The Veronica Mars Movie

  Veronica Mars

      Unlike many “Veronica Mars’” fans I found myself only having to wait 24 hours between shows end until my experience with the film. This caused the film to be something of an natural extension of the show rather than something I wanted and waited for. Watching an episode a day for the past couple of months really started to wear down by the time the third season came along. Similar to the way the film establishes the three season history in the opening credits of the film, I shall start off by recapping my experience concluding that at its core “Veronica Mars” is a soapy teenage crime drama that has aspects of film noir but is overshadowed by pandering to pop culture fan fare. Rob Thomas is a mediocre director but a master of understanding his audience’s needs and feeding them while keeping a solid mystery at the heart of the narrative.  A lot of discussion about the film comes from the Kickstarter narrative built around it that I have no interest in. Instead, the film is more interesting as a continuation of a series trying to branch out into a bigger network but staying true to its original goals and fans.
The film honors the time that has passed as we find out that Veronica (Kristen Bell) is on the path to a strong successful career while maintaining a healthy relationship with  Piz (Chris Lowell) who we last saw with Veronica at the end of Season Three. The film acts as an extended episode but also a condensed season as it brings back the Veronica love triangle when we learn that Logan (Jason Dohring), once again, is suspected of murder. This time it is his girlfriend with similar traits and fame to Lady Gaga, who is found dead in a bathtub.  Internal conflict ensues when Veronica decides to clear Logan’s name by returning to Neptune, the town that plays such a pivotal role in Veronica’s early years.
The first quarter of the film acts as a “We are getting the band back together” montage played out in multiple scenes. This aspect of the film somehow feels both tacky and genuine as we once again meet Veronica’s father (Enrico Colantoni) as well as Mac and Wallace (Tina Majorino, Percy Daggs III). I would assume this would have no effect on a first time viewer but this film is made for the fans and it goes back to the way Thomas forcefully puts in these moments but he knows they will have a hearty effect.
An interesting thing Thomas does in the film is the way he characterizes Neptune. Our first introduction to the town comes when Veronica and her father are driving through a run down neighborhood where we see cops arresting innocent citizens as they hurry to find something in their car to charge them for. The aspect of race and income inequality has been a long time theme of the show but here in the film Thomas shows the extremes that it has come to, capturing Neptune as an almost post apocalyptic “hell mouth“.  This characterization of Neptune is brief and Thomas coming from a television background seems to run away from the impact a lingering camera on this set could have.

Spoilers Ahead!!

A way in which the film presents itself as necessary is the way that it still explores old themes while introducing new ones by using time. Specifically, the ideas of depression that comes with acceptance of life’s realities and the drug like high of running away from a structured life, putting forth a metaphor of Veronica being an addict to Neptune. Veronica’s narration talks about the connection between drug addicts and her “addiction” for the dangerous life Logan lives as opposed to the safe life in New York. A lot of the films conflict comes from her pushing off the lawyer job in order to pursue the investigation. But it seems that even Neptune has grown up as Logan who is known for his uncontrolled violence in the show joins the military as a form of controlled violence. Mac has taken a job in computers for the Duncan corporation but views it as her being defeated by a high paycheck. And Wallace is now a high school basketball coach at Neptune High and constantly reminding Veronica that there are consequences now that they are adults.
It is almost hypocritical how the film chooses the dangerous life but is so safe with its characters and plots. A problem I found with the show was always how things were never grey but all the blame of a crime could be put onto a purely bad guy always leaving the core intact by the end of the run. Here in the film it works the same way as Gia and Dick, characters we know and remember are blamed for the crime except by the end it turns out that they are victims and all the blame can be put onto a pure evil character straight out of a bad CSI episode. The same can be said for Veronica’s relationships as she never cheats but conveniently is always broken up with right before she can move onto the next guy never fully examining the complex emotions that are going through her. She is sheltered the way she breaks away from her “safe” life and goes with Logan as she narrates how she has lost to the addiction. There seems to be this appearance of danger coming from Veronica and director Rob Thomas without ever fully going there. With all that said, it seems that the film would have no purpose to anyone not familiar to the show, maybe it would cause an interest to visit the show but it is made for fans as a nice conclusion to the Veronica Mars narrative.


For every forced Buffy reference, overly dramatic moment, and easy pop culture comment there is a really great scene like the one below