Veronica Mars the Movie; a review (minor spoilers within)

I generally try to avoid spoilers altogether; but in this case, mentioning a cameo appearance or character from the tv show within the movie is a spoiler in itself; so I’d rather say, spoiler warnings AHOY if you haven’t seen it.

I’ve had about a week or two to ruminate on my thoughts of Veronica Mars the movie. I watched it on opening day, taking advantage of its digital release since there was a very slim chance I’d be able to get into one of two cinema screenings.

For one I’m so glad that I was able to see it with a friend that had only very recently watched the whole series, so was a fresh marshmallow if you will. I was glad that I could make it a perfect movie night in, recliners, maltesers, popcorn and drinks! The best part: we could squeal and yell out and not be shushed. We were unshushable :)

After now seeing it twice though; I’m still left with a bit of a Kanye shrug reaction. It was good…. not great.

I’ve tried to step away from thinking of it as a movie, and think of it as a double episode – but even then that might be generous. The plot and subplots developed within the couple of hours were, well under developed. Some major things happened – yet were left unresolved at the end. I don’t even think it was in a way that would suggest a sequel – it just felt rushed, and as if they needed another plot point in the story to stop it from being just about the intense chemistry between Logan and Veronica.

Let’s also discuss movie Logan, and tv show Logan. Two different characters.

Here we had the diet Coke of Logan, very minimal snark, light on sarcasm, and almost… reserved. Regardless of the allegations against him – the very reason that brings Veronica back to Neptune from New York and a burgeoning legal career – he is so withdrawn, and quietly spoken.. he is a different LOGAN. Bad writing? Rushed?

And… Piz. Goodness – I feel so bad. In the third season, he was a throwaway character, the nice guy nobody seemed to want because it was all about LoVE – and here he was again, treated in much the same manner. Sidenote: if you want to see Chris Lowell in a much more developed role; watch Enlisted. Its glorious. (Major Payne- type sitcom, and giggle-out-loud funny)

It was great to see Mac and Wallace again; but even then, I feel as if this movie was really made for the shippers – as opposed to fans of the core character of Veronica. I really believe that’s what it came down to. The ‘epic’ love story. We had Veronica drop an F bomb! ooh! Marshmallows, we’re not on TV anymore! We had a lovely ‘carrying the damsel’ moment – but again it felt so contrived, so ‘THIS IS FOR YOU LOGAN/VERONICA FANS’ that I didn’t buy any of it. We had an *almost* love scene. Oh boy. It wasn’t even a great ‘epic’ kissing scene that led to the off camera lovemaking.

Sure I appreciated some moments; but moments scattered throughout a film doesn’t me want to invest in the DVD when its released.

All in all I’m sure you can see I’m left is it a great feat that this was funded by fans? YES. Absolutely. But… does that mean all other ‘gone too soon’ shows should have fan-funded features? Let your beloved characters live on in fan fiction. Everyone wins.