'Veronica Mars' fans rewarded for patience, loyalty

Seven years after the cancellation of the short-lived, beloved cult show Veronica Mars" (2004-2007) and a year after 90,000 fans donated $5.7 million in a groundbreaking Kickstarter campaign to fund a film version, "Veronica Mars" hit select theaters earlier this month. While fans of the series will be thrilled with the result, how newcomers will take to the film is unclear.

The first few minutes of the movie offer a refresher on the show: Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell), a sassy, quick-witted teenage detective, once navigated her hostile high school and star-crossed relationships while tackling mysteries, murder and corruption in her town of Neptune, Calif. The film finds Veronica, 10 years later, living in New York, about to begin a promising law career and restarting a relationship with her third season flame Piz (Chris Lowell). She claims to have put Neptune and the private investigation business behind her.

Cue the murder: a pop star is found dead in her bathtub and the woman's boyfriend, who happens to be Veronica's tormented ex Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring), is the primary suspect. Veronica flies back to Neptune to help clear Logan's name - and quickly gets roped into attending a conveniently-timed Neptune High reunion. (Go Pirates!)
The entire film, in fact, acts as a reunion for the show's best characters. Writer, director and producer Rob Thomas has permitted each character to grow appropriately. Veronica's best friend Wallace (Percy Daggs III) is now a teacher and basketball coach at Neptune High, computer genius Mac (Tina Majorino) works for Kane Software and former motorcycle gang leader and bad-boy Weevil (Francis Capra) is settled down with a wife and a daughter. Well, maybe not every character has changed - Logan's best friend Dick Casablancas (Ryan Hansen) is still as hilarious and ridiculous as always, and the Regina George of Neptune High, Madison Sinclair (Amanda Noret), remains the epitome of unabashed privilege.

The most interesting evolution, however, is that of Logan. On the show he was angsty, jealous and frequently violent. Since breaking up with Veronica, he has become a Navy officer, and the military has transformed him into a serious, disciplined individual. (Fear not, Logan fans: the quips and smirks are generally intact.) He remains dark and edgy, and still prefers to settle conflicts with a punch, but in many ways he is more open, caring and grateful. In other words, Logan is now someone who could conceivably have a healthy relationship with Veronica. (Their relationship on the show, while passionate, was always tumultuous and controversial.)
Bell, as ever, is a fabulous, fierce lead and a joy to watch. Celebrity appearances from James Franco, Justin Long, Max Greenfield, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ira Glass and Bell's husband Dax Shepard are also used to hilarious effect.

The overarching theme is one of addiction: Just as the fans have been unable to let Veronica and company go, Veronica recognizes that she is a junkie who cannot get Neptune, Logan and the thrill of detective work out of her system. Can she do this one last job without getting hooked again? Can she accept a position at a law firm and the normalcy that it offers?
The central plot of the film is hardly the mystery-to-end-all-mysteries, and it feels better suited to an hour of television than to a film. Its greatest triumph may be in allowing Veronica to finally save herself: On the show, although she solved the mysteries, she usually needed her father (Enrico Colantoni) or Logan to save her in critical moment. Here, she is entirely self-sufficient.

The subplots all deserve greater development, particularly the corruption in the Neptune Sheriff's department and Weevil's wavering on the edge of reentry into gang life. Several additional movies would be needed to do any sort of justice to storylines lost in the seven years' absence. The film also shies away from quite the same level of social commentary that made the show a standout