It got a 7/10 because the fans that this move was tailor-made for all saw it and loved it.
Are you asking why did fans that this movie was made for, like it? Or are you asking why fans of this movie were allowed to rate it highly on IMDb?
Both questions to me seem like they can be answered quite readily without starting a thread in which you are going to trashed. But let me answer anyway.
If every movie could successfully get their target audience (and only their target audience) to view it, then every movie would have at least a 7.0 rating, probably an 8.0 rating.
And that's what Veronica Mars did so successfully - their marketing to their fanbase was massive, all of their actors being active on social media, but their marketing in general was next to nothing. Their limited theatrical release but widespread VOD release and with download links sent directly to the financial contributors, allowed for all of the fans (their target audience, the people that this movie was made to please) to watch it, but people outside of the fanbase knew next to nothing about the movie and very few of them watched it.
When that happens, all of the fans are going to rate it highly, and the few people who probably aren't going to get it will rate it much lower, but there's so much fewer of them that the rating remains high.
IF you're asking why did the fans like it, well, they are fans of the show that this is a continuation of. We had three years to get connected to the characters, their interactions, their personal story. For fans, it was like their friends who they haven't seen in 9 years come back to town. Maybe their current activities aren't legendary, but they have all the memories to reminisce. To fans, this movie was very funny, it had a lot of inside jokes and it was a continuation of characters' personal journeys that they have wanted to see for 9 years.
I am a fan, but not a lifelong fan who contributed to the making of the movie, and I gave it 7/10. The humour that film captured mixed with the dark tones, the portrayal of the person Veronica grew up to be, and Logan as well. To fans there was so much more than just the story that was on the screen, but the story in the past 9 years. So yes, I like it. If I had never seen the show, I know that I wouldn't have found it as funny, I wouldn't have found it as interesting and some of the actor's choices would have confused me, it would probably have been a 4/10. But nobody should be required to remove their personal experiences from their life and rate a film for anything other than how it made them feel. Film is subjective after all, and it's supposed to be subjective and it will always be subjective, so yeah, I gave it a 7/10 because that's what it is to me. And guess what? I'm not going to feel bad just because you think I shouldn't like it and that classics need to be rated higher, why, because they're classics? That's *beep*
User ratings are just that - USER ratings, PERSONAL ratings, meant to reflect how that individual person feels about that movie.
So I think we have established why fans like this movie; they are the people this movie was made for, they loved it, and they rated it highly. This movie was so successful in getting it seen by the people who would like it, that the non-fans are a much smaller percentage of the film's audience, that overall it has a high rating.
As I think should be repeated, film is subjective. It is not just about how well specific aspects of a film are made, but way more importantly, how it makes people feel. What emotions are the film able to pull out of their audience? Can they make them laugh? Are they intrigued by the story the characters are involved in? Are they emotionally connected to the characters? Do they care about what is happening on screen? Generally speaking, positive responses to those questions can be achieved by good story-telling, witty story-telling, good acting, good/interesting camera work and effective editing. So yes, that's what makes a film good, but that's not solely how a film should be judged. A film should be judged by each individual viewer on how it made them feel/be entertained. Any film that is able to get positive responses to those questions deserves whatever high rating those fans want to give it.
Generally speaking, I like films (give them high ratings) when they give me characters that I emotionally connect with - that's usually achieved when the films have well written character arcs and actors who can portray those character arcs. I also usually need to understand the characters' motivations and generally understand them. This happens best when these characters are similar to me or similar to people I have met, or have some basis in the world in which I inhabit. And believe it or not, but because I live in the modern, western world, I connect much better to, and enjoy, modern, western films. As a rough guideline, movies made before my parents' generation has much more foreign styles. Mannerisms of speech and actions that just don't mean as much to me. Is it my fault? No. Is it the filmmakers' fault? No. It means those movies were not made for me. Other movies, including Veronica Mars, were made for me.
So, what makes this movie remotely good? It's because I, and many other fans, were emotionally-connected to these characters. They made us laugh, they made us fear for their safety, and they had us interested in their personal growth. I love the character of Veronica Mars. She's witty, smart, independent, vengeful and tragic. From her first moment on screen until now, she has a tremendous arc. And anybody who recognizes that has every right to rate it highly. And everybody who doesn't recognize that has every right to rate it lower.
When you don't connect to a movie the way others have, certainly ask the question about why, but once you find out that it was based on a TV show, and that fans of the show helped fund this movie, doesn't that answer your question? What answer other than "fans of the show liked the movie because they're, well, fans" were you expecting to get?
I thought Serenity was a pretty bad movie, but the 8.0 rating isn't surprising once you know that it was made for fans of the TV show Firefly. Let the fans enjoy it, and those outside of the target audience don't need to worry about it.
My film reviews site: www.FilmGateReviews.com
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