"This is what we get for liking the first one?? Great."
Here's a textbook example of A SUCKY SEQUEL. See, when people left the multiplexes after seeing the first Legally Blonde, most were mildly excited by the fact that the film was considerably more charming and amusing than it had any right to be. Legally Blonde was a bright little surprise. So instead of trying to recapture that magic with an honest effort, the sequel-mongers trot out this lifeless mess, a sadly unnecessary film that hopes to earn points simply by being "familiar".Ye gods do we NOT need an Elle Woods revisit. I'm going to keep this attack short, as every letter I type is two more than this despicable flotsam deserves. Gone is the sunny goodwill and pleasant perkiness of the original installment. In the all-important rush to crank out a sequel while the original movie is still remembered fondly, the filmmakers forgot to add anything resembling comedy, drama or basically anything that would hold your interest for 90 minutes.
The act of watching Red, White & Blonde feels like some horrible punishment, administered because we chose to make the first flick so darn profitable. Old characters and catch phrases are bandied about in a transparent effort at familiarity, but in the end this movie feels like a failed TV pilot inspired by Legally Blonde.
And if you've ever seen the TV shows based on Animal House or Ferris Bueller's Day Off, then you're well aware that such a comparison is hardly a compliment. This listless mess takes Elle out of college and plunks her down into Washington D.C. Why she's there and what she accomplishes through her staggeringly ditzy Blonde Power are plot contrivances best left to the professional screenwriters; suffice to say I've seen empty aquariums that exhibit more life and color than this movie does.
Precisely like the first film, Elle gets treated meanly by hard-working people who immediately label her as the clear dolt she is. In Act III, Elle gets real smart and shows those bullies but good. We bought the first film because Elle, despite being rather shallow and simpering, was sort of charming. In the sequel, she's simply insufferable. Witherspoon seems firmly stuck on Bubbly Overload and it's sad to see a character actually devolve from one film to another.
Instead of using what worked in Legally Blonde as a springboard to more fresh-faced projects, MGM was simply content to slap a paint-by-numbers follow-up into the multiplexes and keep their collective fingers crossed. Well, they got pretty lucky with Part 1. No way it happens again.That Bob Newhart and Sally Field find themselves playing third and fourth bananas to a vapid Reese Witherspoon and her omnipresent little doggie (insert "awwwwwww" here) is simply too sad for words. This is lazy, cookie-cutter sequelizing at its most royally obnoxious. Sure, I still like the first movie - but now I'm sort of wishing I didn't.
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