User reviews

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.

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.

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.

The first "Legally Blonde", with its "ditzy girl with a heart of gold does well" storyline was basically a rip-off of "Clueless", but it wasn't bad. It had a funny central idea, more than a few solid laughs, and a really entertaining lead character. This sloppy, lamely plotted, cash-in sequel has none of those things.

Reese Witherspoon, rapidly losing any edginess she used to have, is back as Elle Woods, the pink-loving, fashion conscious lawyer. She's about to get married to her boyfriend from the last movie (played by Luke Wilson) and in trying to invite her dog's parents to the wedding (that's right, her DOG'S PARENTS - remember what I said about the movie being "lamely plotted"?), she finds out that the dog's mother is being held prisoner by a cosmetics company that is pro-animal testing.

So...Elle decides to go to Washington to take on animal testing. And I wish I was in a different theater.

What we have here is a comedy with no good jokes. Not a single one. This movie's idea of "comedy" is for Elle to find out her chihuahua is gay. And then in the very next scene, the chihuahua is wearing a studded leather vest. Sigh.

Also, it's dumb. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but there's a big difference between movies that go about being dumb in a very smart, witty way (see "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle") and a movie like "Legally Blonde 2", which is just plain dopey. The story is idiotic, characters change their minds and motivations for no reason other than to fit into where the plot is going, and everything wraps up in a way that is nauseatingly phony.

I've pretty much given up on Reese Witherspoon. Where is the cool, edgy actress that starred in movies like "Election", "Freeway" and "American Psycho"? Abducted by Hollywood to make useless, vanilla movies like this, apparently.

I, for one, would love to see her character from "Freeway" scare the living s*** out of Elle Woods.

I loved the original Legally Blonde, and I knew going into this movie that it wouldn't be as good as the original. My only solace lies in the thought that this could have been so much worse than it was.

First, LB2 relied too much on the Elle-Woods-Fish-Out-Of-Water plot. It should have portrayed the main character as being savvy enough to take advantage of the fact that her opponents always underestimated her. After all, she's been out of law school a couple of years already, surely she'd have learned that much, right?

Second, the plot itself was too contrived. There wasn't a single believable character in the show, and Witherspoon was just a caricature of the original movie's heroine.

But I still managed to enjoy most of the show. I even chuckled in a couple of scenes. But I winced at far too many other scenes, and the climactic speech to Congress was abominable.

I've seen worse remakes than this, but I think the producers missed an opportunity to make a good film instead of a knock-off.

That a film sequel will invariably fail to meet the standards of its predecessor is nearly axiomatic. For every brilliant sequel like 'Aliens' or 'Godfather: Part II', there are dozens of painfully lame successors. This is hardly a surprise, yet it is our own unerring tendency to flock, lemming-like, to sequels that insures their continued existence. Sequels make money, and that's a bad thing.

Take 'Legally Blonde 2'. Please.

By way of defense, let me point out that it isn't all that easy to find a movie that will entertain two adults, a 15 year old boy, and a 12 year old girl. Our hopes weren't high when we rented LB2 a couple of weekends ago; however, we all agreed that we had enjoyed the original movie, or at least hadn't actively hated it. That perky little Reese Witherspoon – how can you not kinda like her, huh?

After seeing LB2, I will unreservedly credit it with one thing: it provided a rallying point for my often-scattered family. We were steadfast, united in our complete and utter loathing for this execrable movie. Beyond that questionable achievement, however, I'm not sure there's anything positive that can be said about this film.

As virtually every other reviewer on the planet has noted, the original 'Blonde' had some amusing moments, most of which were supplied by Ms. Witherspoon, who managed to inject the character of Elle Woods with a believable combination of ditziness and sweet charm. Also bolstering the original film was co-star Jennifer Coolidge, who played her dim-bulb shtick to perfection as Elle's beautician friend Paulette. Of course it was a by-the-numbers plot line as predictable as Oregon rain, but Witherspoon, et al played it lightly and for laughs and it worked.

The sequel, however, is an appalling mélange of preachiness, offensive stereotypes, and patently ludicrous plot devices. 'Legally Blonde' made points by taking a helium-weight, bubbleheaded rich girl and making her into a sympathetic character. In LB2, Elle is an annoying dipshit whose breathless naivete and hyperactive adventures are simply painful to endure.

