Devil Wears Prada 2 Review
The Devil Wears Prada is a beloved American comedy which follows Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) as she navigates her new role as second assistant to editor-in-chief, Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), and integrates into the toxic work culture of the fashion magazine Runway. The film is heartfelt with clear reflections on the price of ambition and work-life balance, but, above all else, it is a closed story.
This was the concern that had echoed in my mind since the trailer for a sequel was released in February. The novel by Lauren Weisberger, which the first film was adapted from, does have a sequel, Revenge Wears Prada, but from my understanding the second film is entirely divorced from Weisberger's other works. This didn't fill me with confidence.
Still, I took my seat in Chester's lovely Picture House cinema with popcorn and Diet Coke in hand - ironically a sponsor of the film - and was slightly stunned to leave pleasantly surprised.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 follows Andy after she's been laid off by her publishing company, meanwhile Miranda's name is being dragged through the mud after publishing a glowing article on a sweatshop brand. Runway needs a talented journalist to save their image, so in comes Andy with her twenty years of experience. Following this rescue, Andy begins to earn her stripes only for Runway to meet its true nemesis - budget cuts. For the rest of the film, Miranda and Andy work together like a besequined Batman and Robin to save Runway from the greasy hands of money hungry tech bros.
It's of course a cash grab, nostalgia-baiting sequel but I wouldn't say the final product reads as though no care or effort went into making it. The actors deliver good performances across the board, the script is satisfactory and, while I don't think the second film can hold a candle to the first, it has its merits.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 touches on multiple current issues relating to the creative industries; the shift away from print media, the changing technological landscape, and, primarily, the loss of funding. Unfortunately this multitude of concerns causes the film's message to lack the gravitas the first was able to achieve. I can't say I left the cinema with new insights into the publishing industry, or the challenges it's facing in the modern age, but I definitely felt like they were saying all the right things, just very quickly so they could begin saying the next right thing.
This is a bit of a theme. The film's pacing is on the weaker side, the beginning struggling a bit with exposition. The first act feels a little rushed and crowded due to the integration of returning roles and a whole new cast of characters, but more on them later. The dialogue didn't try to be too quippy, but definitely felt written at times. Despite this, I did laugh out loud at multiple points and never felt as though I was being preached to or patronised. The overall narrative works, but it's not tight primarily due to the many (many) conversations the film is trying to have. While it makes a pleasant watch, narrowing the cast and themes would have allowed for stronger storytelling and character development.
Character is an interesting component of the sequel, especially as Andy seems to regress quite quickly into the first act. She goes from being an award winning journalist to a self conscious newbie all over again, believable to a degree but you would think her achievements would have made her a little more confident despite the circumstances. Although she comes across more fashion conscious, she continues to mock the work done at Runway as if she's above it. As in the first film, Andy has a perceived hierarchy of high and low brow journalism on which fashion, to her standards, sits firmly in the latter. Again, believable but did the cerulean sweater monologue really mean so little to her?
She is still awkward and endearing and willing to do anything for Miranda's approval. In fact, she re-enters Runway as an editor only to end up once again hanging up Miranda's metaphorical coat. Her lack of family, which she clearly wants having frozen and named two of her eggs, almost makes me wonder if she made sacrifices in her personal life to progress her career, just as the first film advises against. It only makes me wonder, however, because I know it was to enable a romantic B plot, which I didn't care for at all. Peter (Patrick Brammall), to me, is just another face in the oversaturated cast. His character is wooden and adds extremely little to the plot apart from the insinuated happily ever after.
Someone who falls into a similar dilemma is Jin (Helen J. Shen) - a character who has been the centre of online discussion about the representation and presentation of Asian people in Hollywood. Jin is one of three new assistant characters who, due to the large cast, unfortunately get lost in the mix. ModernGurlz on Youtube offers some excellent insights on the assistant characters. I wholly agree with their suggestion that the B plot would have been far stronger if, instead of Andy's romance, it made Amari (Simone Ashley) the shared assistant of Andy and Miranda and centred the tension this would cause between the two leads. Especially as the second film is more concerned with the industry and not the character's personal lives, tightening the script to focus more on the Runway team would definitely help strengthen the piece as well as offer a new layer of conflict and tangible intrigue. I agree that the assistant roles would have benefitted from being refined into one character who is properly explored. Jin is a primary example of how the romance arc prevents other characters from being adequately fleshed out, including Peter, as the audience is simply told about her, mainly her academic achievements, and she is never used in a way which makes her feel indispensable to the plot. I think it's important that the thoughts and feedback given by people who share Jin's racial identity are listened to and their words properly digested by those who don't; I also worry her lack of screen time is what has caused her to read as little more than a stereotype. Narrowing the cast down and cutting the romance arc is a clear solution to these issues and the story would have been stronger for it.
Miranda's character has gone through some interesting changes. She comes across weaker, not quite dropping her standards but not fighting for them to be met. I was surprised the film insinuated that Miranda's off-screen development has left her a little soft around the edges. Miranda was once the most powerful person in her office, literally blackmailing her CEO to maintain her position, but as the wider world's respect for her work has diminished so seems her grasp on it. In a way it makes sense, she's of course had to change alongside new HR standards and new technology since the first film, what's unsatisfactory is that this development happened off camera. While she's not a good person, she's certainly not the "devil" you remember and it would have been interesting to have seen more of that process. Still, Streep delivers this version of Miranda beautifully and complexly. The way in which she delivers the line "that's all" to Emily (Emily Blunt) towards the end of the second act genuinely chilled me. The concept of visionaries versus vendors - again something which could have been a much more striking concept if given the focus it required - felt like a very well placed jab at Blunt's character, but at the same time I don't think Emily possesses the ambition needed to work as the film's twist villain. She certainly has the venom and resentment, but something about her desire to play the "visionary" role doesn't seem aligned with the Emily we know, who simply loved fashion and the proximity to luxury her job allowed. Emily comes across as if she's been misunderstood by the writers, something that also unfortunately comes through in her wardrobe.
I noticed myself being taken out of the film multiple times due to the costuming, my immersion breaking as I wondered if a given character would have the creativity, let alone the desire, to put together the outfit they were wearing. I appreciate that some of this may have come from brands supplying clothes for the film and costumer Molly Rogers having to shoehorn pieces in, but a lot of the costumes either looked overly unrealistic (Andy's undercover outfit maybe being the most obvious case) or inharmonious with the character.
Nigel and Miranda's styles are easily the best delivered as they were both characterful and were able to toe the line between timeless and current very nicely where other characters seemed to fall a little flat. The first film (costumed by Rogers' mentor, Patricia Field) was more successful in how costuming communicated character while delivering looks that complimented the contemporary fashions but were character conscious enough to not become dated. The sequel characters looked far more curated, aspirational, but, above all else, believable in their more toned down workwear. The pants suits Andy and Miranda wore were some of my favourites as they looked like something a fashion savvy person would wear. At times, it felt like the costumes were trying to be more creative than what seemed realistic in order to convince the audience the characters cared about fashion. The more toned down looks, I think, communicated this much better as there was a clear emphasis on fit and distinct colour pallets, giving each look a curated feel. There is not a universe where I know more about costuming and style than Rogers, but the fashion of The Devil Wears Prada 2 did distract me more than it informed me which does weaken its effect in my eyes.
Overall, The Devil Wears Prada 2 is not the worst version of itself. It has a tendency to be a little rushed, or for the writing to slip at times, but it delivers what it promises to. Though I can't see it standing the test of time, it provided a lovely afternoon out and was, at least in its narrative, inoffensive to its audience.