# Veronica Mars, The Movie - Blu-ray Review



## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=17378[/img] 
*Title: Veronica Mars The Movie* 

*Movie:* :4stars:
*Video:* :4stars:
*Audio:* :4stars: 
*Extras:* :3.5stars: 

*HTS Overall Score:*79




[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=17386[/img]*Summary*
“Veronica Mars The Movie” is one of those movies that would not have been made without fan support. The TV Show ended 7 years ago, leaving fans screaming “Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!” in disappointment, and it took years and years of fans begging, writing petitions and even Kristen Bell and director Rob Thomas petitioning the studios to get even a bit of rumblings from the it. It took a fan kickstarter project to donate 10’s of thousands of dollars before Warner green lit the production, allowing fans and new arrivals alike to enjoy the results. Rob Thomas hasn't lost his touch after all these years and the film doesn't feel like a disjointed mess that so many “revisits” have done, ala “The Brady Bunch” etc. The tone and the feel are all spot on and they do a nice job of summarizing the show at the beginning of the film so that new arrivals don’t feel lost in the back story.

Veronica Mar (Kristen Bell) has gone through a lot. Her father, Keith Mars (Enrico Colantoni), was a police chief gone P.I. in the town of Neptune, California. She moved on from answering phones and helping out with the office problems to full on helping him unveil corruption in the sleazy town. Veronica has a sort of love/hate relationship with the town. The rich snobs tend to loath her due to she and her father’s efforts at uncovering all the dirt that the ruling class had hidden in their closets. Not only that the Sheriffs department tends to be just corrupt as the rest of them, giving the Mars investigation service PLENTY of business. 

Years later, Veronica has escaped from the clutches of Neptune and gone on to be a lawyer. Applying at a law firm (amusingly headed by Jamie Lee Curtis), she’s in the door when a blast from the past pulls her back to Neptune. It seems that her ex flame, Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring), has been implicated for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Bonnie Deville, a former classmate of the two, and a now famous pop star. With much trepidation at going back to Neptune, especially with it being 10 year reunion time, she comes back in an effort to weed out scummy lawyers who are trying to attach themselves to high profile case. BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT, that’s never how it works out for Veronica, does it? Faster than you can say “bob’s your uncle” Veronica mars is digging up clues on how things went down.


[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=17394[/img]
Jason is seemingly the man here. He was at the crime scene within minutes of time of death and everything points toward him, including the pointing fingers of Neptune and the rest of the nation who wants a villain for their beloved pop star’s death. As she digs deeper into Bonnie’s past, more and more fingers start to be pointing towards something deeper and darker, and much more ancient that caused Bonnie’s death. Competitive P.I.’s, sneering Sheriff’s and even the worst horror of all, a 10 year reunion full of snobby classmates, won't keep Veronica from getting her man/woman.

Rob Thomas had a lot to cover here. He had to meet long time fan’s expectations, for it took quite a bit of fan money to get this going, as well as please the studios numbers and new fans alike. In all honesty, I think he did a really good job here. The film captures the feel and the essence of the show quite nicely. Pushing the boundaries of TV into the film scope, yet still keeping the characters and typical “Veronica Mars” cases in check. The show is basically a really extended episode of the TV series, but for fans, that’s EXACTLY what they wanted. Too many TV show turned movie enterprises lose the fans along the way as it tries to be something more than what the TV show was. Here it strikes a nice balance. The characters are all the same, but they've matured a bit, and so does the drama and the relationships. The on again, off again relationship with Logan is right back to the old rhythms that the show thrived on, but the stakes are a bit higher, as the death penalty or life in prison awaits her old flame. 

New arrivals will feel right at home with the movie, as it does a great job of wrapping up the series back story in the first 15 minutes or so. The film has an exciting edge of mystery and intrigue that will appeal to any mystery buff and very well may be the hook that pulls them into watching the fantastic “Veronica Mars” TV series to boot. 





