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Veronica Mars
3 Waffles!

Don’t call it a comeback. Veronica Mars never went away.

It has been ten years since Veronica (Kristen Bell) graduated from Neptune High, and life is pretty good. She has a degree from Stanford, successfully completed Columbia Law School, and the young lady is sitting in an interview to work for one of the most prestigious law firms in the world. Yet, Neptune is calling again (just let it go to voice mail!).

Veronica’s classmate, Carrie Bishop (Andrea Estella), went on to become a famous pop star, but the young singer has been found murdered! Worse yet, the accused murderer is none other than her current boyfriend, and Veronica’s long time, estranged love, Logan (Jason Dohring).

When Logan calls, Veronica is willing to drop everything to head out to California to help him find a suitable lawyer, but she can’t tamp down the old detective fire burning inside of her (don’t they have meds for that?), and she’s ready to find out who framed Logan, no matter what she loses in the process!

Who is the murderer?

How far is Veronica willing to go to solve the case?

I never watched an episode of Veronica Mars when it was on TV, but you don’t need to be a die hard fan to like the film. And, if you loved Veronica Mars on TV, you will be enraptured all over again.

Writer/director Rob Thomas along with co-writer Diane Ruggerio make sure to give the audience a quick Veronica Mars recap at the beginning to help the non-initiated catch up, but, after that, the audience is drawn in by a good story, decent mystery and some fun dialogue to make our hero and her pals the cool people you want to be friends with for all of the right reasons.

Sure, much of the movie is made for the longtime fans with plenty of re-appearances by the characters they followed for several years, but, ultimately, Veronica Mars is a good movie because it’s a good movie.

Thomas and Ruggerio bring Neptune to life like some vivid purgatory for humanity where the Haves battle the Have Nots, and temptation is around every corner. However, everyone here in this purgatory has better dialogue. Veronica and the gang are a bunch of smart asses, and that’s what makes it entertaining, especially the loving relationship between father and daughter complete with playful jousting and true concern and caring for each other.

The only problem with Veronica Mars is the scope. Instead of giving us more detail and twists in the main plot, Thomas and Ruggerio become distracted with making us believe something bigger is afoot by floating the idea of a larger conspiracy with monumental consequences involving the most powerful of Neptune, but we just need to focus on this case and this mystery (no matter how much the producers wants to set us up for a sequel).

After no Hollywood studio had the interest to make Veronica Mars, the movie was funded by over 91,000 fans through a history making Kickstarter campaign, so the release is just as unconventional as the financing. Veronica Mars is playing on about 270 screens this week, but will also debut via Video On Demand on cable systems all across the country, so no fan will miss out on the fun.

Veronica Mars is rated PG-13 for sexuality including references, drug content, violence and some strong language.