Review | ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ delivers a stylish return
Collage by Trinity Johnson, Photographer
“The Devil Wears Prada 2” is not just a sequel, but an entirely new story that explores the complexities of running a magazine and being a journalist in the modern age. It is full of nostalgia, cameos and references from the first installment of the film, most of which I was a fan of.
The excitement I felt upon hearing Madonna’s iconic song “Vogue” in the theater was enough to make me enjoy the new sequel, but luckily, there was so much more to love. The film was as chaotic as it was iconic and I just went along for the ride.
The film opens with Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) finally living out her life as a hard-working journalist. Although her work is award-winning, she is fired via text within the first few minutes of the movie, sparking the modern-day conflict of journalism being underappreciated, a development that has occurred in the two decades since we last saw these characters.
When Runway Magazine, run by Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) is also facing scandal, Andy returns to the team decades later, this time as the features editor of the magazine.
But this film couldn’t just be about Miranda maliciously commanding Andy around the office and criticizing her wardrobe all over again. To keep the pace going, the film introduced new conflicts that the pair had to work together to solve. Instead of watching Andy continuously struggling to stay afloat at Runway like in the first movie, we see her make career wins every step of the way and slowly build Miranda’s trust.
At a certain point, though, there was so much to follow and a feeling of monotony set in; every 30 minutes, a new career-ending issue arises, and the team has to work together closer than they’d hope to save the day.
Along with Andy’s new role was the introduction of way too many new characters. I couldn’t keep up with who was returning from the first movie and who was new to the cast. The majority seemed to be the latter. The cameos were also interestingly blended, as they were more characters being introduced than people playing themselves.
The film also gives Andy a love interest because, apparently, movies about women can’t go without one, even if they add almost nothing to the story. The man she kind of falls in love with is Peter (Patrick Brammall), who isn’t given a last name because of how unimportant he is.
The lovebirds meet at a remodeled apartment complex when Andy goes on a tour in search of a new place, where she meets the contractor. They share a few words that last all of two minutes, go on a date and I guess are in a relationship? It’s unclear. It felt like such an unnecessary subplot, and I felt absolutely nothing when Andy had to go away for work, leaving them conflicted over an unfinished argument.
“The Devil Wears Prada 2” was packed with references to the first film, but my favorites were the ones that showed how different the workplace was two decades earlier. Miranda constantly makes inappropriate remarks about her employees, and her new assistant (Simone Ashley) corrects her throughout the whole film. There is a running joke about both bosses, Miranda and the new head of Elias Clarke Publications, Jay (B.J. Novak), walking on eggshells to be politically correct. It was funny when Miranda continued the bit because we’re aware of her history of being quite cruel to staff, but with Jay, it just didn’t land.
One of the best parts of the first film was the outfits; this is a fashion magazine after all. They were unique, fabulous and seeing Andy rise to the occasion throughout the movie was so rewarding. This film didn’t do the fashion justice. Most outfits were gorgeous but understated, which is very typical of this decade, but a part of me missed the complete boldness of the 2000s.
How could I talk about “The Devil Wears Prada 2” without mentioning Nigel (Stanley Tucci)? He is the hardest-working and most loyal character in the first film, and he doesn’t let up in the second one.
20 years after the first installment of “The Devil Wears Prada,” I finally got to live out the full experience as intended, watching Miranda Priestly and Andy Sachs work together on the silver screen, and it only kind of disappointed.