*Rating:* 

Rated PG-13 for sexuality including references, drug content, violence and some strong language



*Video* :4stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=17402[/img]The 1.85:1 AVC transfer for “Veronica Mars” is quite pleasing indeed. The show has always had a slightly soft look to it, and Rob Thomas’ transfer is very much a spruced up version of that stylistic choice. The colors are just as pleasing, with a push towards the blue/green side of the spectrum. Facial skin tones and contrasts are excellent, with some nice pop in the skin tones. The color palette itself is a tad muted, with an emphasis on grays and dark saturated blacks. A lot of the skulking around that Veronica does is in the night time, or in the shadows so you can be certain that I was paying attention to those black levels quite a bit. There was a few times where I felt the blacks were washed out, specifically that ending ½ an hour, but the generally they were excellent. Detail ranges from good to excellent. During many of the outdoor scenes detail was simply resplendent, where you can see every pore and crevice on a person’s face, but many of the indoor scenes, particularly the high school reunion, had a bit of a softness to them. A very pleasing transfer, it does its job well, with those few minor issues.











*Audio* :4stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=17410[/img]The audio track is right on par for the course. It does the job very well, but with a few minor issues. The track is a 5.1 DTS-HD MA one and certainly is a lot more lively than the television show by a large margin. The Surrounds are used a bit more and bring some solid depth to the track. That’s not to say that it’s a stunner in that department. The surround channel has some nice ambient noise, but lacks that 360 sense of immersion that other tracks can give. The majority of the film was still stuck quite heavily in the front three channels. The dialogue was clean and crisp, without any balance issues whatsoever and those three front channels really do shine. The LFE was there and does an admirable job of adding some low end support to the film’s dark and brooding sound track. There are quite a lot of instances where that added “whomp” comes in handy as with a bullet to the chest or the thundering crash of a car collision. 





*Extras* :3.5stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=17418[/img] 
• By The Fans: The Making of the "Veronica Mars Movie"
• Deleted Scenes
• Gag Reel
• More On-Set Fun: Welcome to Keith Mars Investigation
• More On-Set Fun: Game Show with Kristen Bell and Chris Lowell
• More On-Set Fun: On Set with Max Greenfield
• More On-Set Fun: Veronica Mars' Backers
• More On-Set Fun: "It's Not All About You, Monkey"
• More On-Set Fun: Young Veronica











*Overall:* :4stars:

“Veronica Mars, The Movie” is a fans dream come true. After years and years of begging, and a kickstarter campaign, it’s finally come true. Rob Thomas still hasn't lost his touch after this many years and fans of the show should be very happy with the result. For those of you who've not watched the show, it’s still a great mystery and serves very nicely as a gateway into the previous three seasons, kind of how “Serenity” served as a gateway to firefly for those who were late to the party. With solid audio and video, and some decent extras it’s definitely worth the watch. 


*Additional Information:*

Starring: Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring, Enrico, Colantoni
Directed by: Rob Thomas
Written by: Rob Thomas, Diane Ruggiero
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Spanish DD 5.1
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 83 minutes
Own "VERONICA MARS" on Blu-ray and DVD on 5/6


*Buy Veronica Mars The Movie Blu-ray on Amazon*



*Recommendation: Watch It​*







More about Mike


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Thanks for the review Mike. This isn't one that really has piqued my interest but I'll give it a spin. For me this is a really slow time for Blu-ray releases.


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## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

JBrax said:


> Thanks for the review Mike. This isn't one that really has piqued my interest but I'll give it a spin. For me this is a really slow time for Blu-ray releases.


1st quarter is always sluggish but starts picking up. Next month and later this month will be some goodies


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Was this a TV show? I don't remember ever seeing anything about it....


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## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

ALMFamily said:


> Was this a TV show? I don't remember ever seeing anything about it....


yes, a 3 season long tv show from 2004-2007... almost won an emmy, has a rabid fan base rivaling farscape, for fans trying to get a completion to the series

I edited that first sentence or two to more accurately point that out


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