“The story itself, after 20 years... is mostly just a rehash. A remake of sorts, where nothing has changed.”
When news broke that this film was going to be released, I think the world as a whole collectively sighed a confused... why is this happening? Not to say they weren’t excited. The first The Devil Wears Prada was a huge success and massively popular, cultivating a cult following that exists to this day.
I can’t say I was ever that in love with the first film, but I’ve seen it a few times and I’ve enjoyed it a little more every time I’ve watched it. It has a certain charm about it and a fun energy that is hard not to find alluring and contagious at times. People wanted these actors to come back and bring that energy back for a good reason.
Did they, though?
Well, the world seems to think so. On movie aggregator websites like Rotten Tomatoes, at the time of this writing, both critics and audiences agree the film rocks. 77% fresh from critics. 84% fresh from audiences. That’s pretty solid, and a good sign that they were reaching for gold and achieved it.
Yet, I can’t help but disagree. Sorry, film fans. For those of you in the younger crowd watching this review... it was mid.
Look, once again, I didn’t love the original film, but I do like it enough to rewatch it and find it charming, particularly because of the energy. It’s funny because of the balance of the stern Miranda opposite the energetic Andy and fun Nigel, played by Stanley Tucci. They were all so good in that film. In the sequel, I couldn’t help but feel like they were all so... dead. Like they didn’t care that they were doing it at all. The energy was gone.
Anne Hathaway still had it. She looked like she was having a ton of fun every single second, which I appreciate. But both Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci looked so... done. Meryl Streep was technically supposed to give off that persona, so she blended in better than anyone else. But Stanley Tucci, what are you doing, buddy? I love ya, but I don’t know, take a nap or something before coming on set.
The story itself, after 20 years... is mostly just a rehash. A remake of sorts, where nothing has changed. The character development for our characters by the end of the first film seemed to have leapt out the window, as they’re all back to square one again.
Miranda found a little bit of humanity in that first film, and she was able to give a little bit of a smile at the end as a hint of that hard outer shell breaking down. Andy moved on from the company and did her own thing, becoming successful in her own right. By the time this film begins, they’re like, SCREW THAT, let’s get Andy to work at the magazine company again and let’s just do everything all over again in order to find that spark again. Let’s make the magic all over again... only it’s just not as good or as iconic as the first film.
It’s less interesting, it’s less funny, it’s less charming, and it’s incredibly convoluted at the same time. There are so many things happening all at once, most of which don’t actually add to the overall direction of the plot or character depth and development. It’s actually really hard for me to define why the film needed to be made in the first place, other than, hey, fans really like the first movie. They have for decades. Let’s capitalize on that with another movie!
I don’t know. I guess the performances were decent. The set and costume designs were identical to the original film. The LOOK of the film is spot on, and probably the best part of the movie. But I can’t really say much past that. That’s purely surface-level technicalities. The film is mostly just... sorry to say... but boring. At least for me.
Unbiased/Technical Score: 31/50 (62%)
Biased/Entertainment Score: 22/50 (44%)
Total Combined Score: 53/100 (53% or 2.5/5 on Letterboxd)