Superficial 'Legally Blondes' comes off as cartoon

May 23, 7:25 AMPhoenix Movie ExaminerJoseph J. Airdo

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Reese Witherspoon carries a producer credit rather
than an actress credit in the MGM's direct-to-DVD
sequel Legally Blondes.

Reese Witherspoon's 2001 comedy Legally Blonde turned heads. It was funny, cute and surprisingly poignant. Her 2003 follow-up, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde, lacked the poignancy but it was still funny and cute (although, to a far lesser degree).

Now, Legally Blondes, the third installment in the franchise, is hitting DVD (directly) and not only is the poignancy of the first chapter missing, but so are the comedy and charm. Oh, and Witherspoon and her character Elle Woods are also out of the mix this time around.

Instead, we get Elle's younger cousins from the United Kingdom. They are blonde; they are twins; they are perky; and they are ridiculously annoying.

When Annie and Izzie Woods (Camilla and Rebecca Rosso) move to California, they have visions of pink clothes, small dogs and big parties. However, they are in for a rude awakening at their new college preparatory school.

Annie and Izzie first get the third degree from some members of the administration who have been scowling since Elle walked the halls and changed the campus into a more pleasant environment. Then, they learn that they are social outcasts due to their scholarship status.

But the twins take their medicine and persevere. They even begin to alter their fellow outcasts' reputation trough fashion. Yet, things start falling apart worse than before when they are framed for cheating on an important exam.

Now, it is up to the twins to clear their names and show everyone in the courtroom... er, classroom that one should never underestimate the power of blondes.

Witherspoon should be ashamed of her producer credit on Legally Blondes. She must know that she is ripping off fans of the first two installments with this rubbish. The movie comes off as a colorful cartoon – as do the characters – which makes sense only because this installment appears to be aimed at the younger set.

Even those superficial folks who only watch movies like Legally Blonde, Sex and the City and The Devil Wears Prada for the fashion will be supremely disappointed. Perhaps young girls will appreciate the substitution of a Bedazzler for real fashion, but even they must be blonde to accept such bad taste.

Worst of all are the Rosso twins and their despicable acting ability, if you can call it that. Their heavy accents make it difficult for the target audience to comprehend the dialogue and their constant squealing grind the nerves of everyone else. Plus, the extremely thin actresses are poster children for anorexia – not to mention plastic surgery.

Of course, the movie finally gets mildly interesting during the final courtroom showdown but, when we get down to it, Legally Blondes is not a worthy successor to the franchise's first two installments. It simply does not carry any relevancy in the real world.

And, any movie that claims to be a morality tale about “brains over beauty” yet features characters who resort to using their feminine wiles to get ahead in life is definitely not worth the time of you or your children. There are far too many superficial people out there to begin with. We do not need Witherspoon raising even more of them.