Is Elle Worth Watching? Our Honest Review Of The Legally Blonde Prequel
Prime Video’s latest YA TV series, Elle, has big shoes to fill. Or should we say, sparkly sky-high stilettos. The prequel to Legally Blonde is centered around Elle Woods’ life before she made her way to Harvard, or advocated for animal rights in Legally Blonde 2. Many years prior to solving a murder trial with her knowledge of perms, she was a privileged teen living in the height of luxury in LA. The premise of Elle revolves around her family’s fall from grace and subsequent move to moody Seattle, where she sticks out like a sore (or pink) thumb. There are cute call-backs to the original movies, gorgeous ’90s fashion, and one of the most iconic soundtracks of late. Entertainment writers Lauren McNamara and Rachel Choy sat down to dissect what makes Elle work, and whether it is a good addition to the Legally Blonde universe or not. Spoilers follow. Rachel Choy: I think Elle hinges on Lexi Minetree’s version of Elle Woods. Her performance is so perfect, it’s wild. Her crying matches Reese Witherspoon’s crying from Legally Blonde, and her mannerisms are very deliberate. It’s hard to imagine better casting. Lauren McNamara: She absolutely nailed the character. While she has those nuances of Reese Witherspoon’s Elle Woods, it isn’t overkill, and it doesn’t feel like she’s trying too hard. RC: She really does feel like a younger version. It wouldn’t have worked without her. LM: Thank god she’s done it justice! RC: I also loved how it ties into the original films. I was a massive fan of Legally Blonde. I got it on DVD, and I watched it 11 times in a row. I was obsessed! The way they sprinkled in little crumbs of why things are the way they are in the Legally Blonde universe, like discovering why Bruiser is called Bruiser, that was really fun. LM: In the first episode, the series opened in a similar way to the first movie as Elle gets ready, before the big celebration. There was also a moment where she eats chocolate in bed, and when Shannon says, Woods Comma Elle. It was done tastefully, with lots of references to the first film. I think it was done better than The Devil Wears Prada 2 managed to. RC: They tried to do it as naturally as possible, and then even turned some personality traits into moments for laughs. She’s a vegetarian, right, and in Legally Blonde 2 it’s all about her fighting for animal rights. In Elle, it’s quite funny to see how she never has anything to eat in the cafeteria, it’s just a bun or some fries, because she’s veggie. LM: It’s such a good nod to the second film. And perhaps the social justice Elle discovered in Seattle helps her become even more passionate for those sorts of causes. The way they sprinkled in little crumbs of why things are the way they are in the Legally Blonde universe, like discovering why Bruiser is called Bruiser, that was really fun.Rachel Choy RC: Also, the fashion?! It was so good. All of Elle’s looks were perfection. When she turns up to the pool party in the bikini, it definitely felt like her turning up to the costume party in Legally Blonde in the bunny outfit, and she’s nervous for a bit. But in the end, she owns it. She learns to not care what other people think, and that is the core of Elle’s personality in Legally Blonde. LM: Her warmth, her optimism and her genuine kindness to anyone is so well done. It helps set up who we know from the films. My only issue so far is with the show, is that in Legally Blonde, so much of the plot is based around Elle realising that looks aren’t everything. She goes through a huge transformation, and her world opens up. My gripe with her going through the same transformation in Elle is that if she had gone through this as a teenager, would she have gone through that transformation in college? It almost makes the film lose a bit of impact. RC: It’s a really fun series, but if you’re a huge fan of the source material and you can’t separate it from that, Elle does poke a lot of holes in Legally Blonde. They wanted to recreate the first film and hit the same story beats, and they did that really well. It’s just, you’re left thinking: why would this have happened again? She goes through all this growth, all this learning, accepting different people, to end up with… Warner?! Please. RC: And I have to talk about Elle kissing her friend’s ex-boyfriend. I have a big issue with that. That’s not Elle Woods! She’s so obsessed with girl code, she wouldn’t do it. And I know it’s for the sake of drama and to push the story along, but it’s the one thing that feels too big of a plot hole. LM: That’s not our Elle Woods. She’s such a girl’s girl. She is the code for being a girl’s girl. That didn’t make much sense, but I can appreciate it’s for the plot and the drama. RC: I wish that he had kissed her instead, and she pushed him away and said she couldn’t do it. So it still blows everything up, but it wasn’t her deliberately being like, cool they’ve broken up, I’m gonna kiss him. A
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Prime Video’s latest YA TV series, Elle, has big shoes to fill. Or should we say, sparkly sky-high stilettos. The prequel to Legally Blonde is centered around Elle Woods’ life before she made her way to Harvard, or advocated for animal rights in Legally Blonde 2. Many years prior to solving a murder trial with her knowledge of perms, she was a privileged teen living in the height of luxury in LA. The premise of Elle revolves around her family’s fall from grace and subsequent move to moody Seattle, where she sticks out like a sore (or pink) thumb. There are cute call-backs to the original movies, gorgeous ’90s fashion, and one of the most iconic soundtracks of late.
Entertainment writers Lauren McNamara and Rachel Choy sat down to dissect what makes Elle work, and whether it is a good addition to the Legally Blonde universe or not. Spoilers follow.
