My Review of The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026)

 

Written by Aline Brosh McKenna

Directed by David Frankel 

Miranda: "I always knew that you would end up doing something great."

Andy: "You forgot I existed."

Miranda: "Right, but... before that, I knew."

Ah, the legacy sequel. For every Top Gun: Maverick, there are others that don't fare well. Then there's this sequel. I can't believe it's been twenty years but it has and the gang are back for this second offering.

Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), the fearsome icon she may be found herself at something of a disadvantage in this sequel. She might still have Nigel Kipling (Stanley Tucci) and new assistants in Amara (Simone Ashley) and Charlie (Caleb Heaton) but there were two people missing from her life that the events of this movie reunited her with.

Those women being Andrea Sachs (Anne Hathaway) and Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt). A rather public faux pas saw Irv Ravitz (Tibor Feldman) bring the former to something help Miranda with the running of Runway. The timing was great for Andrea, given that she just lost her job and was on the verge of writing a book about Miranda herself.

Then there's Emily. She's the senior executive at Dior and she was more than happy to help Miranda as long as it benefitted her. I've had a soft spot for Emily and the grudging admiration that Emily and Andrea have for each other was once again a lot of fun to watch. Emily also had a rich love interest in Benji Barnes (Justin Theroux).

Now, let's have a deep dive into Miranda as a character. She's a fearsome character but this was a movie that tried to deconstruct her with very mixed result. Was Miranda really a thing of the past? Was Emily justified in trying to take Runway from under her? Was Andrea really going to turn down so much money in order to profess her loyalty to Miranda?

I think both Emily and Miranda mostly had the measure of each other and I liked that Miranda also spoke sense into Andrea while giving Nigel his moment to shine. There's also a nice subplot involving Lucy Liu's Sasha that did lead into Miranda and Andrea's newly changed dynamic by the end of the movie. Print media might be struggling but there's clearly some fight in it.

- While there are plenty of cameos from the likes of Lady Gaga, Donatella Versace etc, people like Anna Wintour, Sydney Sweeney and Conrad Ricamora had their scenes cut.

- Andrea and Miranda had love interests in Peter (Patrick Brammall) and Stuart (Kenneth Branagh). Emily had two kids. Irv's son, Jay (B.J. Novak) didn't seem to care for Miranda.

- Miranda was the subject of certain memes and Andrea got her own assistant in Jin (Helen J. Shen). I also liked the return of Lily (Tracie Thoms).

- Andrea really was still living in a modern apartment twenty years on from the last time we met her.

- Standout music: Lady Gaga/Doechi's Runway, Miley Cyrus/Brittany Howard's Walk Of Fame and The Marias No One Noticed.

- Chronology: Twenty years since the first movie. Set in New York and Milan. 

Well, I'll admit that this was something of a sequel. The Devil Wears Prada 2 won't beat out the first movie in terms of quality but it turned out to be a much better handled return than I expected it to be. A good commentary on the industries respectively and some genuinely funny/sweet moments, I don't think we'll have to wait another twenty years for next one.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

 

Written by Aline Brosh McKenna

Directed by David Frankel

Andrea: "But what if this isn't what I want? I mean what if I don't wanna live the way you live?"

Miranda: "Oh, don't be ridiculous. Andrea. Everybody wants this. Everybody wants to be us."

With a sequel due in theatres in less than a month's time, I just knew that I had to go back and watch the original itself. Can you believe it's been nearly twenty years since this movie? A part of me didn't but then I watched and realised how it's very much a product of its time.

Instead of Vogue and Anna Wintour, you've got Runway and the similarly fearsome editor in chief, Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep). This was a woman who'd terrifying even the hardest of men and also inspired the fiercest of loyalty to boot. Two things that our protagonist of the piece felt for Miranda.

The protagonist being aspiring journalist Andrea Sachs (Anne Hathaway), who found herself working at Runway as the number two to the recently appointed number one Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt). I'm talking assistants here. Emily's both trying her best to be helpful to Andrea while at the same time deriding the fact that the latter had no interest in the fashion industry.

Andrea's lack of interest in fashion led to that cerulean speech from Miranda that gave someone as fashion unconscious as myself food for thought. I felt personally attacked during that scene. Anyways, Andrea forming a friendship with fashion director Nigel Kipling (Stanley Tucci) did result in a bit of a makeover.

If there's only thing this film completely failed at, it was it's attempts of trying to make Anne Hathaway look dowdy before the character glow up. She's stunningly beautiful and Andrea had a chef boyfriend in Nate Cooper (Adrian Grenier) and an admirer in journalist Christian Thompson (Simon Baker). The latter in particular was rather helpful in getting Andrea a certain manuscript for her.

As the film progressed, there's a shift between Andrea and Miranda. Both women were more alike and while the latter could admit it, the former didn't seem like the idea. Saying that, Andrea made the right career decision and it was one that even Miranda respected her for making. Even Emily grew to grudgingly respect Andrea by the end of this movie.

- The film's based on a novel of the same name by Lauren Weisberger. That novel had two sequels to it.

- Andrea was run ragged trying to get the Harry Potter manuscript. A year after this movie came out, I remember the queue in my town for that book.

- There's some nice supporting performances from Tracie Thoms, Richard Sommer and Daniel Sunjata to name a few.

- Miranda's actually British in the book but American here. She's got twin daughters and was getting divorced towards the end of the movie.

- Standout music: Madonna's Vogue and Jump as well as KT Tunstall's Suddenly I See.

- Chronology: Andrea worked for Miranda for less than a year before changing to a new place.

The Devil Wears Prada easily could've veered too much into a parody of the brutality of the fashion industry but it hit the correct mark instead. Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci are all excellent. It's genuinely funny from start to finish.

Rating: 9 out of 10