Like its predecessor, “Legally Blonde 2” has a charming likability to it that only the heard-hearted would deny. Reese Witherspoon’s creampuff Elle Woods wins our affection not necessarily because she is funny, per se, but because of the effect she has on the people who must play beleagured witnesses to her ditziness. She is a force of gravity in high-heels, and no matter how badly she fits in with those around her, her sweetness bends them to her will sooner or later. Crone-like, they do all the comic heavy lifting while she stands outside the story (“Where do you want this hilarious mix-up, ma’am?”).

In this she resembles Marilyn Monroe’s twinkly heroines, sans sex appeal, although with her latest feature I’m beginning to think that a string of Elle Woods movies would look less like “Some Like It Hot” or “The Seven-Year Itch” and more like “The Blonde Monster Goes Shopping”, “Return Of The Blonde Monster’s Charge Cards”, and of course “Godzilla Vs. The Blonde Monster in 3-D”. These are two-hour star vehicles that require no story, just a competent colorist.  At times I wondered if the set and costume designers had actually picked out a lot of really pink things to use in the movie or, more likely, just waited until post-production to dunk each and every reel of footage into a can of hot pink paint.

The filmmakers would probably insist that neither of the “Legally Blonde” films is merely eye-candy, but in fact powerful (if light-hearted) examples of women getting up and doing it for themselves. And it’s true that the conceit of a spoiled Southern California mallrat succeeding at Harvard Law School and, more importantly, improving the battered self-esteem of a pillow-faced trollop, was just bizarre enough to work in the first film. The gross error committed in the sequel, however, is that Elle does nothing for herself, but instead relies on either her looks, her connections (not from Harvard, but Bel Air), or bald coincidences in the plot to advance her animal rights agenda. Need political savvy? Doorman Bob Newhart has all the answers. Need to get in good with a right-wing senator? His dog falls in love with Elle’s Bruiser. Must get needed House of Representative votes? Call in the sorority sisters. No, unlike the Elle we knew in Cambridge, the new Capitol Hill Elle does nothing for herself, and while this might serve the cause of quirky summer comedies, it also drains dry the reservoir of strength and intelligence that grounds Elle’s character.

More damning, those new-minted armies of little girls who are supposed to leave the theater inspired to give Washington a make-over are more likely to leave with limp smiles at best (as well as numerous pink-induced brain lesions). “Legally Blonde 2” just isn’t funny. It’s got its heart in the right place, along with a few gifted supporting actresses like Jennifer Coolidge and Mary Lynn Rajskub, but that’s about it. To paraphrase Tolstoy, every unfunny film is unfunny in its own way, and what interested me about this film was the superabundance of reaction shots. In a freewheeling comedy of this kind, reaction shots are the cinematic equivalent of a laugh track, and you can always tell how desperate the filmmakers are by how many they use. There is not a single episode in “Legally Blonde 2” that doesn’t feature two or three too many reaction shots. Every time Elle reveals her startling lack of knowledge about Congressional protocol, for instance, we are bombarded with cut-aways to the faces of all those uptight suits who can’t quite believe what they’re seeing.