important faces like steroid trafficking baseball player, Luke Haldeman, and son-of-butler poker cash stealing Sean Friedrich, but it’s comforting to know that literally everyone wanted to come back to reprise their Veronica Mars roles. Not only that, but the movie is lovingly packed with a barrage of in-jokes for the long-time fans who’ll catch on to every wink, nudge, and nod.
From a feminist standpoint, it’s about damn time Veronica finally saved herself all by herself from the scary, sticky situation she gets herself into hunting a murderer in Neptune. The film also leaves some mysteries open and sets up a new Veronica Mars future with the possibility of a new Veronica Mars spin-off (please don’t let it be a bumbling Dick Casablancas detective agency show). Since I’m a marshmallow, I’ll cherish this last hurrah in the world of Veronica Mars and keep my fingers crossed for a spin-off, but from the objective viewpoint of a film/TV critic, the Veronica Mars movie just isn’t up to snuff. There was simply too much ground to cover, too many gags, and not enough character development to let the movie live up to its legacy as the best kind of storytelling, characterization, humor, and wit television had to offer.
The super fun drinking game that I came up with for the show still works pretty well for the movie: Vodka Tonic with a Lime Twist & Veronica Mars. I hope you’ll play! [End shameless plug.]
Read also: “Why Veronica Mars is Still Awesome” and “The Relationships of Veronica Mars“
Yes to everything! I loved this Dick moment: “Have you had work done? Your boobs look bigger” … in what I’m assuming was also a nod to KB’s pregnancy LOL
Yes it was WAY too gimicky but in the screening I went to most people didn’t seem to think so with every cameo, reference and in-joke producing squeals of delight.
Also why did they make the murder victim Carrie Bishop and why did she become a singer? No logic at all. She was played by a recognisable actress who’s not returned (now too famous?) and bears no relationship personality wise to the character in the series. And I spent most of the film thinking “what about Susan Knight’s baby?” which they eventually mentioned but as if they’d forgotten earlier.
I’m disappointed that you include Madison being punched as her “finally getting her comeuppance” that she’s set up as such a villain is a misogynist move by the series and this just buys into it. I wish the Madison hate would end.
Madison IS a villain. She is not a sympathetic character in any way. And in a show that features such a beloved female protagonist and plenty of male Big Bads, it’s not fair to call an unlikable female character “misogynist.” In feminist works, not all women have to be good.
agree that not all women have to be good and not all negative portrayals of women are sexist. I’m not saying I LIKE Madison, although I do have a little sympathy for her, but the way that she in particular is villainised (compared with other 09ers) offends.
Madison’s blame in relation to Veronica’s rape is completely overplayed in that she 1) spat in a drink and gave it to Veronica and 2) wrote hateful stuff on Veronica’s car. Both actions were really nasty but compare this to the men at the party who were all since forgiven. Dick encouraged his brother to rape an unconscious Veronica and kissed/ molested her himself as well as drugging Madison’s drink to “loosen her up”, Logan spiked Duncan’s drink and did body shots off a semi-conscious Veronica. Veronica is aware of these things and shrugs them off as what boys do but continues to be deeply distressed about Madison’s actions for a long time.
Compare this with the way that Lamb is treated. Veronica jokes about him being awful and fantasises about killing him in her criminology assignment but he’s given plenty of opportunities to show he’s not entirely irredeemable and Veronica (and the viewer by extension) doesn’t hate him with the same vehemence. Madison continues to be punished for those two transgressions, minor compared with what Logan has done and been forgiven for, and becomes more and more monstrous as the series go on. I consider that misogynist because her offences are essentially feminine; bitchiness, jealousy and vanity. She’s not given the depth that similar male characters got and was held to a higher standard than the male characters.
I think you brought up some excellent points, but above all else, “There was simply too much ground to cover.” Any movie made from a TV show (long since canceled) has enormous expectations to meet, and many of the areas in which it falls short are often because there wasn’t enough space or it had other things to focus on. This is the same thing that book-to-movie conversions worry about. You can’t please everyone or touch upon everything and still have the film succeed in its own right as a cohesive, focused narrative.
Yes to everything you said…and yet I still enjoyed it. It doesn’t live up to the series (and certainly makes me want to binge watch the series…again), but it gives the fans what they asked for…more. This movie is a posterchild for what fans can do when motivated…and what happens to movies/tv when fan service becomes the primary motivation.
It was definitely a imperfect film. One thing i did like is that we got to saw a female character accept she is flawed and has a dark side to her in the end. I feel like that sort of plotline has mostly been done with male characters.