Legally Blonde 2: Red White and Blonde (Special Edition) (2003)

Los Angeles Times
"...Not since Cyndi Lauper has a major pop figure projected such a blissfully happy, self-amused view toward being female..." 07/02/2003 p.C1

Variety
"...Witherspoon's disarming enthusiasm and terminal perkiness make the comedy succeed..." 07/14/2003 p.24

Sight and Sound
"...Illuminated by Reese Witherspoon's central performance. Witherspoon's smile is an intensity..." 09/01/2003 p.55-6

San Francisco Chronicle 7 of 10
Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde 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. It takes the galling thing about the original--the elite complacency of its heroine--and puts it away forever. It transforms Elle Woods, materialistic priss, into Elle Woods, liberal. - Mick LaSalle
 
Apollo Guide 6 of 10
By simultaneously upping the goofiness factor to the point of ridiculousness and trying to wedge in a 'meaningful' message ham-handedly, the filmmakers have neither made a really funny movie, nor one that delivers a message well. There's some wit here, but most of it gets lost amidst the silliness that barely causes audience members to crack a smile. It's harmless and occasionally funny, but certainly falls well short of the original. - Brian Webster
 
ReelViews 5 of 10
Legally Blonde 2 should never have been made. It is a cinematic abomination - a source of embarrassment for everyone involved. There have been worse films this year, but none has been marketed as this fun-loving and upbeat. Worthwhile moments are few and far between, and Reese Witherspoon's incandescent charm, which was one of the original Legally Blonde's saving graces, is so bright that it creates a glare. There's such a thing as being too perky...Reese Witherspoon is back as Elle, a character I had seen enough of by the end of the first Legally Blonde. For those who felt the 2001 movie had pretty much worn out its welcome by the time it stumbled across the finish line, Legally Blonde 2 will be nothing short of torture. Go next door and see Arnold Schwarzenegger. He'll be back. And, while the same can be said of Witherspoon, hopefully it won't be as Elle. I have had more of this character than I can stomach in one lifetime...The movie's "cause" will provoke PETA members into jumping for joy, although the intelligence of the animal rights' activists in Legally Blonde 2 might give them pause. (Then again, one could make a successful case that no one in the movie has an IQ in the triple digit range.)...Legally Blonde 2 is clearly in the PETA camp in that it shows more concern for animals than human beings. Although the movie wants its viewers to understand that the use of animals for cosmetics testing is cruel and wasteful, it employs an inhumane method of conveying that message - asking people to sit through this. Even those who enjoyed the light breeziness of the first Legally Blonde will likely find this too much of an endurance contest. It's mawkish, superficial, and artificial, without a hint of cleverness or humor. - James Berardinelli
 
Chicago Sun-Times 6 of 10
"Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde" evokes a fairy-tale America in which a congresswoman's ditzy blond junior staff member, pretty in pink, is asked to address a joint session of Congress and sways them with her appeal for animal rights. Not in this world. It might happen, though, in the world of the movie--but even then, her big speech is so truly idiotic, she'd be laughed out of town...Ramping up for this review, I came across a curious column by Arianna Huffington, who attended a preview screening and wrote: "Sitting between my teenage daughters while watching Elle take on the U.S. Congress, I was struck by the palpable effect it had on them: They left the theater inspired, empowered and talking about the things they wanted to change and the ways they might be able to change them." She quotes approvingly from Elle's big speech ("So speak up, America. Speak up for the home of the brave. Speak up for the land of the free gift with purchase. Speak up, America!")...Amazing that the usually tough-minded Huffington fell for the movie. Amazing, too, that two teenage girls who have their mother as a role model were inspired and empowered by the insipid Elle. I have a movie for them to see together: "Whale Rider." Now there's a great movie about female empowerment, and the heroine doesn't even wear makeup...America will no doubt speak up, alas, by spending millions of dollars on "Legally Blonde 2" in obedience to the movie's advertising blitz (buses in several cities have been painted entirely pink). And so the myth of a populist Congress will live on, apart from the real world of lobbyists, log-rolling, punishment to the disloyal and favors for friends. In the real world, Elle Woods would be chewed up faster than one of little Bruiser's Milk-Bones. - Roger Ebert