The Kickstarted film has finally been released on VOD. Check it out on Amazon Instant now.
I like Veronica Mars. I discovered the much beloved UPN/CW airing show a long while after it originally ran on TV. Probably nearing 2010. I binged through that show in under a month, and at the time that seemed impressive — I know you internet nerds (me included) scoff at that sounding impressive. However, we’re in a new era of media this decade removed from the premiere of the series; we’re all adults, we can drink alcohol, tell dumb stuff from very dumb stuff, and choose not to give up dream jobs for simple excuses to bring the gang back together. Or are we?
The television show was simple; a detective procedural about a quick witted teenage girl who isn’t afraid of anything and happens to have a PI/cop for a dad to learn from. We saw a lot of generic murder mysteries with Scooby-Gang — yes you can make Buffy jokes — vibes, but really we hung around for a lot of the weirdly cool movie references and fun wit from what was supposed to be a teenager. It was basically Juno before Ellen Page became hated by the corner of the internet that loves to hate wonderful things.
The question of adaptability from the hour long procedural format of television to a nearing two hour film length runtime depends a lot on how you truly view those two things as being different. If you wished that your episodes of television were just twice as long as normal and didn’t care otherwise then you’re golden and will drop right into the middle of it all without caring that it’s just as good/bad as you thought it all was a decade ago. On the other hand if you watch television shows like Veronica Mars with a passive eye not really caring because “it’s what’s on the TV at this moment, you can’t be bothered to reach for the remote and it happens to not be annoying you too much” and you see movies as a more active viewing that you want to engage with on a more serious note then all you’re going to do is notice all the generic things about the show that doesn’t do much to stimulate an audience.
This is a film where I honestly didn’t believe it was being made when the kickstarter campaign happened. I remembered constantly being reminded by the internet that show is beloved as people kept shouting it out as the film fans wanted to be made. Then when time came for them to swarm up and come to action and put their money where their mouth is they did. I’m happy for you guys. For the deep in love Veronica Mars fanboys and girls that got to see one more episode of the show they loved so much they were willing to shove $5 the way of the Rob Thomas and Warner Bros. so that they’d actually make it. I honestly hope more projects get this treatment because while I could tell from a mile away that this film was going to be this and nothing more, I can see this as the time when a lot of the more ‘riskier’ projects can get produced in a more pristine studio setting and possibly be allowed to be weird. With those studio connections bigger stars can play in the realm of the weird and do great things.
Regardless though, if you’re looking to this to be the film that shows the qualities of the television procedural in films then you will only be left with disappointment. Leave those duties to the Liam Neeson vehicles and such others…