I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: A sequel does not have to be better, or even as good as the original. All it has to do is justify its own existence. It’s a low bar and “The Devil Wears Prada 2” doesn’t clear it.
There isn’t a cogent story to tell, and it can’t even coast on “getting the gang back together,” because if that was the only reason to make the movie, you didn’t have to bother making a movie. The gang could get back together any time they want. We like to joke about how “this meeting could have been an email” but if all “The Devil Wears Prada 2” can offer is Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt on-screen together again, then this film could have been a Zoom call.
“The Devil Wears Prada 2” takes place 20 years after the original, and all is not well at Runway Magazine. Actually, the entire publishing industry is a punishing hellscape that’s constantly on fire. Andy Sachs (Hathaway) became a serious journalist but she just got fired via text while receiving an important award. And so did every other journalist at her table. There’s no job security in this business, no matter how good you are, and yeah, that’s not just the movie. That’s true. We’re all terrified, all the time.
Runway Magazine is having its own problems. It’s not driving the fashion culture like it used to. Miranda Priestley (Streep) lost so much of her mojo that she’s actually doing florals for spring. She’s not allowed to throw her coat at people or unleash her most vicious insults in the office anymore. And she just did a huge story celebrating a fashion company that got busted for running sweatshops, so her magazine’s credibility is in the toilet.
The stars align. The rich guy who owns Runway gets Andy to run the features department, against Miranda’s wishes, and it’s not going great. Andy can’t get clicks on her serious articles — never mind what they are, they’re just ever so serious — and although she makes a big show of saying she’ll hire all her recently fired associates, apparently she only hires one guy. Gee, thanks Andy. Good job. You really made a difference. We don’t see her do journalism, we see her make phone calls and press “publish” a few times.
“The Devil Wears Prada 2” undoes the growth Andy went through in the original film, and presumably over the following decades, to recreate the character dynamic between Andy and Miranda. Andy still wants Miranda’s approval. Miranda refuses to give it (even though she already did, that’s how the last movie ended). Miranda’s Guy Friday, Nigel (Tucci), supports them both and says witty things. Emily (Blunt) is still an ice queen; she just has a different job. They even redo the scene where Andy has to do an impossible task to keep her job, which finally impresses Miranda, except this time it’s less impressive.
The point, allegedly, is that “The Devil Wears Prada 2” is about the state of modern journalism. But it’s not actually about that. All it does is feint in that general direction. The film mines the publishing industry for plot points: it’s a way to get Andy back at Runway, it’s a way to artificially inflate tension in the third act by introducing more soulless billionaires who want to ruin journalism. “The Devil Wears Prada 2” isn’t even interested in what Andy is writing for Runway or why writing is important, in the fashion industry or anywhere else.
The original “Devil Wears Prada” has one of the best-written scenes of the 2000s, where Andy scoffs at high fashion and gets schooled by Miranda about the cultural and economic significance of her industry. The new “Devil Wears Prada” has a lot of scenes where Miranda scoffs at serious journalism but nobody speaks intelligently in journalism’s defense, even though Andy pulling a Miranda, on Miranda, would have brought the house town. (Journalism isn’t irrelevant, Miranda. It’s cerulean.)
Is Meryl Streep great? Yes. Is Anne Hathaway great? Yes. Is Stanley Tucci great? Yes. Is Emily Blunt great? Yes. Are they ever not great? No, but in better written films they’re better than this. They still have chemistry but “The Devil Wears Prada 2” doesn’t give them many ingredients, so their chemical reactions only produce fumes.
Kenneth Branagh joins the cast as Miranda’s husband, and he’s such a big star that you might think he’d have something to do with the story, but he doesn’t, and you know what? That’s actually refreshing. So many films feature wives who have nothing to do besides support their husbands, and “The Devil Wears Prada 2” flips that around, and lets an Oscar-winner like Branagh just play a decent man and a respectful partner. That’s kinda nice.
The original “Devil Wears Prada” had brilliant characters, sparkling dialogue and a story that respected an industry that rarely got respect from outsiders — particularly straight men. It was an outlier, a marvel, and that’s way too high a standard for most films to reach, even “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” But this sequel spends so much energy on revisiting the first film’s vibes that it overlooks the fact that “The Devil Wears Prada” used its fantastic cast and insightful screenplay to make a point. Several of them, actually. And those points were explored in satisfying depth, in between all those passive-aggressive barbs.
“The Devil Wears Prada 2” doesn’t have a coherent theme, so its vibes have nothing to stick to. It never makes the convincing argument for its own existence, other than saying the journalism business stinks right now, and that there’s no solution that doesn’t involve billionaires who are more likely to ruin the industry than save it. Maybe that’s true but it’s not much of a movie. At least the gang’s all here, and the gang’s still charming, but the gang would have been better off doing something else.
“The Devil Wears Prada 2” opens exclusively in theaters on May 1.
