By Katy O’Brien.
With very little actually happening in The Devil Wears Prada 2, the narrative lacks any bite and the storyline feels flat with no urgency or tension occurring. The Devil Wears Prada 2reunites the stars of the iconic original – Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt. However, for such a beloved franchise the sequel feels like a missed opportunity by director David Frankel. With Anne Hathaway’s Andy losing her credible journalist job, she is unexpectedly back at Runway as senior fashion editor and has to bring the magazine out of a PR crisis. Unfortunately, it is fair to say this film is only here to advertise Diet Coke, with cans drenching practically every frame and background characters either holding or drinking Diet Coke cans non-stop.
As well as the abundance of Diet Coke cans, another thing visually hindering this film is the loss of the early 2000’s film grain, which gave the original its charm. This in evident in the opening parallel scenes with Andy looking like she is starring in a toothpaste advert, compared to the warmth and realness from the original.
One thing The Devil Wears Prada 2 does capture is how much change has happened in the world from 20 years ago. In this unnecessary sequel, phones are everywhere, practically glued to people’s hands, making the generational gap between these two films evidently obvious. In the original film, phones weren’t relied upon, giving more action and jeopardy to characters, for example when Andy had to retrieve the unpublished Harry Potter manuscript for Miranda’s twins.
One thing the film does well is give the audience little nods to the first The Devil Wears Prada. It is highly amusing when you see Miranda (Meryl Streep) struggling to put her own coat on a hanger in her office, calling back to the iconic coat throws in the original.
However, one very disappointing part of The Devil Wears Prada 2 is that the once iconic Miranda Priestly feels watered down and softened, her severity and intimidation feel lost in this sequel. The romantic subplot, if the word romantic can be used, is equally as unnecessary. There is little to no chemistry between Andy and her ‘boyfriend’ (Patrick Brammall) or whoever he is supposed to be. Although he seems like a lovely guy this inessential romantic subplot feels pointless, adding nothing to the narrative.
That said, overall, it is not a bad film. With the appearance of the iconic characters from the original – who doesn’t love Stanley Tucci’s Nigel? As well as new additions of Simon Ashley, as Miranda’s new Emily, making sure she doesn’t say anything to offensive in the new media world. As well as, B. J. Novak acting as the “performance synthetics” wearing villain, adding humour which didn’t hurt. Still, the sequel ultimately remains pointless and unnecessary.
