Released: 30th April
Seen: 30th July
In 2003, Lauren Weisberger released her first novel, The Devil Wears Prada, about a young woman working in a fashion magazine under a tyrannical boss named Miranda Priestly. The book was a hit and, in 2006, it was turned into a movie of the same name. That movie became a cultural touchstone; it turned two of its leads into superstars, effectively revived Meryl Streep’s commercial career and reminded the world why she’s one of the best of all time, and is full of enough witty, biting dialogue to delight any fan of witty bitchy banter (The Cerulean monologue in particular has enjoyed quite a life as a drag queen staple). It honestly does feel shocking that it took twenty years to get a sequel for this incredible film, but at least we got one, and while it might not hit the dizzying heights of the original, it’s still a spectacular experience.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 picks up with Andrea ‘Andy’ Sachs (Anne Hathaway) about to receive an award for her journalism, only to learn that the magazine that she works for has fired the entire writing staff. Meanwhile, the owner of Runway magazine is trying to deal with the fallout of a particularly horrifying story that connects them to a sweatshop and so in an attempt at damage control, the owner hires Andy to be the features editor at Runway, meaning Andy will be reunited with her old boss Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) who is just as abrasive as ever, despite attempts from HR to keep her acid tongue in check to adjust for modern sensibilities. Andy and Miranda have to try their hardest to work together and keep Runway afloat, which is a little less easy since one of their big issues is former assistant Emily (Emily Blunt) who now runs one of the advertisers that might pull out of Runway in response to the article… also the owner may have just died and now the future of the entire magazine is up in the air, it’s a lot to deal with.
20 years later and it’s clear that no one involved has lost a step, everyone just slips back into their characters like a comfortable pair of shoes. It’s still incredible watching Miranda just slither onto the screen and destroy people with a look, it’s still hopeful seeing Andy so desperate to do good in a place that’s against any kind of change, there’s still that same special magic between the entire cast that made the original such a monster hit. They still fire off these wicked monologues with the same effortless ease that captivated audiences 20 years ago. There’s that same special warmth between Andy & Nigel (Stanley Tucci) that gives their scenes such a sweetness that cuts through all the deliciously wicked meanness. There isn’t a single person who has lost even a step, it’s like the characters got to actually live lives without us seeing them and we just came right back for another couple of hours in their lives.
Where the last film put a lot of its focus on the horrors of dealing with a boss who has disdain for absolutely everyone, The Devil Wears Prada 2 goes a little bigger in terms of its targets. A large amount of the film tackles the idea of how hard it is to be a journalist, even in something like fashion, because of how the landscape has changed dramatically. Making fun of how things moved to digital or how intelligent articles have been replaced by TikTok dances are very easy topics to mock that this film handles spectacularly. It also brings in the whole issue of AI, how it’s replacing writers and ruining the concept of journalism which is a topic that it could’ve done more with but I get that it kind of wanted to move on to set things up for when things basically turn into the gay version of a heist movie.
The latter half of The Devil Wears Prada 2 has everything kind of going haywire with betrayals, lies, Miranda acting as a distraction while Andy tries to save the magazine all set to Gaga music and it’s the moment that the film kicks into high gear. It’s where some of the best jokes are, certainly some of the most glorious outfit choices and just everything that one would hope for in a Devil Wears Prada movie. It’s also where we spend more time with Emily’s boyfriend Benji (Justin Theroux) who may as well just have a stamp on his face saying “Elon Musk Parody” with his stupid ideas, unfunny jokes, desperation to be loved and insistence that AI is great and boy it’s fun watching the film just make it clear how much people like this absolutely suck. There are a few moments you hope they’d do a little more with him, not only just because their pointed barbs about how stupid these tech bros are is hilarious but because it’s funny watching this guy suffer, he’s probably the most fun side character in this franchise.
It’s nice to see that The Devil Wears Prada 2 isn’t just a straight-up repeat of the original, which it absolutely could’ve been without many people objecting. We’ve seen Andy be flustered about Miranda, she’s 20 years older now and can handle herself better so it’s more fun to actually put Miranda in jeopardy and see them try to save her and the magazine. It’s a new dynamic that really gives them so much to work with… in the second half, the first half does really go over a lot of similar beats to the first movie but we aren’t going to get lines quite as good as “Some hideous skirt convention you have to go to?” or “Florals? For spring? Groundbreaking”. While the chemistry and the characters feel on par with the first one, the wit that the first film was known for feels a little lacking. Maybe it’s just to try and keep up with the times but so often I was waiting for Miranda to say something so biting it would make a grown man weep but the film just held back from those moments a little more than one might like.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 is a very nice follow-up to an all-time classic, able to do just enough to avoid embarrassing itself in comparison to what came before but never surpassing it. It has a lot of interesting ideas and gets a few good little jabs in but by and large it’s just a fun breezy little film with enough elaborate fashion moments to satisfy a lot of the audience. This film leans into what they know the audience liked about the first film and, more often than not, manages to make it work. It could be better but really, as long as it didn’t completely mess everything up then it appears to have done its job. That’s all.
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