La blonde contre-attaque

Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde is a very disappointing sequel as it fails to deliver the laughs. Elle Woods is now a rising young lawyer at a great firm, balancing a demanding a career with preparations for her wedding to the man of her dreams. But when she finds out that her beloved dog Bruiser's family members are being used as cosmetic test subjects by one of her firm's own clients, she stands up for their rights--and is promptly fired. Ms. Woods decides to go to Washington to take matters into her own hands. The plot actually had some potential, unfortunately the execution was very poor. The original wasn't an Oscar quality film, it was just a fun film to watch. The sequel isn't as fun nor is it fun in general. It was pretty much the same as the first movie and so it was a pretty pointless sequel. Reese Witherspoon returns and she does a good job but she's working with a weak script. The supporting cast isn't very good as none add much to the film. Sally Field is a very good actress but her talents are wasted. Luke Wilson's character isn't very interesting and Jennifer Coolidge tries to hard most of the time. Regina King is a new addition to the cast and she does an okay job, nothing memorable though. Missing from this sequel is Selma Blair, this doesn't matter though as her character wasn't really needed. Charles Herman-Wurmfeld replaces Robert Luketic as the director and does a very bad job. The running time is a brief 95 minutes though it feels a lot longer then that. The film felt a lot longer since the movie just wasn't funny. There were a few funny moments though most of the jokes this film delivered were, at best, small chuckles. Do a few funny moments redeem this film? No, this sequel is one of the worst sequels of 2003 and one of the worst comedies of 2003. In the end, this sequel may seem funny but I assure you it isn't. Rating 4.3/10, rent the original instead.

Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) is getting married to Emmett Richmond (Luke Wilson). She goes in search of her dog Bruiser Woods' parents for the wedding. She finds Bruiser's mom being tested on at V.E.R.S.A.C.E. When she objects, she's let go from her law firm. She decides to go to Washington D.C. to change the law for animal testing. She gets to work for fellow alumni Rep. Victoria Rudd (Sally Field).

The first movie had the charm of something completely original. I liked the first one enough but this one doesn't have the possibility of taking us by surprise. The idea seems old now. The movie tries to put Elle Woods in the most unlikely place again. So they twist a story out of shape to put her there and make DC out to be something unreal. It isn't quite as funny anymore. At least it's not funny intentionally.

Reese Goes to Washington. We discover that, beneath a very very thin veneer of protocol, politics in DC largely functions EXACTLY like a sorority! Isn't that cool? How FUN! But how on earth will Reese figure out to puncture this veneer of propriety and protocol that prevents people from doing the right thing and allows bureacracy and EEEEEEVIL to propogate through the legislative halls of our great land? well, i don't want to spoil the whole movie for you! But guess what? The really cool and honest Legislator that Reese goes to work for? She's kind of EEEEEEVIL!

Unfortunately, this film does not live up to its antecedent, which was very enjoyable. The problem is not with the cast, but with the script. It lacks the humor or the heart that made the first film funny and stirring. This is a real disappointment, I'm sure, to so many fans who wanted to root for Elle Woods again.

Perhaps if Elle had had a truly troublesome issue to overcome, something to add weight to the drama (which is absent in this film), viewers would have someone to cheer for. This film had all the gravitas of a Barbie playdate.

Yes, yes I know it's a sequel so what do I expect. Well, generally I do expect a lot from Reese Witherspoon. I enjoyed Legally Blonde a lot, and thought it was clever and very funny. In it, Elle backed up her perkiness and style with competence. Even the courtroom scene, if audacious, was reasonably believable. However improbable, it was at least possible for the plot to take the twists and turns that it did, and for Elle to achieve success - which ultimately Elle's success was due to her hard work and brilliant mind, not her looks.

The new movie has none of that. The scenes of committee hearings and Congressional sessions are completely unrealistic and not believable. The sad thing is it probably COULD be made believable, but it's just not done right. Even worse, her ultimate success comes in spite of her incompetence in the political arena, rather than due to her competence. And her marriage - which to Elle's character would be expected to be a VERY big deal - is a minor subplot. Overall the script feels half-done, and as a result the whole thing just doesn't work. At least there were a few good yuks, though not as many as in the original movie.

I've heard they're working on LB3, in which Reese runs for President. Let's hope Reese gets a little more "Type A" and gets that one done right again.