- Rating: ★★★★ stars
- Verdict: "The Devil Wears Prada 2" is essentially the same movie as the original, just 20 years later and with a different European destination. But with Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci all back, the result is still a great movie.
- Where to watch: See "The Devil Wears Prada 2" in theaters starting April 30
"The Devil Wears Prada 2" is not for those who want something totally different. This is largely the same movie as the now 20-year-old original. Andy (Anne Hathaway) is still at Runway, feeling like an outsider. Miranda (Meryl Steep) is still dismissive of Andy, probably in no small part because she remains the least fashionable person at Runway, the Vogue-like magazine that Miranda runs. And Nigel (Stanley Tucci) remains Miranda's right-hand man and Andy's guardian angel.
In short, it feels like nothing has changed. That could leave this movie feeling as stale and tired as last season's fashion. But it's still well-written. It's still funny and clever, with a few biting remarks sure to elicit laughter. And Hathaway, Streep and Tucci are still a holy trinity of acting power that probably could have anchored this film even if it was poorly written.
That said, there are some differences between this and "The Devil Wears Prada."
For starters, there are new characters. Adrian Grenier has been replaced as Andy's love interest by Patrick Brammall (a big win for "Colin From Accounts" fans). Miranda's moved on to a new husband, played by Kenneth Branagh. Lady Gaga also makes a cameo for a stunning performance at a Milan fashion show that is easily the most stunning moment of the film.
And while Emily Blunt is back as Emily Charlton, she's no longer at Runway. Instead, she's at Dior, and she's dating billionaire Benji Barnes, a not-so-subtle Jeff Bezos caricature brilliantly portrayed by Justin Theroux. Of course, if there's a Bezos stand-in, there also has to be a MacKenzie Scott stand-in: Sasha Barnes, Benji's ex-wife, played by Lucy Liu.
But it's not just the new characters that are different. There are some differences to the familiar faces too.
Hathaway and Streep shine, but Tucci steals your heart
If you somehow never watched "The Devil Wears Prada," it's centered around Andy, who is an aspiring journalist working as the assistant to Miranda Priestly. Miranda is editor-in-chief at the fictional fashion magazine Runway and is a stand-in for the iconic Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, down to wearing sunglasses constantly and a signature short haircut. There's even a plot in this sequel about Miranda becoming a global content director, mirroring Wintour's 2025 elevation to global chief content officer and artist director at Condé Nast.
In the original movie, Andy is totally out of place at Runway. She doesn't know the first thing about fashion. This causes Miranda, who is already infamously cold, to have outright disdain for Andy. It's only the help of Nigel that helps Andy survive long enough to finally come into her own by the end of the first movie.
Somehow, we've reset back to this point at the start of "The Devil Wears Prada 2." Andy has become an award-winning journalist, but she is fired at the beginning of the movie. She's thrown a lifeline when Runway, embroiled in a scandal of their own making, needs a new editor to put a spin on things and rebuild their standing.
But when she arrives, Miranda has suddenly forgotten everything about Andy, who, admittedly, forgot everything she learned about fashion in the 20 years in between the two films. She thinks Andy is undeserving of her new role, and it's once again Nigel who has to serve as confidant and protector to Andy.
While it seems everything remains status quo, though, there are subtle changes. Hathaway's portrayal of Andy is essentially the same, but Streep's Miranda is softer. Maybe it's her new husband, maybe it's her age, but she's a bit less cold. She's letting an assistant correct her when she says something that isn't politically correct, she has a scene in the Hamptons where she's so happy she's practically waltzing through her kitchen; she even shows up to an event not wearing sunglasses!
Ironically, this change is probably my least favorite thing about "The Devil Wears Prada 2." But there's no denying they didn't just copy and paste the character into the sequel.
However, despite the new additions and changes to familiar faces, it's Stanley Tucci who was the standout performance as Nigel.
In the first film, Nigel is a fan favorite, but Streep's portrayal of Miranda is so good it's Oscar-worthy. Respectfully, the same can't be said about her performance in this follow-up, but Nigel's place in fans' hearts is guaranteed to grow. He's the same lovable character from the first movie, and easily just as prominent. But he fully steals the movie with a shocking reveal in the final scene that had me welling up with emotion, something I did not expect to happen.
Verdict: 'The Devil Wears Prada 2' may be lesser than the original, but it's still great
If "The Devil Wears Prada" is a dream, an idealized vision of the fashion world, then "The Devil Wears Prada 2" is a fairy tale. It doesn't ignore that the worlds of fashion and journalism have changed, but it still resolves with a happy ending that those of us in those worlds will likely view with some cynicism.
Ultimately, though, that doesn't matter. Nor does it matter that this movie is essentially the original, just 20 years later, with a new European destination. This movie, like the original, is anchored by an incredible cast. With "The Devil Wears Prada 2," director David Frankel proves once again that all you need for a great movie is Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Stanley Tucci on your call sheet.
"The Devil Wears Prada 2" is in theaters starting April 30
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