The Devil Wears Prada 2 Review
Twenty years after the events of The Devil Wears Prada, Andy Sachs has become a successful, award-winning journalist. Despite her accolades as a writer, Andy finds herself unemployed among corporate layoffs at her publication. But just as she is trying to figure out what to do next, a lifeline is thrown at her.
Andy’s former employer, the magazine Runway, finds itself in crisis after one of its articles sparks a mass social media cancellation. Desperate to resolve it quickly, Runway owner Irv Ravitz and his son Jay come up with the idea of hiring the recently laid-off Andy to return and salvage the magazine’s reputation. Andy eagerly accepts the offer.
Unfortunately, one critical person did not get the memo – Miranda Priestly. Once a titan of fashion, Miranda has found herself in the twilight of her career as magazine readership has declined, social media has taken over, and woke culture has constrained her once sharp tongue. Now, with former assistant Andy Sachs walking in to save the day, an insult has been added to Miranda’s injury.
As Andy is reunited with her former devilish boss, she finds her confidence withering and her fire to change the world overpowered by the need for social media clicks. But Runway and its staff will need both Miranda and Andy to call upon their respective talents to face the challenges that are about to hit them both personally and professionally.
Twenty years after the first film, Meryl Streep doesn’t miss a beat as she returns as Miranda Priestly. It’s rare for an actor or actress to create a character that immediately becomes iconic, yet Streep did so and remains in top form here. While she still retains the biting tongue and the disdain for underlings, we find her a bit more tamed now at this new stage in life.
Miranda finds herself in a position where she needs help, and it’s definitely uncomfortable for her. Streep gives her villainess a little bit of vulnerability here, which makes her endearing. It’s like Simon Cowell being a little less hostile towards American Idol contestants as he ages. While you love watching her make her employees squirm, she still manages to make the audience sympathetic toward her.
Anne Hathaway also returns as Andy Sachs. While she’s twenty years older, she still has the energy, nervousness, and optimism to change the world. It’s fun to watch her wither under the disdainful gaze of Miranada despite having so much experience. Yet she still is like an eager puppy trying to please her owner.
Other returning cast members include Stanley Tucci as Nigel and Emily Blunt as Emily. Little has changed for Nigel as he continues to be Miranda’s right-hand man and conscience. Everything has changed for Emily as she finds herself in a great job while being a divorced mother of two kids.
Despite her success, she’s still traumatized by her years with Miranda, and the PTSD affects everything she does. She’s one of the more tragic characters in the movie, but Blunt still manages to make her likable.
There are a ton of cameos in The Devil Wears Prada 2 from the world of fashion and the world of Hollywood. While I’m not exactly plugged into the world of fashion, there were a few faces that even I recognized.
While it’s fun to revisit these characters after twenty years, the plot is a bit light. It feels more like an episode of a TV show than a sequel to a fan favorite film. It’s not just the plot that is lacking – the supporting characters are, too. There were a lot of opportunities to have breakout secondary characters, but they are almost all universally dull.
From Andy’s boyfriend to the Runway assistants to Emily’s former lovers, nobody has a standout moment. Justin Theroux tries his best to add humor as Benji Barnes, but his comedic moments end up feeling over-the-top against the rest of the film.
The addition of B.J. Novak as Jay Ravitz seems like an opportunity to introduce some fun moments as he clashes with Miranda, but those scenes never reach their full potential. Kenneth Branagh is even wasted as Stuart, Miranda’s new husband.
There’s also an odd subplot in which Andy Sachs repeatedly says how important her job as a journalist is while dismissing other people’s jobs as frivolous or even oppressive. At one point, she insults her boyfriend’s job as an apartment renovator as insignificant compared to her role as a journalist.
There’s never a reckoning for her about her ego, despite it making her seem selfish and less the heroine that she thinks she is. If they may have implied Andy was turning into Miranda herself, it might have had some payoff, but that never happened.
If you’re a fan of the first film, then The Devil Wears Prada 2 is a fun yet shallow trip down memory lane worth taking. But this film is not going to be the landmark movie that its predecessor was.
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2 REVIEW RATING: 5.5 OUT OF 10
20th Century Studios will release The Devil Wears Prada 2 in theaters on Friday, May 1. Directed by David Frankel, the film has been rated PG-13 for strong language and some suggestive references.
