The Devil Wears Prada 2 is stuffed with throwbacks to its predecessor. After all, it has been two decades since the frumpy Andy (Anne Hathaway) interned at the Vogue-like fashion magazine Runway under its icy editor Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep). Andy survived the ordeal and moved on to “serious” journalism. But like fashions make a comeback, so must a popular movie.
Andy is the most recent victim of a new media landscape characterised by brutal layoffs and consolidations. She finds herself back at Runway. Miranda is displeased, Miranda’s deputy Nigel (Stanley Tucci) less so. They need Andy, since Runway is going through its own crisis. The new boss Jay (BJ Novak), who communicates through Corporatese, wants a less expensive and more nimble outfit.
Miranda’s former assistant Emily (Emily Blunt) is dating the billionaire Benji (Justin Theroux) who might just bail out Runway – and put Miranda out to pasture. Is that necessarily a bad thing, given how terrible Miranda is for self-esteem and how unsuited she seems for a more diverse, digital-first world?
Director David Frankel and writer Aline Brosh McKenna – both alumni from The Devil Wears Prada – are content to clutch their pearls as long as the necklaces come with a designer tag. The new movie thumps for tradition while also aligning itself with millennial-era concerns over values and morals. The Devil Wears Prada 2 is equally canny about how appearance-obsessed, in-the-moment and celebrity-conscious the new generation of intended viewers is.
The entertaining zingers, shared equally between the principal cast, are perfectly suited for memes and quote cards that can circulate on social media. The fashion is top-notch. Designers sashay in for cameos. Even Andy never makes the mistake of repeating an outfit.
Some of the characters and the guests, from Kara Swisher to Tina Brown, will be most recognisable to people in the media business. When Andy publishes an earnest defence of one of Miranda’s bloopers, Miranda is unimpressed. Did anyone apart from culture writers actually click on the article, she wants to know. Some portions of the 119-minute movie are similarly arcane too.
The film improves when it gets closer to its generic parent, which was essentially about workplace dynamics set against the backdrop of a fashion magazine. A crucial event in Milan, apart from offering gorgeous views of the Duomo, forces Andy, Miranda, Nigel and Emily into all-out battle.
Cattiness and superciliousness stand out in a film that’s scattershot about journalism and soft on the fashion industry. Andy’s naivete about how acquisitions happen is almost worrying. It’s a credit to Anne Hathaway’s warm, goofy and endearing presence that Andy works as a character.
Like the sequel, Meryl Streep’s Miranda too has lost some of her raison d’etre. Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci are terrific reminders not just of why the first movie worked, but also why continuity and experience matter.