There's no real point in enumerating all the faults of this movie. To do so would be to grant it more thought than evidently went into its creation. But I can't simply step away from one aspect of the film that I found both irritating and troubling. Viewers of the first film will no doubt remember Elle's Chihuahua, Bruiser. For reasons that are continually validated, I tend to hate cutesy cinematic animal sidekicks, and Bruiser was emphatically no exception. In LB2, however, Bruiser's sexuality becomes a repeated theme and convenient plot device. More specifically, we (and Elle) discover that Bruiser is…(wait for it)… gay.

Hilarity ensues, ad nauseum.

It's a damning testimony that 1) the writers of this movie were so desperate for script fodder that they came up with this stunningly lame idea in the first place;

2) that they play it so shamelessly for laughs; and 3) that certain plot twists depend on this fact. It's a stupid, stupid idea in a stupid, stupid movie.

Should I waste more of my time or yours decrying the utter waste of Jennifer Coolidge in this movie? What about Sally Field's humiliating role as Congresswoman Victoria Rudd? Bob Newhart's excruciating turn as the know-it-all hotel doorman cum political mentor. Finally, on a larger scale, should we discuss the massive suspension of disbelief that's required to even slightly believe a moment of this wretched film?

Nah.

"Legally Blonde" didn't exactly cry for a sequel but we got one anyways. The plot is really silly and unrealistic...but if you can get over that you might enjoy yourself.

Reese Witherspoon is, once again, dynamic as Elle Woods. She's impossible to dislike and plays her character to the hilt...she doesn't make her too dumb, too smart or too sweet...she plays it straight down the middle which works. Also on hand is Luke Wilson (wasted again) as Elle's boyfriend and Elle's two hysterically funny best friends from the first movie. Also it's great to see Bob Newhart and Sally Fields back on screen again (Newhart is great--Fields is so-so).

Unfortunately, the script has severe problems. It has some truly funny lines and clever sequences--the Delta Nus "invasion" of Washington is worth the price of admission--but it also has more than its share of unfunny bits and dead spots--too many of them in fact. So, I seriously can't give it a full recommendation--just a partial one.

Best moments--the aforementioned "invasion" and a Republican senator who's an NRA spokesman admitting his dog is gay--and he loves him for it!

As a fan of Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde's predecessor, I avoided watching this sequel until today, and for good reason it seems. The rumours (and reviews) are true. This is an awful sequel to what was an otherwise clever and cute movie that recognised it's flaws but made light of them. This movie fails to do that, and instead ends up becoming what the first film tried to avoid: a shallow story following the unbelievable events of a caricature of a character. People who have not watched Legally Blonde 1 will not be aware of this contrast and so might view this movie differently, which seems to explain why the majority of good reviews here come from these exact same people.

LB2 follows Elle Woods (Reese Withersproon), a Harvard Law graduate who is fired from her position in a prestigious Law Firm for trying to champion animal rights, after discovering that her dog Bruiser's mother is being used as a test subject in a cosmetics company. In order to have her dog's mum attend her wedding to Emmett (Luke Wilson), she heads to Washington D.C and joins the team of Congresswoman Victoria Rudd (Sally Field) to learn the ins and outs of Washington politics and to pass her 'Bruisers Bill' through congress that would see an end to the legal status of animal testing.

This movie just utterly fails to capture the audience's hearts with it's preachy message, lacklustre humour and unrelatable characters who we once used to love. Gone is the Elle Woods who learned to overcome prejudice and grew into a strong-willed, self-assured, smart woman. Instead, Elle is a vapid, loudmouthed airhead who still lets people's impressions of her get her down. I thought that she would be a seasoned pro when it came to this now, but apparently she only learned how to overcome bad remarks within the University framework and nowhere beyond that. The character of Elle is a shadow of her former glory and loses that 'heart' that she had in the first film. Now all she cares about is getting a dog to attend her wedding? And this is important, how? When she first trawls into the investigators office with a proposition to find her, I was honestly left scratching my head wondering, "why?". But no. The whole film centres on her apparently gay dog Bruiser and his mum. While the idea of enrolling at university to reclaim a lost love seems unbelievable in itself, the way they executed her motives in the first film made it seem so. This time round it's just too far. Some characters from the first movie make an appearance; Emmett, who didn't even need to be in this film as he is just useless here, and her beautician friend who took a downgrade from ditsy to nearly mentally defunct for whatever reason. All of them lose their appeal and whatever relatability they had.

