Veronica Mars 2014

Christy Lemire, ChristyLemire.com: Veronica herself is such a breath of fresh air as a strong female character: smart, secure, resourceful, loyal, funny and not the slightest bit chickish. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: This movie takes great pains to thank the fans who made this possible by including many characters from the series - a good deal for them, not necessarily so great for the rest of us. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: Veronica is still hard as nails yet also, in her honest self-appraisal, as soft as a marshmallow - a description that unfortunately also applies to the movie. Read more

A.A. Dowd, AV Club: As a nostalgia trip, and a valentine to the virtues of its terrific source material, Veronica Mars gets the job done. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: They're calling "Veronica Mars" a movie, but no matter which way you squint at it, it's a TV show. Read more

Brianna Wellen, Chicago Reader: The uninitiated may not go for the all-too-convenient crime solving, melodramatic love triangle, and playful banter, but cultists will find all the show's pleasures intact. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Everything about the way the movie version of "Veronica Mars" came to pass is more intriguing than the movie itself. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: In the center, of course, is Bell, still right on target with the wisecracks and attitude that made "Mars" work. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: The film gets us to see, in a new way, the strengths and weaknesses of weekly series television that viewers too often take for granted. Read more

Sheri Linden, Hollywood Reporter: A solid cinematic turn for the Nancy Drew of the new millennium, sure to delight crowdfunding backers and other fans of the source series. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: Ties up a lot of loose ends and opens up a new can of worms. Read more

Chuck Barney, San Jose Mercury News: Bell, as charming and witty as ever, smoothly steps back into the role she was made to play. Read more

Esther Breger, The New Republic: This isn't just a nostalgia trip. Almost a decade has passed, and the characters aren't just older, they've changed in recognizable and gratifying ways. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: "Veronica Mars" isn't really a movie but another episode -- and not even a grand finale -- with all the familiar characters and in-jokes that viewers expect. Read more

Bruce Diones, New Yorker: The film is an obvious labor of love for all concerned, and the good times are infectious. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Congratulations, loyalists. Veronica's return is everything you've hoped it would be. It's so much fun you may want to put a few bucks aside for a sequel. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: Everything feels forced, from Veronica's almost compulsive snappy patter to a class reunion that includes a sex tape and a brawl. Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: The movie proves you can go home again. But it will take a better sequel to decide whether you want to. Read more

David Hiltbrand, Philadelphia Inquirer: Veronica Mars is a great deal more than a bonus episode, but slightly less than a movie. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Veronica Mars is a delightful piece of fan service - a supersized TV reunion episode expanded for viewing in movie theaters. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Right now, the question is how did Veronica Mars turn out as a movie? It's a mixed bag. Too much time wasted on a whodunit that's more like a who-cares. No matter. Mars fans will have a blast. Read more

Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle: Newcomers will be less pleased, discovering a product that looks and feels like a scaled-up television show. The inside jokes and receiving line of nudge-wink cameos only adds to the small-screen feel. Read more

Willa Paskin, Slate: I don't know how much money Veronica Mars will make, or how much money it has to make to be deemed a success, but as means of fan-satisfaction it is a needle to a major vein. Read more

Carl Wilson, Globe and Mail: It all seems like an overblown TV episode. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Be careful what you wish for, and also what you buy into. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Veronica Mars makes the jokes witty, the mystery challenging and the suspense and action tense. You don't have to have tuned in to the small-screen version to enjoy it on the big one. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: There's something rather bland about Veronica Mars ... But the one-liners are sharp, the plot unpredictable and the whole thing ticks along with a minimum of fuss. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: For better and for worse, this is a movie where you can truly say that fans have gotten everything they've paid for. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: It's effective as a sequel to the television series and works just as well as a stand-alone film. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Village Voice: For people who loved the show, as I did, it's like fan fiction without the delusional megalomania. We don't have to keep writing these characters' stories for ourselves; Thomas has done it for us - and, trust me, he's better at it. Read more

Margaret Lyons, New York Magazine/Vulture: Somehow, miraculously, the Veronica Mars movie is definitely not bad. It's pretty damn good, actually. Read more

Stephanie Merry, Washington Post: Luckily, the action picks up when the dialogue stalls, with startling car crashes, cat-and-mouse games and unexpected gunshots that make for a spellbinding climax. Read more