Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
‘Devil Wears Prada 2’ may not be as much about high fashion and an evil boss like the first film, but it heavily banks on its nostalgic value to reel viewers in.
Created by director David Frankel alongside writers Aline Brosh McKenna and Lauren Weisberger, The Devil Wears Prada 2 is set 20 years after Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) quits her job as junior assistant to Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), the icy and fiercely ambitious editor-in-chief of Runway magazine.
Andy is now a successful investigative reporter, but after unexpectedly losing her job, she finds herself returning to Runway. Back in the chaotic world of fashion journalism, Andy once again feels like a doddering rookie under Miranda’s indifferent gaze, though this time she is far more confident and determined to pursue serious journalism instead of shallow glitzy features.
Meryl Streep’s Miranda has mellowed slightly with age, though she remains skilled at making powerful people feel utterly insignificant with ease. In one of the film’s funnier scenes, she makes Andy take the train back after a meeting even though they arrived together and her car still has plenty of space. Although, she is no longer terrifying enough to justify the ‘Devil Wears Prada 2’ title.
Stanley Tucci returns as Nigel, Miranda’s loyal and ever-supportive shadow, while Emily (Emily Blunt) has climbed the fashion ladder and now works in Retail fashion, at Dior, no less. So Andy is reunited with Emily over ads and sponsored features Dior, and well for some other things, including a conveniently exaggerated twist.
To add a bigger theme this time, ‘Devil Wears Prada 2’ also explores the slow death of legacy media, and how even Runway’s survival is threatened. And to nobody’s surprise, Andy finds a way to save the day, while she struggles to gain Miranda’s attention like a lost teen in desperate need of validation. A minor sub-plot about Andy romancing a real estate guy called Peter (Patrick Brammall) does nothing for the story and could’ve been scrapped.
Simone Ashley plays Amari, Miranda’s new assistant, and though the role is fairly small, she leaves an impression as a sharply dressed, no-nonsense young woman clearly channeling a little bit of Miranda herself. In a recurring funny trope, Amari keeps correcting Miranda on things she can’t say if she doesn’t want to get cancelled, like calling models ‘starved cows’. Oh and this time, Andy has an assistant too, a smart woman called Jin (Helen J Shen), who knows how to be useful.
From adequately fun banter and gorgeous outfits to stunning shots of Milan, ‘Devil Wears Prada 2’ carries many of the same ingredients that made its predecessor entertaining, combined with a primary cast whose stars have only grown brighter over the years. While Stanley Tucci feels somewhat underused, Emily Blunt is hilarious as the endlessly ambitious Emily, now dating a billionaire and clearly dreaming of something bigger than simply working retail at Dior.
What never quite works in ‘Devil Wears Prada 2’ is how deeply emotional Andy gets over Runway and the people still working there. The film constantly frames her as if she is reliving unresolved trauma from yesterday, with Andy repeatedly looking close to tears over situations that feel far too minor for someone at her stage in life and career. It comes across as an obvious attempt to emotionally manipulate the audience, especially since Andy makes it quite clear that the Runway job is only temporary until she finds more meaningful journalism work elsewhere.
Overall, Devil Wears Prada 2 is more surface-level fun than anything truly memorable, but fans of the original should still have a good time with it. And to conclude this review the Miranda Priestly way: “That’s all.”
Watch Devil Wears Prada 2 in theaters.
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