Veronica Mars – Film Review

I’ve talked to you a lot over the years about Veronica Mars, even more so over the past few weeks. Starting as a teen noir TV series in 2004 Veronica Mars followed High School detective Veronica (Kristen Bell) as she tried to solve her best friend’s murder, figure out who raped her, and help out at her dad’s private detective agency. It was a surprisingly dark teen drama with clever dialogue and believable characters. The show was beloved by too few people and finished in 2007. Rumours of a film continuing the story were rife as usual and I was not convinced. Cue 2013 and the film has a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign which spawned a dozen imitators and more importantly raised funds for the Veronica Mars film to be a reality.

In the opening two minutes of the film a quick montage is shown summarising the traumatic teenage years of Veronica and serves as a chance for any non-fans to catch up on what they have missed. From there we see Veronica in her new life in New York City, trying to put the past behind her as she embarks on a career as a lawyer and rekindles her romance with the ever reliable Piz (Chris Lowell). Back in her childhood town of Neptune, California the world has not changed so much and soon enough her ex-lover Logan (Jason Dohring), with whom she shares an epic love story, has been accused of murder and needs the assistance of the best former teen detective he knows. Not one to deny the call of the man who has smouldered at her so often Veronica drops everything and hot tails it back to Neptune.

Neptune brings with it seediness, drama, and pretty much every character from the TV series you could have hoped for. In the naive belief that the film still has a few surprises you haven’t read about yet I won’t go into too much detail but suffice it to say that Veronica is staying with her dad Keith Mars (Enrico Colantoni) and her old school friends Wallace (Percy Daggs III) and Mac (Tina Majorino) are back by her side all grown up but still willing to get their hands dirty. When the film returns to Neptune, and in particular when Veronica finds herself at the school reunion, the film suddenly felt like a return home for the fan in me. All the characters are so familiar and throughout there are subtle nods to events that have taken place that cement the film firmly in the Veronica Mars canon.

Series creator Rob Thomas has both written and directed the film and in doing so has had to adapt both his shooting style and the way in which he stretches out the central mystery across the script. In the TV series there would often be a mystery per episode alongside a series-long arc, often involving the death of at least one person. Here in the film a murder is again at the centre and the mystery struggles a little to fill the feature-length running time. As for the shooting style it is clear that a conscious effort has been made to ensure that this film will look impressive on the cinema screen and not just when streamed online. Thomas has pulled the camera back giving every shot a little more scope and letting Neptune fill the screen alongside its inhabitants. The film may only have had a small budget but this does not harm the aesthetic as it showcases production values of a much wealthier shoot and while dialogue heavy scenes do dominate there’s a stunt or two thrown in and nothing ever feels limited or compromised.

Dealing with themes including murder, betrayal, blackmail, and corruption Veronica Mars has lost none of the dark edge that made the series such a cult success. This alongside the carefully honed dialogue and characters with whom you share three years of history Veronica Mars is every bit the film that the fans deserve. I laughed, I gasped, I got the warm fuzzies, and I noted a dozen times when the film would subtly nod to its parent series and let the fans know that they were in safe hands and that nothing had been forgotten.

I don’t know what the film’s appeal will be to those new to Veronica and the town of Neptune. This film is such a labour of love and was funded by, and made for, those who obsessed over the original three series. There is an introduction to catch you up on the basic back story but with 64 episodes condensed to two minutes there’s no way you can care about the characters to the same degree. Perhaps take this as motivation to finally watch the TV series your friends have been harassing you about so you’re all set to properly enjoy the film. I’d love to hear how well the film plays to a non-fan; hopefully it will work on its own and drive viewers back to the series.

As a fan of the series and Kickstarter backer I am biased as anything but I really enjoyed the film and look forward to seeing it again this Friday on the big screen. It could have all gone horribly wrong but thankfully instead we have a solid film that will please rather than horrify the fans and hopefully act as a calling card for a series that needs a little more love.

Veronica Mars is on very limited release from 14th March 2014. Full list of cinemas below:

Empire Cinemas
Leicester Square (London)
Birmingham
Newcastle

Showcase Cinemas
Dartford (London)
Bristol
Cardiff
Nottingham
Leicester
Manchester
Glasgow

Movies@Dundrum
Dublin

A Long Time Ago We Used to Be Fans

For anyone with their finger on the pulsating veins of television and films, as grim an image as that may be, should by now have become aware of the Veronica Mars Movie Project Kickstarter campaign. If not all you need to know is that fan favourite TV show Veronica Mars was cancelled after three seasons back in 2007 and is now raising money for a movie on Kickstarter.

One the one hand this is pretty incredible. A show I love is now going to have a follow-up film, the likes of which I haven’t seen since 2005 with the Firefly film follow-up Serenity. Warner Bros told series creator Rob Thomas and star Kristen Bell that if they could raise $2-million Warner Bros would distribute the film, and presumably take a healthy cut of the profits. For the studio this is a no-brainer as they don’t have to gamble nearly as much money as they would if they had to stump up production costs. Instead the film is funded by fans, to the tune of almost $5-million at the time of writing, in return for DVDs, T-shirts, and other fan-baiting fare.

