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The “Legally Blonde” prequel series “Elle” sounds like a tired cash grab no one asked for — but just like the pink-clad heroine depicted in both, don’t underestimate it.
Shockingly, “Elle” doesn’t suck. It’s fun, energetic and hits all the right notes.
Though the show is part of a tedious trend of origin stories for characters who don’t need them, “Elle” sparkles. It’s a rare case of a prequel that doesn’t tarnish the original.
Premiering July 1 on Prime Video, the show follows a 16-year-old version of Elle Woods, the iconic character Reese Witherspoon played in the iconic 2001 movie (and the tepid 2003 sequel).
Witherspoon is involved as an executive producer, but obviously, the 50-year-old Oscar winner can’t play a teen. Enter newcomer Lexi Minetree, 25, who steps into the role.
Minetree’s astoundingly good at emulating Witherspoon and capturing her facial expressions — as seen in her viral audition tape.
Set in 1995, the show follows Elle as she’s living a charmed life in LA.
It’s everything you’d expect: Her parents have a lavish mansion, she’s popular in school (and she has a five-point plan for how to become even more popular) and she’s got a wardrobe full of pink dresses and heels.
But after her plastic surgeon dad, Wyatt (Tom Everett Scott), finds himself in a work-related scandal, the family is forced to move to Seattle.
There, everyone at Elle’s new school wears flannel and dark colors, listens to Pearl Jam and Nirvana, talks about social justice and turns their noses up at the pink-clad bubbly new girl, who they think is materialistic.
Elle was on top of the world in LA; she’s out of her depth in Seattle.
The show is nothing if not committed to the time period.
It has a killer soundtrack (needle drops include tracks from Soundgarden, The Cranberries, Radiohead, and Queen, and the theme song is Garbage’s 1995 track “Only Happy When it Rains”). There are references to zines, pagers and Blockbuster, as well as references to how the rich kids come from “Microsoft money.”
“Elle” succeeds where other unnecessary prequels and spinoffs fail because it understands what made “Legally Blonde” work: Elle is at her best when she’s an underdog and a fish out of water, forcing her to prove herself to everyone around her.
Before the show came out, viewers scoffed at the idea of Elle living in Seattle, since that’s antithetical to the character — but that’s the point. When Elle’s dad tells her “we’re moving to Seattle,” she says, “No, that doesn’t sound right.”
A lesser show would say, “She wears pink, and she’s perky!” and leave it there. “Elle” gets all the ingredients of what made “Legally Blonde” a hit (beyond making a surface-level assessment), and let’s them cook.
The show also knows the relationship between Elle and her college rival turned friend, Vivian (Selma Blair), was a key part of “Legally Blonde.”
The show has a lot of cliche high school moments — cliques, crushes and more — but mean girl Kimberly (Chandler Kinney) isn’t a two-dimensional villain. “Elle” gives Kimberly some depth. It hits a similar note to what the movie did with Vivian, without copying it.
Late “Dawson’s Creek” star James Van Der Beek, who died in February, plays a local mayoral candidate who befriends Elle’s mom, Eva (June Diane Raphael), in what appears to be his final screen role.
From the “Legally Blonde” movies we know Elle ends up with Emmett (Luke Wilson), so it takes the wind out of the sails from any of her “love interest” plot lines because we know she won’t end up with them.
There are also a ludicrous number of product-placement references to Cosmo; at times, it feels like the show is just an extended brand partnership.
There’s a “Breakfast Club” homage that’s fun, but it becomes too ham-handed when characters literally start talking about how their experience is like what happened in “The Breakfast Club.”
So, no, “Elle” isn’t without some flaws. But it is far better than it has any right to be.
Against all odds, the “Legally Blonde” prequel is a sparkling good time.
