Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde

Premiere Susannah Gora

In this sequel, as Elle uses her good-hearted pluck to work toward her goal, Witherspoon is a sheer delight, all charm and light and loveliness; you just want her to win.

Time Richard Schickel

We're talking fables, not reality, here, and this is a fine and merry one--"Ms. Woods Goes to Washington"--played to airy perfection by Reese Witherspoon and a light-on-its-feet cast.

Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis

Elle dresses in shades of sorbet and dolls up her Chihuahua like a bantamweight drag queen, but by fighting the good fight she's also giving alpha girls and women their due, rescuing them from the magazine horror stories and the taint of Hillary.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Elle fans will likely ignore the narrative shortcomings in favor of a well-loved character.

Film Threat Kevin Carr

Has an underlying charm that drags its audience, kicking and screaming to have a good time.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

airily works not only because of Witherspoon and a game supporting cast...but because, with its bark-and-bite agenda wrapped in a blanket of laughs, has the sense to remember that, first and foremost, it's entertainment.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Takes the financially successful formula of "Legally Blonde," the Reese Witherspoon hit from two years ago, and does something unexpected. It fiddles with it, changes it and actually fixes it.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Witherspoon is a professional, demanding we give ourselves over to her carbonated pluck.

TV Guide Ken Fox

An even sweeter and lighter whipped confection than "Legally Blonde," this hugely enjoyable sequel serves up a generous second helping of the ingredient that made the original such an irresistible hit.

Variety David Rooney

The script here just doesn't have sufficient smarts to pull off Elle's political triumph. But Witherspoon again makes a valiant show of selling it.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

At once brasher and more frivolous, she's a lot less compelling fighting for the welfare of lab-test animals than she was crusading for her own dignity.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Unlike other current D.C. types, Elle would never misplace or misidentify her own weapons of mass destruction. They're all in her wardrobe closet and makeup kit.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

Call it a victory for sincerity and style: Despite its familiarity, Blonde 2 doesn't make you want to pull out your hair by its (touched-up) roots.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

A movie of many stupid pet tricks and one basic joke: As in the original, Elle's intelligence is consistently -- if understandably -- underestimated.

Film Threat Rick Kisonak

Perkiness Alert! Much of the banter and many of the gags are amusing but Witherspoon cranks the perkiness to off-the-dial levels here and anyone with low tolerance for superpeppy movie do-gooders should consult a physician before viewing.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Both more and less of the same -- more of that hot-pink couture, a whole lot more of that diminutive doggie, less reason to laugh even if you're a tank-topped 16-year-old.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

In the real world, Elle Woods would be chewed up faster than one of little Bruiser's Milk-Bones.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

There's not enough here to sustain a half-hour sitcom, but Reese Witherspoon shoulders the burden with star shine to spare.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

If her adoring public doesn't mind paying for the same movie twice, Legally Blonde 2 stands to leave her star power unquestioned.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Just as a fistful of drooping stalks does not a bouquet make, director Charles Herman-Wurmfeld's random collection of think-pink gags, canine couture and smart/dumb blonde jokes does not a comedy make.

Salon.com Charles Taylor

Legally Blonde was content to tickle you. The new one is something akin to a band that has a surprisingly successful debut deciding to rerecord all their originals and release a "Greatest Hits" collection for their second CD. It's both familiar and off.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Director Charles Herman-Wurmfeld ("Kissing Jessica Stein") misses several opportunities to go all out and be, as Elle would say, "superfun."

New York Magazine Peter Rainer

I realize Legally Blonde 2 was not intended as scathing political satire, but I wish someone out there in movieland did indeed have just such an intention these days.

Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan

Though there are some funny moments, little in "Red, White and Blonde" is enjoyable.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

A movie for people who somehow managed to miss the point of the first picture.

Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones

Midway through, there’s a truly riotous set-piece involving Bruiser’s gay love affair with a Great Dane, but not even a Chihuahua in leather bondage gear can zest up a franchise that has degraded from sleeper to snoozer.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Like the first movie, this has some cute gags but collapses like a soggy paper plate because it can't decide whether to mock or celebrate the heroine's shallow materialism.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Legally bland.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

When Elle Woods watches "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" for inspiration in the middle of Legally Blonde 2, you have to admire the nerve of the people who made this comedy: "Smith" is to LB2 what jumbo jets are to ultralight gliders. But nerve is all they've got.

USA Today Claudia Puig

The first one was silly fun, amusing and oddly inventive; the second is plodding, unfunny and almost cringe-worthy.

New York Post Megan Lehmann

It's so gosh-darned darling it almost turns your stomach.

Newsweek David Ansen

As adroit and charming as Witherspoon is--and she gives it her all--she cannot rise above the embarrassingly broad, witless material.

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

"Legally Blonde" was a splashy, wide-screen near musical, a movie made in the spirit of Elle Woods herself. Legally Blonde 2 is Elle Woods' eulogy.

Washington Post Teresa Wiltz

Flops where it should zing, trotting out cringe-worthy cliches and hoary plot contrivances and depicting femininity through a drag queen's funhouse mirror.

Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky

No one is more blameworthy than Witherspoon...With her newfound clout and charm, she could make better films; instead, she strolls up to the audience standing in line at the ATM and demands we fork it over or else.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Not since Rocky II has there been a more blatant attempt to recapitulate a box-office hit without adding any new attraction or appeal.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

A perfectly funny idea -- call it "Ms. Ditz Goes to Washington" -- that's never allowed to take on real comic life. I laughed exactly once.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

It is a cinematic abomination -- a source of embarrassment for everyone involved.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

One of the strongest arguments yet for making sequels illegal.