The campaign has broken many records on Kickstarter and only needs a few more backers before it breaks them all (I think). But is this a good thing? I do want a Veronica Mars movie but also have hesitations when it comes to the general public essentially donating money to a large company without getting the opportunity to properly invest with no chance of proportional monetary reward. Let’s face it, Warner Bros could easily fund the film themselves; $2-million is nothing to them but they simply don’t think the film is worth the risk.

Naturally with the success of one franchise getting a movie funded the fanboys and girls start to hope for their own favourite cancelled series getting a big screen reprise. The idea of a sequel to Serenity was quickly bandied around the internet but Joss Whedon himself was quick to put that to bed:

Right now, it’s a complete non-Kickstarter for me.

At the end of the day Kickstarter is a marvellous tool for giving funding to projects that can’t find it elsewhere and this is the only way a movie of Veronica Mars was ever going to be made. Is it ideal for fans to fully fund the film? No, but they/we are happy to do it so who am I to complain? My Kickstarter philosophy is that I will only give money to projects that need it, that I am passionate about, and that give me something I actually want in return (no thanks to anyone offering me a mention on Twitter). Veronica Mars meets my criteria so has received a small amount of money from me; nothing too extravagant though; I already have too many T-shirts I don’t wear.

As for whether this will change the face of film-making is yet to be seen. Kickstarter already helps fund thousands of independent films with no studio link and I believe that it should continue to do so for the most part. The Veronica Mars projects are a rare find; a project which has a franchise attached, active fans, and creative talent that still want to make more and have the time to do so.

You still have until the end of the week to donate, why not throw a few coins into the jar?

When in Rome – Review

Even with all the adoration in the world for Kristen Bell, which we have and will always have thanks to Veronica Mars, When in Rome cannot survive the fact that it is a terrible film with no real laughs and no sense to its plot. Just look at the poster, it’s awful.

Bell’s character takes some coins out of a fountain and so some guys fall in love with her briefly hampering her burgeoning romance with an overly handsome Josh Duhamel. One of the biggest problem the film faces is with the sheer number of crazy men that have fallen in love with Bell and are therefore chasing after her. With so many characters (okay four) none really get a chance to do much.

When you have Danny DeVito and Will Arnett in your film you should really give them more screen time and better lines would help too. If you aren’t convinced that either are comedians worth your time just watch some Arrested Development or It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia for some proof. Both were reduced to minor bit parts and Arnett forced to put on a “funny” accent. Ugh. As the remaining two love-struck fools Jon Heder and Dax Shepard made Arnett and DeVitto look even better, as both hammed it up far too much.

With all these things wrong with it When in Rome is surprisingly watchable, not necessarily good but certainly watchable, and that is all down to Kristen Bell. Bell takes what little she has to work with and throws herself into it with a delightful perky charm that belongs to someone who deserves a much better agent. Brief appearances from Lee Pace and Kristen Schaal also help keep the film from being a complete disaster.

When in Rome is bad. Kristen Bell is good. It’s a bit confusing.

Forget 3D, We Need Better Wig Technology

Watching this weeks Lost reminded just how bad Claire’s new wig is and how bad wigs on TV are in general. In light of this I made a little collection of some of the worst TV wigs in recent years, oddly all blonde women. Now read on as I try to sound like I know something about women’s hair.

Kristen Bell as Veronica Mars in Veronica Mars
Most episodes of the first season of Veronica Mars included a flashback featuring Veronica with longer hair. Sadly this hair was in the form of a horrible, flat, unconvincing wig that ruined my concentration. I think the biggest giveaway was the complete lack of styling given to the hair, it looked like the wig was just plonked on before the scene began with no real care. In later years when Bell grew out her hair it was even more obvious that that just wasn’t how Veronica Mars would look with long locks.

Hayden Panettiere as Claire in Heroes
In early Heroes episodes Claire’s hair was real but in later season she started donning a wig, presumably because Panettiere had dyed her hair and the show would lose even more viewers should the cheerleader stop being blonde. Sadly the wig was a weak illusion as it sat lifeless on her head with an odd amount of bulk at the back where her own lengthy hair was all bunched up.

Elizabeth Banks as Avery Jessup in 30 Rock
The oddest thing about this instance of wiggery is that as Banks is wearing a wig pretty much identical to her normal hair, the wig seems plain unnecessary. As with the other wigs it was a bulky failure, the hair looking all dry and straw like. This is not the glossy mane of a Hollywood star! Most other instances of wig have a reason but I just don’t see why Banks has to wear one. Madness.

Emilie De Ravin as Claire in Lost
Sadly this Claire is a double offender, having sported two equally obvious wigs during the series. The first, seen on the left, was for a flashback and was to save De Ravin from having to dye her hair. The picture way up top shows her latest wig which is a big crazed mess. This tangled wiggy masterpiece is possibly the least terrible of the lot as the surrounding layer of crazy slightly masks the giveaway bulkiness of the hair beneath the wig. If it’d been up to me I’d just back-comb her hair everyday.

The main problems with these wigs is the lack of styling, the straw-like texture of the hair and the inevitable heft of the actresses’ real barnet beneath the wig. Sort it out! Nothing can ruin the realism of a scene more than an obvious wig. Or I’m just weird. The upcoming Scott Pilgrim is also worrying me with the appearance of wiggery in the promo stills.

Now I’m off to wrestle a bear, or do something equally manly.