The Devil Wears Prada 2
Definitely aimed at existing fans, this plays to the nostalgia factor rather than blazing new ground, although it does at least try to say something about the current state of the publishing world. That said, with a cast this good, the film gets by on charm and likeability, even if it’s ultimately a case of style over substance.
Premise: After the newspaper that she works for gets shutdown for financial reasons, award-winning journalist Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) is offered the job of features editor at Runway fashion magazine, as a PR exercise to restore the publication’s editorial credibility. But the new role brings her back into contact with her old boss, editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), twenty years after she previously worked as Miranda’s assistant.
Review:
I have reasonably fond memories of 2006’s The Devil Wears Prada, but I confess it’s not a film that I’ve revisited often in the intervening two decades. Perhaps part of that is because I was around the age of Anne Hathaway’s character, the idealistic young journalist forced to take a job as an assistant to the editor-in-chief of a fashion magazine, at the time the film came out, but I’ve moved on since then. Nevertheless, it’s fair to say that the original film has quite a fan base – and it’s that existing fan base that The Devil Wears Prada 2 is clearly aimed at.
Not that there’s anything wrong with making a film for existing fans, rather than trying to bring in new ones – as that’s an approach that many sequels take. But where The Devil Wears Prada had a fairly relatable central premise (an up-and-comer is subjected to torment by ‘the boss from Hell’), this sequel is perhaps less accessible, and arguably less focused on what story it wants to tell.
“…most of the plot developments are signposted a mile away…”
That said, The Devil Wears Prada 2 starts out in an extremely relatable way, with Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) and her co-workers being made redundant when her employer “downsizes” its organisation. The film also has a clear voice in its first act, with clear messages that it wants to convey – talking about the importance of journalistic integrity to society, and openly acknowledging the struggles facing the print media industry today with the public favouring 30-second bites of online “content” over traditional magazines and meaningful articles.
All of which is commendable … but then in the middle act, those plot threads just seem to be forgotten about, as the focus shifts first to how Andy can land an exclusive interview to save her job, and then to how the Runway magazine itself can be saved. Both of these plot threads lack any real sense of jeopardy, drama or stakes, and both are eventually resolved with a quick and simple wave of a magic wand when the movie wants to move on to something else. Most of the plot developments (with one major exception, which I did not see coming) are signposted a mile away, and reinforce the feeling that delivering a compelling plot was really not the filmmakers’ primary objective.
“…so much talent on screen at any one time…”
But … all that being said, I did have a good time watching this film – it’s hard not to enjoy a movie with this much talent on screen at any one time. Anne Hathaway makes Andy’s story compelling even when it lacks dramatic bite, and although Meryl Streep doesn’t get to be quite as theatrical this time around as Miranda Priestly, the film does make a joke of that, having her new assistant Amari (Simone Ashley) constantly cut Miranda off before she says something that will be unacceptable to HR. For me, the secret weapon in both films has been Stanley Tucci’s performances as Nigel, Miranda's longtime right-hand at Runway, and he’s once again the emotional anchor in this sequel. And although it does feel like the filmmakers struggled to find a way to shoehorn Emily Blunt’s character (also called Emily) into the sequel, it’s hard to complaint when the end result of that decision is having the always-watchable Emily Blunt in the movie.
Outside of the ‘big four’, the sequel’s packed with a great supporting cast – from Kenneth Branagh as Miranda’s husband, and Justin Theroux as Emily’s boyfriend, to B.J. Novak as the son of the owner of Runway, and Lucy Liu as a reclusive divorcée. In truth, none of them get a great deal to do, but their presence alongside Streep, Hathaway, Tucci and Blunt means that there’s always an excess of charm and watchability on screen at any one point. I also loved that Patrick Brammall – who I adore in the underappreciated TV comedies Colin from Accounts and No Activity – gets his highest profile Hollywood role yet in this movie, as Andy’s potential romantic interest.
“…spending time with these characters never goes out of fashion….”
All in all, the filmmakers should be commended for not simply rehashing the plot and concepts from the first film – The Devil Wears Prada 2, for all its flaws in terms of its rather toothless plot, is at least trying to use its beloved characters to tell a new story about the state of journalism today. And those characters are rightly beloved, with Streep, Hathaway, Tucci and Blunt reminding us all that they’re still among the best actors out there – and why spending time in their company never goes out of fashion.
