The original Devil Wears Prada is one of the most iconic films of all time. Since its release in 2006, it has become a cinematic staple. Twenty years later and we finally have a follow up. Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) is now a renowned journalist, reporting on important stories like she has always wanted to do. When she is unceremoniously laid off from her job, a chance to return to Runway, and once more working with Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) presents itself. Together with Nigel Kipling (Stanley Tucci), they join forces to combat the decline of traditional magazine publishing.
Legacy sequels are all the rage these days. Most of the time they aren’t necessary. I really thought that The Devil Wears Prada 2 would be a senseless cash grab to add to the endless pile. You could therefore imagine how pleasantly surprised I was by how much I enjoyed the film. I would have been fine without it, but since it needed to happen, I’m glad that they delivered a story that actually mattered.
This film wouldn’t have worked without the return of Hathaway, Streep and Tucci. Emily Blunt was also back as the incomparable Emily Charlton. Having the gang back together was a pure treat and they were better than ever. While they’ve grown up a bit, they were still the lovable characters we grew to love two decades ago. Miranda and Emily had some epic one liners that had me giggling throughout though obviously the tone had to shift slightly due to the changes of today’s society.
Our fearless foursome were joined by some new faces for this outing. Kenneth Branagh starred as Stuart, Miranda’s new beau, Justin Theroux and Lucy Liu were Benji and Sasha Barnes respectively, a former famous power couple, B.J. Novak was the new owner of the magazine publication while Simone Ashley starred as Miranda’s first assistant Amari and Patrick Brammall was Andy’s new love interest Peter. Although some of these supporting characters were one sided, I did appreciate their inclusion. There were also some really cool cameos that featured throughout.
One of the best parts of the film is without a doubt the beautiful clothing that is featured. The level of fashion this time around is upped to the max with so many garments that I could only ever dream of owning myself. Andy had some brilliant costumes, but I was also a big fan of Emily’s various Dior looks. Another selling point are the sprawling locations from New York City to Milan and Lake Como, I was instantly transported to each and every spot. And then there was the soundtrack which featured some banging numbers by Dua Lipa, Lady Gaga and Olivia Dean to name a few that perfectly set the scene.
But as I mentioned already, this sequel actually had something important to say. Journalism, and print journalism in particular, isn’t the same as it used to be. A lot has changed over the years and with the looming threats of artificial intelligence etc., this will only escalate more. Having this be the main storyline was a smart choice as it’s extremely topical and the way in which it was depicted was well executed.
Overall, I may have initially been on the fence for The Devil Wears Prada 2, but I actually really liked it. From the very beginning it knew was it wanted to do and I’m glad that it wasn’t trying to outdo its predecessor. Instead it managed to stand on its own feet. As much of a nostalgia trip it was to be reunited with these characters and to be able to revisit this world, I do think that this was a proper conclusion and believe it should end here.
Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️
Credits Rolling 