I could have suffered through this movie if it even tried to be clever and funny but instead all we get is shallow cheap jokes and dog humour. Oh, and cheer leading in front of congress. I'm serious. I felt insulted by watching this and almost guilty that I was a fan of LB1. Was this really the character I loved and thought was endearing from the first installment? Oh my, what a fool I was. The script is severely lacking in originality and cleverness, the overall message is unnecessarily preachy and vapid, and the characters are lame. A lot of wasted opportunities with a good cast including Sally Fields and Bob Newhart.

I wish I had never watched this sequel because it has now rubbed the shine off the original for me. This is just a sad, sad attempt to milk the cash cow and in doing so the creators of this film have milked everything that made the first film good and turned it sour and unpalatable. I'd give this a zero out of 10 if I could.

I coudn't help it. I loved seeing the dogs. They were so cute. I know, you have to pay attention to the actual movie. But I was in cutesiville with Bruiser.

"Legally Blonde 2" is not as funny as the first. But it's still worth a watch. I think it's a little under rated and under looked. And there's puppies! Adorable, adorable puppies! How could the puppies get a rating of 4.4?

OK, I need to snap out of it. OK, I'm fine. I think you should watch it and judge for yourself. Or at least watch it for Bruiser.

6/10

If you don't like offbeat silly films, you probably didn't like Legally Blonde and you most likely won't like its sequel. So stay away!

For us that do, it is a hilarious comedy. My favorite one is the tagline on the V.E.R.S.A.C.E. "think tank" (I knew they had one!) website that says: "We test makeup on animals, so you don't have to." Anyone who doesn't laugh at that doesn't have any sense of humor, or any sense at all.

As much as people think this is a silly stupid comedy, it has a lot to say. First off, even though Elle is into fashion, pink, her wedding and the like, she is smart. She discovers what is going on behind her back. She writes a bill while her co-workers are waiting for lawyers to do it. I don't think that most viewers get that Elle is a smart character, not an airheaded one. She is just a free spirit and different.

Which leads me to the next layer. In both films, Elle is the sore thumb. In a world that worships the thin, tan, blonde girls, she gets into situations where her looks don't work for her. She is put down for what she likes and who she is. She has to show people she isn't the stereotype they think her to be. That gives a good message to teenage girls who would watch the film, a much better film night idea than letting them watch Road Trip, American Pie or any other pointless teenage sex comedy, where the girl is just seen as a sex object and not a real character. This films has ideas. Elle uses her abilities, like making friends, to achieve her goals. She never changes who she is deep down for anyone. She is idealistic, not cynical or jaded, she is friendly and very sweet. More people in the world should be like her.

Then there is also the layer of animal rights and fighting for what you believe in, even if that means losing your job. Teen based films barely touch politics, but this one gives a good look inside what goes on...not intensely realistic, but it is a teen movie...one doesn't expect The West Wing here...

Not to say that LB2 doesn't have a lot of silly and even stupid humor...I love Paulette and Elle's little dog...but it also has many quick jokes you might not see if you aren't paying close attention. If you have the DVD, pause on the magazines and read them. They are great! It reminds me of movies like Airplane or Austin Powers, the jokes keep coming at you and you have to listen to the dialog closely to get the wit. It also has some repeating jokes, like the intern room reference to Elle and her friends.

I actually watched it a second time and laughed louder than the first. It is over the top, like a pink sickening sweet cookie with frosting and sprinkles over it...but it works!

Elle Woods(Reese Witherspoon)is back and this time she is planning her wedding and continuing her career as a lawyer. While she wants to invite everybody that matters to her wedding, including her dog Bruiser's entire family, she must first find his biological parents. To her horror, Elle finds out that Bruiser's mom and other dogs are being used for animal testing and now Elle must head to Washington, D.C and write a bill to prevent animal testing! I must say that this sequel was nowhere near as good as the first Legally Blonde movie. It had some funny moments and Reese Witherspoon looks cute as always but however, it is just another pointless sequel with no real plot. Just like in the first movie, Elle of course is going to get her way but throughout the movie they are going to be some evil people that make fun of her fluffy pink clothes and her blonde hair but of course Elle will succeed. Anyways, the movie is cute and entertaining to watch but nothing special really and quickly forgettable. I would give Legally Blonde 2:Red, White & Blonde 6.5/10

Legally Blonde, the original, was a fun and enjoyable movie. It wasn't terribly original, but it was well done; by the end, you felt connected with Elle, and delighted in seeing her meet her potential and outgrow her shallowness.