Rachel Choy: I think Elle hinges on Lexi Minetree’s version of Elle Woods. Her performance is so perfect, it’s wild. Her crying matches Reese Witherspoon’s crying from Legally Blonde, and her mannerisms are very deliberate. It’s hard to imagine better casting.
Lauren McNamara: She absolutely nailed the character. While she has those nuances of Reese Witherspoon’s Elle Woods, it isn’t overkill, and it doesn’t feel like she’s trying too hard.
RC: She really does feel like a younger version. It wouldn’t have worked without her.
LM: Thank god she’s done it justice!
RC: I also loved how it ties into the original films. I was a massive fan of Legally Blonde. I got it on DVD, and I watched it 11 times in a row. I was obsessed! The way they sprinkled in little crumbs of why things are the way they are in the Legally Blonde universe, like discovering why Bruiser is called Bruiser, that was really fun.
LM: In the first episode, the series opened in a similar way to the first movie as Elle gets ready, before the big celebration. There was also a moment where she eats chocolate in bed, and when Shannon says, Woods Comma Elle. It was done tastefully, with lots of references to the first film. I think it was done better than The Devil Wears Prada 2 managed to.
RC: They tried to do it as naturally as possible, and then even turned some personality traits into moments for laughs. She’s a vegetarian, right, and in Legally Blonde 2 it’s all about her fighting for animal rights. In Elle, it’s quite funny to see how she never has anything to eat in the cafeteria, it’s just a bun or some fries, because she’s veggie.
LM: It’s such a good nod to the second film. And perhaps the social justice Elle discovered in Seattle helps her become even more passionate for those sorts of causes.
The way they sprinkled in little crumbs of why things are the way they are in the Legally Blonde universe, like discovering why Bruiser is called Bruiser, that was really fun.
Rachel Choy
RC: Also, the fashion?! It was so good. All of Elle’s looks were perfection. When she turns up to the pool party in the bikini, it definitely felt like her turning up to the costume party in Legally Blonde in the bunny outfit, and she’s nervous for a bit. But in the end, she owns it. She learns to not care what other people think, and that is the core of Elle’s personality in Legally Blonde.
LM: Her warmth, her optimism and her genuine kindness to anyone is so well done. It helps set up who we know from the films. My only issue so far is with the show, is that in Legally Blonde, so much of the plot is based around Elle realising that looks aren’t everything. She goes through a huge transformation, and her world opens up. My gripe with her going through the same transformation in Elle is that if she had gone through this as a teenager, would she have gone through that transformation in college? It almost makes the film lose a bit of impact.
RC: It’s a really fun series, but if you’re a huge fan of the source material and you can’t separate it from that, Elle does poke a lot of holes in Legally Blonde. They wanted to recreate the first film and hit the same story beats, and they did that really well. It’s just, you’re left thinking: why would this have happened again? She goes through all this growth, all this learning, accepting different people, to end up with… Warner?! Please.
RC: And I have to talk about Elle kissing her friend’s ex-boyfriend. I have a big issue with that. That’s not Elle Woods! She’s so obsessed with girl code, she wouldn’t do it. And I know it’s for the sake of drama and to push the story along, but it’s the one thing that feels too big of a plot hole.
LM: That’s not our Elle Woods. She’s such a girl’s girl. She is the code for being a girl’s girl. That didn’t make much sense, but I can appreciate it’s for the plot and the drama.
RC: I wish that he had kissed her instead, and she pushed him away and said she couldn’t do it. So it still blows everything up, but it wasn’t her deliberately being like, cool they’ve broken up, I’m gonna kiss him. And then only feeling bad about it because her friend’s mum died.
LM: That really took me by surprise. It was quite jarring.
My gripe with her going through the same transformation in Elle is that if she had gone through this as a teenager, would she have gone through that transformation in college?
Lauren Mcnamara
RC: What did you think of all the music?
LM: I think the music is fantastic! I keep forgetting it’s set in the ’90s until we see a car phone come out or hear them talk about Bikini Kill and Nirvana. I’m struggling to remember that it’s set in the ’90s until I hear the musical references or the soundtrack.
RC: I wonder if it’s because of this cycle of fashion we’re in right now we all look like this. ’90s and Y2K is so big, it doesn’t feel different.
LM: Elle’s clothing also looks really modern for the ’90s.
RC: She was always elevated and ahead of her time!
LM: But I love the music, it’s fantastic.
RC: Every song I’m like, oh I love this song!
LM: Do you have a favorite?
RC: When they played Atomic Kitten! Also Walking On Broken Glass at the pool party, and the scene with Creep in the high school. Chef’s kiss. I do think the show is solid, and it ends on a cliffhanger. It was already renewed for Season 2, so Prime obviously has a lot of faith in it. If you can separate it from the movies and compartmentalise, it’s definitely very enjoyable.
LM: That’s something you have to do whenever we get these, these prequels or sequels, or anything of this nature. When there’s been so much time since the original material, I think you have to take it almost with a grain of salt to fully enjoy it and fully immerse yourself in it, because it can be so hard to do something like this and not have those plot holes.
RC: Exactly, and I will still watch Season 2.
LM: Me too!
This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.
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