Twenty years after she left her position at Runway magazine, Andy Sachs (played again by Anne Hathaway) has become a prize-winning journalist, but has recently been laid off along with the rest of her team. Left without a job and defeated by the ease at which higher-ups can gut entire companies for convenience sake, Andy receives a call from Irv Ratiz (played again by Tibor Feldman), the owner of Runway, and commissions her to be the new features editor to repair their tarnished reputation after publishing a puff piece for a brand that uses sweat shop labor. After reuniting with Nigel (played again by Stanley Tucci) and a still prickly Miranda Priestly (played again by Meryl Streep), who is trying to get promoted to global head of content, Andy tries to find a middle ground of keeping her journalistic integrity whilst writing short-form content for the now digital-exclusive Runway, but struggles with low traction on her posts and constant belittlement from her old boss. To make matters worse, Irv’s son, Jay (played by B. J Novak) plans to step into a head position, potentially putting Andy and the rest of Runway (even Miranda) on the chopping block, forcing Andy to think up a solution that can fix everyone’s problems, calling on the help of her former runway co-worker, Emily (played again by Emily Blunt) to sort things out.
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2 struts its stuff surprisingly steadily given it didn’t need to exist, with the very strong global box office opening of $217 million proving that fans were still itching for more. Pushing the hype aside, the movie is pretty scattered with its narrative and character dynamics, and wrestles with retaining a cheesy upbeat tone whilst incorporating a morose examination of callous corporate greed and the gutting of creative industries, but the peppy directing style, polished visuals, and strong chemistry between the four returning stars, makes it an old brand still worth purchasing.
After the initial teaser received over 181.5 million views in its first day, it was clear that people were willing to see more of The Devil Wears Prada, and with the advancements made in the fashion industry and how people consume it through influencers and celebrities, there was room to make something contemporary while still milking from the nostalgic cash cow. Bringing back the original director, David Frankel, and writer, Aline Brosh McKenna, could keep the vibe and tone consistent, but also runs the risk of being stagnant and outdated without a new voice. It’s thankfully able to avoid feeling like a repeat and adds enough modern touches to feel clicked-in with its audience.
Calling attention to the cruel ways corporate minds can slash entire sections of companies is very relevant nowadays, the direction still has a sense of zest and style as well as some unbothersome 2000-isms, the returning actors are still wonderful to watch, and with the increase budget and secured sense of confidence, it’s able to flaunt its swagger and style in a way that doesn’t feel like it’s tip-toeing around the wrath of Anna Wintour.
With that said, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2 is still a pointless sequel and feels like one, with the story (despite housing some decent elements) feeling very underbaked, not bringing enough new to the table and seems like it’s grabbing at straws for something to focus on and can therefore feel very flimsy and incoherent. While the corporate callout is appreciated, the morose reality of the topic brings down the enjoyably uptight vibe this movie should give off, the writing isn’t clever nor thorough enough to take the story or characters in new compelling directions, and the plot features some pretty lame cliches that feel twenty years old, making it lesser than its predecessor, which houses its own lame cliches, but was more concise and clear with its direction and story.
Considering Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci were still rising stars when the first film came out, and Meryl Streep was considering retirement before starring as Miranda, it’s really cool to see these four come back on a much more even playing field (with all now being Oscar-nominated talent) and slip back into these roles very naturally. Anne Hathaway can be a bit hit-or-miss and star in projects that don’t always suit her, but she does quite a good job here, bringing a familiarly plucky and good-natured centre to Andy that works well with the peppier moments, but can also pull off the more dramatic parts surprisingly well too, it’s a nice reminder of what she can do when comfortable in the right project. With that said, while Streep, Blunt and Tucci are equally as good, their roles don’t feel as intriguing as what was previously showcased. Miranda no longer has the immovably stony exterior she had when positioned as the antagonist as the first film, and flounders as a consequence as it seems like the creatives have no idea what to do with her (it might’ve worked better if she was the lead), and Tucci and Blunt offer diminishing returns as they have nothing new to offer.
While these returning characters have the benefit of charming performances keeping them afloat, the newly introduced roles are totally useless at best, and irritatingly cliched at worst. While people like Simone Ashley, Tracie Thoms, Caleb Hearon and Helen J. Shen are perfectly harmless albeit underused, and people like Lucy Liu, Kenneth Branagh and Lady Gaga get good scenes but not a lot of plot relevance, Justin Theroux is abysmal as the generic affluent rich slacker, and is only topped in terribleness by B. J. Novak, playing an all-too-familiar part that audiences are just sick of seeing at this point (the ‘tech-bro’ has never been a good trope in real life or in media). Patrick Brammall is also pretty rough as Andy’s boyfriend, with no character to bounce off of, or relevance to the story outside of needing Andy to find a boyfriend (another annoying trope that feels twenty years old).
When the first movie spotlighted the surprisingly cut-throat fashion industry, it did so in a manner that felt up-close and personal, but still very stylish, allowing the production design by Jess Gonchor to highlight the color and quality of the environment without breaking reality, and this sequel follows suit. This kind of look has actually become more sought after in today’s market, with the teaser also getting praised for the clear film quality and lack of saturation present in most modern movies, and it can be felt in how high polished and vibrant everything looks and feels. The cinematography by Florian Ballhaus also presents the movie very well, nicely capturing the stunningly grand but also tight-knit and chaotic energy of New York, while bringing in little visual flourishes of the 2000s in a lovably retro fashion like dramatic zoom-ins and specific tracking shots.
The musical score by Theodore Shapiro also feels like a piece that’d be made for a rom com in the 2000s, containing a bubbliness that never gets too irritating, and prominently but slyly backs many scenes in a way that pushes forward the mood, but doesn’t scream its presence, it’s a surprisingly well-handled element. Ironically, since the movie focuses more on corporate inner-workings, the fashion industry isn’t shown off that much this time around, but at least the costumes created by Molly Rogers still look really good, whether it’s for people strutting down a catwalk or the leads just casually hanging out.
The Devil Wears Prada was a surprisingly solid movie that contained some lame cliches and didn’t always go far enough with its ideas, but had a good premise, memorable characters, a fun vibe and showed off some great fashion. This sequel definitely didn’t need to exist, and you can feel that as it struggles to stick with a specific focal point and fumbles with some of the characters arcs, but there are far worse examples of decade-long sequels, so we’ll take what we can get. The four leading actors are just as great as they were before, the film looks and sounds nice, the direction has a slight throwback feel, but still feels modern, and the message is a very terrifying yet relevant topic that needs to be showcased and fought against (although the notion of Disney preaching this message after doing the exact same thing previously is pretty tone-deaf). Not a totally vogue-tastic experience but will still get the cameras clicking.
