20 years later, they still have strong fashion sense.
20 years ago, back when I was a kid bound to seeing PG and PG-13 rated films, my mother took me to see “The Devil Wears Prada” in theaters. 20 years later with my critic status, I took her to see the sequel “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” and we both enjoyed it.
If you recall the first movie, which was based on Lauren Weisberger’s book and directed by David Frankel, Anne Hathaway played the ambitious journalist Andy Sachs, who found herself working for Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestley, the demanding editor-in-chief of the fashion magazine “Runway.” Stanley Tucci was also cast as the fashion director Nigel Kipling, while Emily Blunt was Miranda’s first assistant Emily Charlton. And that’s why she refers to Andy as her Emily.
Watching Andy look for a “Harry Potter” manuscript and struggling to earn Miranda’s approval, I imagined myself trying my best and screwing up, and then getting things back on track. It’s basically what she goes through on her journey through this part of the fashion world. If Tim Robbins could play a knucklehead who works his way from the mailroom to the creator of the Hula Hoop in “The Hudsucker Proxy,” then Andy could reach high standards.
20 years later, things have changed for them. Andy loses her journalist job, but earns the position as Runway’s new Feature Editor. That’s right. She’s back to working for Miranda, who has a new husband Stuart (Kenneth Branagh), a new assistant Amari Mari (Simone Ashley), and resorts to putting her coat on a closet and not on a desk. And that’s not even the half of it. Kipling is still at Runway, while Emily works at Doir with a new spouse-the tech entrepreneur Benji Barnes (Justin Theroux), who was married to the celebrated philanthropist Sasha Barnes (Lucy Liu).
Still directed by Frankel, it would be ageless that Andy would still be awkward and yet strong-willed in this kind of fashion world and that Miranda would still be icy and yet, vulnerable. After all, Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis were able to swap bodies with teenagers in “Freakier Friday,” and it was more fun than confusing.
I would say that both that sequel and “The Devil Wears Prada 2” are able to survive the 2020s, because they understand the appeal of the characters and the fans of the 2000s movies. The same couldn’t be said about other 20-year old movies like “Dumb and Dumber To” or “Independence Day: Resurgence,” and it feels like it was just yesterday that I slammed that bad Sci-Fi sequel. Hathaway, Streep, Blunt, and Tucci are all committed enough to reprise their roles with the right amount of fun and consistency, and I like how they add Ashley, Theroux, and Patrick Brammall (as Andy’s new Australian love interest) in the mix.
There can be a bit much in the plot to stay completely focused, but we can still see these characters who are able to transition from literature to the big screen. They have such an honest appeal that even made the security guard laugh at the critic’s screening. It almost feels like you’re watching a sitcom, because of how it has its humor and heart in the right place.
I remember seeing the awful and forgettable sequel “Sex & the City 2,” which had a scene when the four women had to rush to catch their first class flight. I wanted them to be placed in coach, because to me, it’s typical that only the rich and beautiful people get all the best things, while the rest of us have to work harder than them. I guess my wish came true but with Miranda, who is offered a snack pack as a substitution of a glass of champagne. Just be glad she doesn’t get the Elaine Benes treatment.
