THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2
- Colin Fraser
- Apr 30
- 2 min read
Updated: May 4
TWO AND A HALF STARS Andy returns to Runway to write 'serious' articles. Miranda is horrified.
DRAMA US English #PRADA2 Starring Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2 is draped in sequins and sparkly couture then stuffed with more celebrity cameos than The Met Gala. Yet it's also weighed down by its own sense of self importance as it trades the sharp bite of the original for something more reflective and, at times, oddly subdued.
Twenty years have passed and Miranda Priestly’s (Meryl Streep) previously unassailable reign is under siege with the fashion world shifting beneath her perfectly shod feet. Print media is in decline, Runway is struggling for relevance, and Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) is pulled back into Miranda’s orbit to give the magazine gravitas. Cue Miranda’s horror once it becomes clear her former assistant has been installed to write ‘serious pieces’ (think Playboy articles). As the magazine grapples with digital disruption, legacy, and ego, sidelined Emily (Emily Blunt) lines up to claim the big prize. There’s a clear attempt to frame this as both a personal reckoning and an industry autopsy, though the film never quite decides which matters more.
Streep, once so electrifying in the role feels like she’s dialling it in here - still commanding, certainly, but missing is that glacial menace that made Miranda iconic. It seems the devil is on vacation and the script doesn’t help, bloated as it is with subplots and side scenes that add little beyond runtime. It’s hard to ignore the sense that the first third could have been jettisoned entirely; starting at a funeral which eventually anchors the story. Add a few well-placed flashbacks to establish context and we’d have had a sharper, more confident entry point.
As the plot develops, PRADA 2 leans into an odd melancholy, particularly around the demise of print journalism and the fading relevance of institutions like Runway. There’s an elegiac tone that might resonate with some, but it raises the question of whether the intended audience (mostly Tik-Tokkers who were in primary school when the PRADA 1 was released) has much emotional investment in that loss. The film circles its themes without landing a particularly fresh insight, offering coy observation rather than revelation.
And yet, for all its narrative bloat and thematic redundancy, it remains watchable. The costumes still dazzle, the performances (even when coasting) carry a baseline level of charisma, and there’s a comfort in returning to this world. That said, the audience response was telling: for what is ostensibly a comedy, laughs from the audience were sporadic at best. THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2 entertains but rarely glitters, and for a film about fashion, you know it’s missing the point.
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