Then came Legally Blonde II, where we find Elle back to her shallow ways. It was as though all that growth she'd experienced in the first movie was gone, and the writers completely missed the point of the previous movie. It wasn't good because she was a flake, but because she learned her worth. The second movie seemed to think "Oh, a movie about a flake... let's do another one." The acting was fine, but the writing missed the boat completely. Absolutely horrible.

I went to a free screening and demanded a refund.

I was so long ago And it haunts me still. Seriously Don't.

I mean it The first was OK.. But this.

I mean, it had a sub plot about some dogs.. And there was some pink clothing.

I'm sorry. I watched most of it through my fingers.

I warn everyone about this movie.

I hope you heed mine.

Please beware my warning. You cannot Unsee this horror..

Turn back while you still can.

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.

I love Reese, I love everything she has done, but this was just painful. Elle is a great character and they just made her seem silly. If you aren't expecting greatness, this was an okay movie.

One thing that I have to comment on...the freakin' sound boom in ALMOST EVERY SCENE. Man was that ever distracting. You would think with the amount of money they spend on movies, they could have one person looking at the shot saying "Hey, the boom is in the shot." How hard is that? I wouldn't mind if it were just once, but it was continually in every scene. Yuck.

Not even the considerable talents of Reese Witherspoon and other decent actors can save this movie from its awful script. Even the saccharine morality message is undermined by the plot. Elle Woods only manages to overcome the elitism and prejudice in the legal and political system by calling in favours from her college sorority. So the only way to break into an exclusive clique is to use another?

THIS IS UNDERRATED Yes it might be cheesy Yes it might be awful at points But this is a CULT CLASSIC SEQUEL This film is not to be taken seriously and I am shocked how much people hate it that's why I give it a 7/10 !

The first movie was great. This sequel was horrible. The story was boring and had very few funny moments. The script was terrible. I can't believe that Reese Witherspoon would agree to do such a bad movie. Was the 15 million too good to pass up? She should have demanded a new script along with her paycheck. Seriously. You know the worst thing about movies? When you buy your ticket and go see the movie,if you hate it you still have to pay for it. The studios just want to get you in the theater, and after you pay for your ticket you're screwed. They show you Reese Witherspoon in a sequel to a great movie, and you go in thinking its going to be just as good as the first one. WRONG! The execs don't care if the actual movie is good, as long as the previews are good and make you want to see it. But you know what they say, you are only as good as your last picture...and Reese honey, this movie was BAD.

It's pretty good ish not as much as part 1 but not the worst sequel there's much worse movies out there! Choppy yet still fun, I mean I can see why it was hated it's worse directing. I have wondered about the "You look like the 4th of July that makes me want a hotdog real bad" plus "Omg it's capital Barbie" those are awesomeness! Elle takes up the professional position further than justice system now into political power which is nice even if it's not as satisfying I enjoy this movie as a guilty pleasure. Not as intelligent as before more dumb blonde moments which is goofy and less romance even though weddings are mentioned, pretty good for what it is.

I got suckered into seeing the first one, and I ended up liking it. I got suckered into seeing the new one, and I didn't like it the whole way through. The script is really stupid. There are only a couple "sort of" laugh moments. Not worth your time.

They always say that sequels never match up to the original movie, well in this case it was absolutely terrible! Did Elle suddenly become more of a ditz in this movie? I found that they tried to put a new spin to old jokes from the first one which fell flat, what happened to Paulette's husband and child? (although he made a 15 second cameo). If Selma Blair's character became Elle's new best friend, then where the hell was she? This movie was also way too political to enjoy and I found myself wanting to throw up through most of the speeches.

Poor effort

There can be little doubt, this movie is an inferior follow-up to Legally Blonde. Too many characters are recycled and made to look cute, but it doesn't work as well as when it was fresh. Still, Reese Witherspoon has created in 'Elle Woods' a character that is just fun to watch. She never stays down long, always picking herself up with a fresh approach until she achieves her goal. I look at it like a 'Roadrunner' cartoon, but with real people. It is silly and implausible, but funny. In this case the 'bad guys' are the US Congress in a parody of it's habit of making backroom deals and taking care of supporters to guarantee reelection, even if nothing is done to help constituents. Elle Woods finds that animals are used to test cosmetics, and her quest is to get a law passed that will make it illegal. Nothing more than cute, funny fluff.