So there are a lot of interesting movies out right now and I’m sorry to say I haven’t had the time to go see them. I had hoped to get into a pattern of a movie a week and had visions of actually having a regular post on SomewhatNerdy. School, however, had different plans. But I saw a movie this weekend with some time I managed to find. So what did I see? Need for Speed? 300? Mr. Peabody & Sherman? No! I saw Veronica Mars
I never watched Veronica Mars when it was on TV back in 2004, so I never suspected that I’d end up watching the movie. However one of my friends is a Marshmallow, the cuties name for fans of V Mars, and she wanted to see it, so I went and saw it with her and you know what? It was okay.
The Veronica Mars movie felt like a an hour and forty-seven minute episode, and I think it worked quite well. Most shows that go from the small screen to the silver screen try to overshoot. They try to take advantage of the longer format and the bigger budget and lose sight of what made the show popular in the first place. Firefly escaped that fate when Serenity came out and I’m happy to say V Mars did as well.
The movie had plenty of references to the TV show that made all the fans in the theater cheer and laugh but there was enough for newcomers to make it easy to watch. The movie starts with a nice recap and each and every character is reintroduced so I was rarely confused. Veronica Mars had a nice film noir feel to it that help set the crime solving mood and there were enough suspects to keep it from being too easy to figure it out.
The problem I had was the reliance on TV and movie tropes. The romance was easy to see coming and when it came to fruition, it did so in one of the most cliché ways possible. The guy was on his way out after putting Veronica to bed. He goes to leave but as he’s about to open the door she appears in the hallway saying “don’t go” and they bang like bunnies.
Putting the tropes aside, the movie was fun and even though I never saw Veronica Mars before, I cared about the characters. That’s more than I could say for a lot of movies. Even Monuments Men, with its big budget and big actors, couldn’t make me care. So there’s a lot to be said for the kickstarted Veronica Mars movie.
The question that’s left is, should you see it? The answer is yes. If you’re a fan of the series then go see it on the big screen. It’s not every day you get to see one of your favorite TV shows in a theater. If you’ve never seen the show then I’d hold off. Watch the show first then get it on demand.
On a side note, even if you’re not interested in the movie you should still buy a ticket but go see something else. You may be asking yourself “why should I do that?” The answer is simple. Hope, my friends. Hope. Entertainment Weekly reported that the success or failure of the Veronica Mars movie is going to be watched by Fox, Universal, and Joss Whedon. The reason? If V Mars does well enough the magical Hollywood powers that be will consider doing a kickstarted Firefly mini-series. I know, it’s not much, but it’s something. Will it happen? Probably not. But I will always search for even the faintest hint of a chance for more Firefly.
Oh yeah, I should give Veronica Mars a rating, huh? It was a good formulaic movie that suffered from a case of the clichés. 7 out of 11
