Review of Veronica Mars (2014) by Danielle S — 16 Mar 2014

It's hard not to look back at the '90s-early 2000s WB channel and not melt with a tear of nostalgia. Those were the days. Those were the days where teen shows had brains - "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" could have a ridiculously cheesy name and still explode with self-referential cool; "Dawson's Creek" bubbled over with soap opera that still makes (now) 30+ year olds still swoon.

Today, the WB isn't what it used to be. In 2006, it merged with the B-version of itself, UPN, and became the CW ("The Vampire Diaries", "Arrow"), which today holds TV shows that make us look at ourselves and say, "Why can't I have an eight-pack, always be tan, and smolder without looking stupid?" Surely, the new channel holds a few guilty pleasures, but none house the cult fan bases the WB held.

"Veronica Mars" is one of the most famous series' to come from the channel, a serial about a teenage private eye who has the attractive looks of Nancy Drew but owns the same sort of razor sharp lingo that the eye-rolling kids of the "Scream" franchise spat out with no hesitation.

The show, which ran for three years, was canceled before its time, enraging its fans, but also super-sizing its popularity. So when the prospect of a reunion film came along in 2013, the Marshmallows (the fans) raised $2 million through Kickstarter in less than two-hours. Now that it's 2014, and the film has had eminent buzz ("Entertainment Weekly" had Kristen Bell and Jason Dohring on the cover a few weeks ago), is it all that it promises to be? Fortunately, it's everything a fan could hope for, and then some.

I for one, have only seen the pilot of the original show - despite being a loyal customer, Netflix seems to hate me and promises that Disc 1 will arrive after a "very long wait". But despite not knowing every detail of the series, the film version is a heck of a lot of fun, to the point where even non-fans most likely will want to start watching the show right away.

The movie picks up ten years from where its titular character's (Bell) adventures came to a close, and it seems that Veronica, once a clear eyed sleuth, has left her mystery solving days behind her in favor for a lawyering career. When in the middle of the interviewing process, Veronica's old ex, Logan (Dohring) calls for help - he's been accused of murder and knows a simple trial will do him no favors.

She arrives back in Neptune (her fictional Californian hometown that stinks of corruption), gets the old gang back together, and picks up right where she left off. But while solving the case, Veronica begins to wonder - does she really want to spend her life as a lawyer?

The film is so entertaining from beginning to end that it only made me smirk in glee, knowing that I, someone not accustomed to Veronica Mars' world, could enjoy the film so much, while there are plenty of mega-fans out there who are probably still recovering from a dopamine crash.

It's everything anyone could ask for in a film like this one - the biting humor still stings, the characters are all just as fun to watch, and Veronica herself is still the brilliantly witty young woman that we want to be best friends with. The story slithers along with all of the gasps of a whodunit, but still gives us time to bathe in the reunions galore and black comedy.

It may at first seem like "Veronica Mars" is only for the Marshmallows. Yes, for fans, this movie will give you what you want. For newbies, it will leave you writhing with hunger. There may be only three seasons of the TV show, but the thought of getting a bigger dose of the pulpy city of Neptune sounds like a wonderful time.