The Devil Wears Prada 2 review: Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep don’t miss a beat, but Disney’s message falls on deaf ears

“I didn’t expect to get this call,” Anne Hathaway’s Andy Sachs says early on in The Devil Wears Prada 2, a seemingly meta quip given that this sequel is coming two decades after the original.

Despite the success of The Devil Wears Prada, the sequel’s development didn’t ramp up until the last couple of years. Now, the iconic Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, and Emily Blunt are all back in their roles 20 years after first playing them.

For most Millennials (and a lot of Gen X’ers), The Devil Wears Prada 2 means everything to them. There’s something about the first movie that perfectly encapsulates the aesthetic of Hollywood in the early 2000s that feels so far away now. Movies like The Devil Wears Prada and 13 Going on 30 are so iconic, yet they feel like relics in modern Hollywood.

So, to that end, the nostalgia works. Hathaway and Streep slip back into their respective roles like gloves, and Tucci remains the heart of Runway. However, it’s Blunt who gets more time to shine and takes advantage of that spotlight.

It all sounds great; how could the sequel possibly fail? Hypocrisy is nothing new in Hollywood, but there’s something strange about The Devil Wears Prada 2 — which is distributed by 20th Century Studios, which is now a division of Disney — preaching to viewers about maintaining the soul of art (or, in this case, journalism).

Yes, this is a real concern in the industry, but there are times when The Devil Wears Prada 2 tries to have its cake and eat it, too. Wholly enjoyable, The Devil Wears Prada 2 perfectly appeases nostalgia-hungry fans of the original. However, think about it on a deeper level, and you’ll be disappointed.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 review: What’s it about?

Journalism has changed over the years. An industry that once prioritized rich stories now focuses on “content” that people “scroll past while they pee,” as Nigel Kipling (Stanley Tucci) hilariously puts it.

Runway is in dire need of a shakeup after the notoriously diligent Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) runs a misinformed story, which results in the outlet’s parent company rushing to conduct damage control. They begin wondering: Has the great Miranda Priestly lost her touch?

So, they bring in Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), who left Runway two decades before to become a journalist. She accomplished this goal, but her entire team was laid off while she was accepting an award.

The reunion isn’t what Andy was hoping for, as she’s greeted with a stone-cold, “Who is this?” However, they have to work together to save the magazine, and this leads them back to Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt), one of Miranda’s former assistants, who is now an executive at Dior.

The actors return to their roles with ease

A 20-year gap is nothing to scoff at. That’s a long time, and amazingly, all of the actors still look as great as they were two decades ago. Additionally, they still understand the characters.

Sometimes with legacy sequels, actors have a hard time rediscovering the right notes in their characters, making the new portrayals feel like caricatures.

All four returning stars assume their roles without missing a beat. Hathaway and Streep’s combative on-screen relationship is as good as ever, with Streep especially bringing it here.

Streep still brings a palpable aura — an often overused word — to Miranda. It’s a shame that a sequel wasn’t made sooner, as seeing the evolution of Miranda as she goes through several other assistants post-Andy would’ve filled in a lot of the gaps in the sequel, especially with Emily.

Hathaway does a great job as the modest Andy. Despite years of success, Andy (and Emily) still shudder and crumble when in Miranda’s presence.

The problem with doing a sequel this long after the original

There are a lot of gaps to fill when you make a sequel two decades after the last installment. So much has changed, while other things haven’t. For example, the Runway office has gotten a facelift, but Miranda’s office still feels instantly recognizable.

However, in just two hours, there’s a lot of ground to cover. What have Miranda and Andy been up to over the last 20 years? How did Emily leave Runway for Dior?

It’s all touched on, but it would’ve been more satisfying to see it. That’s just one of the biggest disadvantages of doing a legacy sequel.

The somewhat overstuffed story

The Devil Wears Prada 2 moves at a rapid pace, almost as if they’re trying to ensure that they can maintain the attention of a 2026 audience.

There are so many interesting ideas, from the characters dealing with the evolution of journalism to the behind-the-scenes reworking of Runway, spearheaded by the son of the magazine’s chairman, Jay Ravitz (B.J. Novak).

Not everything gets the proper amount of time to flesh out the stories. In turn, some of the twists and turns of the plot feel like they’re only done out of convenience.

Granted, no one is expecting The Devil Wears Prada 2 to be a sophisticated film. It’s just that it sometimes feels like screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna has the insurmountable task of combining three movies into one 119-minute project.

Where McKenna does excel is not giving in to the temptation of making The Devil Wears Prada 2 all about the younger stars. Some of the newcomers, like Simone Ashley and Lucy Liu, make the most of their screentime. But unlike some franchises, The Devil Wears Prada is still about Hathaway and Streep. The series wouldn’t be the same without them.

The biggest flaw

Ultimately, a thin story can be forgiven. The hardest hurdle to get over while watching The Devil Wears Prada 2 is how somewhat hypocritical it can be.

It’s not any of the filmmakers’ faults that the now-Disney-owned 20th Century Studios is distributing the movie. However, one of the biggest things Andy and Miranda are pushing back against is the evolving landscape of journalism.

Lengthy profiles and insightful essays are being shelved in favor of click-inducing tabloid-y stories. Andy even faces the dilemma when provided a chance to write a book on Miranda.

The characters moan and groan about the soul being sucked out of real journalism. Ironically, The Devil Wears Prada 2 represents some of the “soulless” sequels that Hollywood has been rapidly churning out since The Devil Wears Prada came out in 2006.

Don’t get me wrong — The Devil Wears Prada has cameos. However, they made sense within the context of the story, given that several were fashion icons.

Excluding the cut Sydney Sweeney cameo, The Devil Wears Prada 2 still has a healthy amount of cameos, ranging from a New York Knicks star to one of the biggest pop stars in the world, and fan service throughout.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with having either of those things. It’s just an interesting move to make after lamenting how big corporations are taking over journalism.

In some way, The Devil Wears Prada 2 serves as a metaphor for the movie industry, perhaps unintentionally. Maybe the cameos and fan service were done ironically. If so, kudos to everyone involved. I’d be skeptical of that being the case.

Should you watch The Devil Wears Prada 2?

Despite any trepidation regarding The Devil Wears Prada 2’s mixed messaging, it’s a really fun time. The Devil Wears Prada is one of the quintessential early 2000s movies, and the sequel does its best to recapture some of the magic of that period.

It’s flawed, and the sequel isn’t able to reach the heights of the original, which are about as high as the pumps some of the characters wear in the movie.

There’s a genuine care from the actors and director alike that can be felt through the screen. For as ironically soulless as the cameos and fan service feel, the actors remain 100% committed to their parts.

This isn’t your typical phoned-in legacy sequel. Had it not been for the amount of cameos, The Devil Wears Prada 2 may actually give its predecessor a run for its money. Hopefully, if there is a third installment, it doesn’t take as long to make it, as there’s so much depth still to explore in this world.

But, for now, that’s all.

Grade: B-

The Devil Wears Prada 2 will be released on May 1.

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