Years after walking away from her past as a young private eye, Veronica Mars gets pulled back to her hometown, just in time for her high school reunion, in order to help her old flame Logan Echolls, who's embroiled in a murder mystery.
After her best friend is murdered, and her father is removed as county Sheriff, Veronica Mars dedicates her life to cracking the toughest mysteries in the affluent town of Neptune.
Stars:
Kristen Bell,
Jason Dohring,
Enrico Colantoni
A futuristic laboratory has erased the identities of lost young people, and now imprints them with the temporary identities they need to fulfill assignments for clients.
Half-brothers Lucas and Nathan Scott trade between kinship and rivalry both on the basketball court and in the hearts of their friends in the small, but not so quiet town of Tree Hill, North Carolina.
Stars:
Chad Michael Murray,
James Lafferty,
Hilarie Burton
Former teenage private eye and now an aspiring New York City lawyer, Veronica Mars gets one phone call from ex-boyfriend Logan Echolls and she gets pulled right back into the seedy underbelly of Neptune, California. Logan's pop star girlfriend, Bonnie DeVille, has been murdered and he needs Veronica's help to clear his name. DeVille is a fellow Neptune High alum, and her murder and Veronica's return to Neptune coincide with their 10-year high school reunion. Veronica is face to face with old friends and foes alike and finds it's much harder to leave home a second time.Written by
Anne Campbell
Leighton Meester wasn't able to return as Carrie Bishop (Bonnie DeVille) due to scheduling conflicts, so the character was re-cast and she was replaced by Twin Sister's lead singer, Andrea Estella, who had never acted before. See more »
Goofs
The warfare qualification device on Logan's navy uniform is a gold star with gold wings. No such device exists for U.S. Navy uniforms. See more »
Towards the end of the closing credits, we hear one of Logan's voice mail recordings:
"[phone ringing] This is Logan reminding you: if you're offered a seat on a rocket ship, don't ask which seat, just get on. Sheryl Sandberg said that. So don't leave a message. Go get on that rocket ship. Or, leave a message. Your call. Your decision will tell me a lot about you." See more »
When I say this is for fans only, I don't mean that if you are unfamiliar with the TV series you will be lost watching this. I wasn't a fan of the series and I was able to follow the movie fine. There are plenty of characters and moments that seem to serve no purpose other than (I assume) to please the show's fans, but none of these really get in the way of the plot. I came into this film with no expectations or baggage. I like Kristen Bell and I was willing to give the movie a shot, despite my never being able to get into the show when it was on the air. What I will say about the movie is that if you liked the series, I see no reason why you won't like this. If you didn't like the series (I didn't), then this will probably be a very unpleasant movie viewing experience for you because it really is like a big-screen version of the show. If you have never seen the show, then read on.
The pace is excruciatingly slow and I lost interest more than once. I was quickly reminded of why the show never clicked for me. It's like Buffy without the action, romance, or humor (to say nothing of monsters). Veronica Mars does try to have some of those things, particularly what is supposed to pass for humor. But it's very weak. The kind of stuff you would need a laugh track for. The only time I laughed was with the James Franco cameo. I couldn't for the life of me see what everyone else in the film was talking about regarding this Logan character, played by Jason Dohring. This lanky, rubber-faced individual seems better-suited to playing the nerdy best friend than the handsome "bad boy." There is also no chemistry between Dohring and Kristen Bell. There we have one of many divides that I, as someone not an avid devotee of Veronica Mars, will never be able to cross. The biggest divide is that I found the main character unlikable and obnoxious. Her sneering and condescending tone towards everybody but a select few of her closest friends makes me wonder what anyone ever saw appealing in this character. Thankfully, in her post-Mars career, Kristen Bell has been allowed to do roles that showcased her charm and personality better than this.
As someone who is a fan of actual old-school detective and film noir stories, of which Veronica Mars is supposedly a modernization of, I find nothing of interest here on that front. There is no atmosphere, no snappy dialogue, no unique or memorable characters. Veronica Mars just plods along at a steady pace, never rising or falling significantly, never building momentum to anything. When the moment comes for the mystery to be solved and the killer(s) apprehended, it comes with a whimper not a bang. There is a distinct lack of style or substance to this world of Veronica Mars that makes it very clear why the TV series was not more successful and why it needed fans to pay for this movie to be made.
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When I say this is for fans only, I don't mean that if you are unfamiliar with the TV series you will be lost watching this. I wasn't a fan of the series and I was able to follow the movie fine. There are plenty of characters and moments that seem to serve no purpose other than (I assume) to please the show's fans, but none of these really get in the way of the plot. I came into this film with no expectations or baggage. I like Kristen Bell and I was willing to give the movie a shot, despite my never being able to get into the show when it was on the air. What I will say about the movie is that if you liked the series, I see no reason why you won't like this. If you didn't like the series (I didn't), then this will probably be a very unpleasant movie viewing experience for you because it really is like a big-screen version of the show. If you have never seen the show, then read on.
The pace is excruciatingly slow and I lost interest more than once. I was quickly reminded of why the show never clicked for me. It's like Buffy without the action, romance, or humor (to say nothing of monsters). Veronica Mars does try to have some of those things, particularly what is supposed to pass for humor. But it's very weak. The kind of stuff you would need a laugh track for. The only time I laughed was with the James Franco cameo. I couldn't for the life of me see what everyone else in the film was talking about regarding this Logan character, played by Jason Dohring. This lanky, rubber-faced individual seems better-suited to playing the nerdy best friend than the handsome "bad boy." There is also no chemistry between Dohring and Kristen Bell. There we have one of many divides that I, as someone not an avid devotee of Veronica Mars, will never be able to cross. The biggest divide is that I found the main character unlikable and obnoxious. Her sneering and condescending tone towards everybody but a select few of her closest friends makes me wonder what anyone ever saw appealing in this character. Thankfully, in her post-Mars career, Kristen Bell has been allowed to do roles that showcased her charm and personality better than this.
As someone who is a fan of actual old-school detective and film noir stories, of which Veronica Mars is supposedly a modernization of, I find nothing of interest here on that front. There is no atmosphere, no snappy dialogue, no unique or memorable characters. Veronica Mars just plods along at a steady pace, never rising or falling significantly, never building momentum to anything. When the moment comes for the mystery to be solved and the killer(s) apprehended, it comes with a whimper not a bang. There is a distinct lack of style or substance to this world of Veronica Mars that makes it very clear why the TV series was not more successful and why it needed fans to pay for this movie to be made.