The Devil Wears Prada 2

In a world of legacy sequels, where does The Devil Wears Prada 2 fit in? So many legacy sequels lean heavily on nostalgia, reminding audiences why they loved the original without giving them a reason to care now. But every once in a while, one actually evolves with the times instead of repeating the past.

In The Devil Wears Prada 2, Andy returns to Runway during a period where the magazine industry is struggling with layoffs, controversy, and an uncertain future. Hopefully, with her experience, she can help prove that Runway still has some life in it.

The Devil Wears Prada is a comedy-drama film filled with some unforgettable looks and stars Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, and Emily Blunt, and was directed by David Frankel. It has similar vibes to Confessions of a Shopaholic, The Princess Diaries 2, or Cruella.

The Devil Wears Prada is a favorite of mine and really made its mark in pop culture with so many quotable scenes, so naturally, I was excited for this sequel. Also, a little fun fact is that this film came out 20 years after the original. I was actually wondering what could justify a sequel, and then they chose to dive into topics like layoffs, the death of print journalism, and the importance of political correctness. I was shocked that they tackled topics that may not seem as glamorous, but did it in a way that really kept my interest and balanced it well with the fashion aspect of the film.

Fashion is important because self-expression, historically, has been used to tell social position, how much money you have, and to distinguish certain people. We see self-expression in this film, even though some of the characters may not be able to afford the pieces; they may borrow them and look fabulous in them. I loved seeing how the fashion was so different for everyone and how, even though Andy left that world, she learned things that left a lasting impact on her.

I love it when movies make me want to do something, and this movie made me want to go pick up a magazine and do some reading. I loved seeing how Andy was writing great stuff, but not enough people were reading it, and they showed that just because something is good doesn’t mean that it will be successful, so sometimes you may have to identify something that will produce good content but also be popular. It really makes you appreciate the hard work that goes into curating these magazines and how it’s more difficult than you may think.

The soundtrack for the movie was great, filled with a lot of modern tracks that really felt like they represented what people would be listening to today or what would be playing at events. Doechii and Lady Gaga released a collab for the album named Runway, which I just love and was a great addition in the film.

The movie is filled with so many cameos from designers, models, TikTokkers, athletes, authors, musicians, and actors. There are so many that I’m not going to name them, and I’ll probably forget some. The cameos made sense because it felt like these people would be either at a fashion event or known by Miranda.

Anne Hathaway plays Andy, and I’ve always loved Anne, but Andy is someone whom I also love as a character. I love how she learned a lot from Runway and charted her own career and then found her way back. She is hired to do damage control after Miranda ran a puff piece about a brand that was running sweatshops. Once in, she realizes it’s not as easy as she thinks, but also that the print publication side of media is dying, and they need to figure out how to get people invested again. I love how she heard about owners wanting to slim down and really had a lot of empathy for the people who would be affected, and tried to help stop it.

I get that it’s nice for Andy to have a love interest, but it really felt out of place. Like, there was enough going on, and Peter was barely in it enough for me to care about him. Every scene with him, I was waiting for it to be over because I wanted to get back to the juicy part of the story. I think a love story could have been mixed more with the story, but we would’ve needed more time.

Miranda is played expertly by Meryl Streep, who once again is scary but also iconic. At first, I thought she was nicer, but come to find out, that's not true. She is just slightly nicer because of how workplace culture has changed, and past actions would fall under harassment. I love how her new first assistant, Amari, played by Simone Ashley, tells her what’s correct and what’s not when in bigger groups, so she doesn’t get into trouble. It’s funny how she doesn’t even remember Andy when she starts, and is just so confused by Andy’s behavior, which I think was a lie. The reason I say that is because throughout the film, we see how observant she is with Emily’s attempted takeover and Andy’s potential book; she just doesn’t tell everyone everything she knows.  A small thing I love is how she doesn’t wear her heart on her sleeve, so you may think she doesn’t care, but she does; she just doesn’t show it.  The way she delivers lines in a cold, low tone but with words that cut like a scalpel is impressive and makes her scarier; like she told Emily she’s not a visionary, she’s a vendor, but coming from Miranda, it cuts much deeper.

Emily is back, played by Emily Blunt, and of course, she's like a mini Miranda, but her words don’t cut as deeply because she doesn’t have the status that Miranda does. Her line delivery is always hilarious to me, and in this film, the one that stood out was “ May the bridges I burn light my path, which is her mantra to calm down. She’s dating a billionaire and is a Senior Executive at Dior, who is a big advertiser in Runway, but secretly she still holds a grudge against Miranda.

When Andy attempts to save the magazine, I was so happy at first that Emily was helping, only for her to betray them later. Miranda is aware, of course, because Emily wants Miranda’s job, and with her fiancé buying it, she will get just that. The thing about Miranda is that even if she’s at her lowest, she’s like a snake, so back her into a corner and she will strike. She tells Emily that she is not a visionary and she didn’t want the magazine because she has ideas, she wants it because she wants to prove a point. The cherry on top is that after ripping Emily apart, she says her iconic line, "That's all”. It was a tense scene, but Miranda still came out on top. In the end, Miranda and Andy save the magazine from Benji and Emily.

Nigel is played by Stanley Tucci, who is a character that you just love because he always looks out for the underdogs. He can be a bit sassy, but he means well. I always felt like he was Andy’s mentor in the first movie, and in this movie, he watches her back and helps her out when he can. In the last movie, he gets passed up for a promotion, and we see how he’s still stuck in that position, which Andy tries so hard to get him out of. Later, when Andy and Miranda need to leave their main event, Andy tells Miranda that Nigel is ready and he should handle the event since he did so much for it already, and Miranda agrees, realizing she has passed him up so much. It was a scene that made me tear up cause he was finally getting the respect he really deserved.

I was kind of surprised that they even brought up AI in this film. Like we all know how it’s changing industries, but we see these execs talking about gutting the people in the company and mixing in AI, and it just all sucks. The company has created a legacy, and it was made by real people, and they want to erase this legacy for some AI slop. I’m glad that Sasha, played by Lucy Lui, comes in that last minute and helps save the company.

Molly Rogers returns as the costume designer, and I’m so happy she did because the looks throughout the film were spectacular. I loved everyone’s outfits throughout the film, and it really helped this illusion that they all worked in fashion. I love how with Andy, she’s not from that world, but since she was in that world before, she knows how to dress better and understands the importance of what is done and the runway.

My favorite part of the film was learning that Nigel got Andy that job. It is a bit of a mystery how Irv finds Andy, but it wasn’t something I was thinking too hard about. In the end, he tells Andy it was him, and it was a very sweet gesture because he’s been looking out for her for so long, and it’s great that even after all this time, he sees that she is a great person and is a rare gem of a person in a world that is so cutthroat. I really loved their relationship throughout both films, and as much as you might say Miranda is the person people want to follow and learn from, it’s people like Nigel that they should be learning from.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 is a great legacy sequel that didn’t rely solely on nostalgia and had a great message to tell. The cast, of course, is amazing with their fantastic line delivery, the music is great, and the fashion is outstanding.

Thank you for watching my video. I would love to hear your thoughts down below in the comments. If you have not subscribed, please do so so that you can stay up to date with my videos. Everyone, be safe, have fun, and goodbye