The adventures of Elle Woods have the potential to become a Harry Potter-esque institution. No, really, hear me out. The first Harry Potter book re-popularized already familiar fantasy concepts and centered them around a boy who had much to discover about himself. The first Legally Blonde employed familiar comedy fairy tale concepts and centered them around a young lady who had much to discover about herself. Both managed to gather a large following.

The second Harry Potter book used much the same story structure as the first book, telling essentially the identical tale over again within a bigger scope. Its job was to cement its fan base by giving them what they wanted: more of what they liked from the first story. Likewise, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde follows the same strategy, telling a story highly similar to the first. The Harry Potter books went on to gain even more popularity. The Legally Blonde series will likely follow suit.

In a nutshell, Legally Blonde 2 does give its fans more of the same -- more of Witherspoon's Elle Woods, the fashion-sensible blonde who meets challenges to her intellect by beating would-be condescenders at their own game. She's still perky, optimistic, and adorable, mostly thanks to her earnestness and Witherspoon's ability to make us believe that such a seemingly ditzy gal really does have the know-how when she applies herself. The movie's plot puts Elle in a new fish-out-of-water situation -- instead of Harvard, which she graduated from, she's now in Washington D.C. volunteering to work on the staff of Congresswoman Rudd (Sally Field) in order to present and pass a bill that would ban animal testing by cosmetics companies. Naturally, everyone in Capitol Hill underestimates her at first sight -- her bright pink attire doesn't make matters easier -- but soon Elle learns to work the system her way.

In concept, the movie runs the risk of lifelessly rehashing the first movie and going through the motions, but the result is actually a film that is snappier and more cheerful. Legally Blonde 2, like Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, takes advantage of the fact that the first installment already did all the set-up and groundwork for the main character, and thus hits the floor running. The original movie focused on how Elle didn't appear to belong in a new hostile environment -- thus, it was Elle's burden to prove to the audience that she could indeed handle herself. This time, we already know she is quite a capable woman, so the movie doesn't give us the idea that she's just one step ahead of possible failure -- we're quite certain she can succeed, and we look forward to seeing her do it. True to this new, more upbeat tone, Elle is shown dealing with each setback by pushing forward harder.

With the original Legally Blonde, one could get a feeling that the filmmakers were feeling out the territory -- certain plot points felt a little tentative based on how much we, the audience, could really be convinced that this girl could indeed be this smart. I remember the early scene where she passes the LSAT's and thinking that we didn't get much outside of a few scenes of her studying to try to prove to us that she could actually do it. Witherspoon had to give us a balancing act of someone who was confident on the inside but unsure on the outside, but she had the "blonde" personality down -- yet, at times, it felt even she was feeling out the character. There's no such wobbliness in the sequel -- Witherspoon completely owns her character now, and her stronger confidence in Elle directly translates to a stronger, more confident Elle. In a movie where the central actress's performance is everything, Witherspoon deserves snaps for shining even more brightly than before.

Not everything works as perfectly in the movie. Some of its weaknesses are ones shared by its predecessor, such as the writers' tendency to stack the deck against Elle by giving her a few prejudiced adversaries, which smacks of unsubtle audience heartstring-pulling. And a story about the power of one person to change things is a little less convincing when the main character has what amounts to be the ultimate secret weapon -- membership in a sorority, Delta Nu, that is capable of unearthing allies in unsuspected places and mobilizing a task force faster than the U.S. Army could.

But Elle Woods is always worth rooting for in these flicks because she represents true girl power. Unlike Charlie's Angels and Tomb Raider, which measure a girl's coolness by the degree in which she can perform deeds admirable to a man, Legally Blonde gives us a girl who is darned happy about being a girl. She's even progressed to the point where she doesn't zing insult comebacks like she did in the first movie  -- and doesn't need to do it. Elle indulges in "girly" tendencies, but never once makes any of them a sign of weakness. I don't believe any woman should be ashamed for having a predisposition to exercise their senses of fashion and aesthetics, and neither does Elle. She makes it seem wonderful to be feminine, not masculine. The movie also never plays up its inherent girl-power theme by pointing it out in any obvious way. Elle is who she is: smart, determined, and fashionable. And she just happens to be a woman -- and, for that matter, a blonde.

Harry Potter's following grew stronger by the time the third book hit the stands, and, if that's any indication, the same thing could happen to Legally Blonde, with star Reese Witherspoon already hinting at another sequel. I hope so, because these movies are a hoot.

(Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and rated "PG-13" for some sex-related humor.)

Review also posted at www.windowtothemovies.com.