The Devil Wears Prada 2

Director: David Frankel

It’s been 20 years since Andy (Anne Hathaway) and Emily (Emily Blunt) were assistants to the fashion publishing titan that is Runway’s Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep). Since then much has changed for them all, with new opportunities and challenges presented by a changing world. But when an issue at Runway thrusts them all back together, old tensions and old friendships come to the fore as the future of Runway and the careers of Miranda, Andy and Emily are all under threat.

I’d only recently rewatched the first film, which, while fun, I didn’t leave it feeling we were desperate for a sequel. But here we are and what a surprising treat this sequel was. Fun, occasionally touching and had something to say and I really enjoyed it.

While it’s easy to level at a film like this, that it is a cynical cash grab, for me it is much better than that. It’s been 20 years since the original and the world of printed media, journalism and attitudes has changed greatly in that time, and that gave the film a worthwhile story to tell. Alongside that, it kept much of what people enjoyed about the first film. Miranda remains enjoyably acerbic, Andy endlessly hopeful, Emily eternally ambitious and holding it all together Stanley Tucci’s, Nigel, who remains the heart of Runway and steals the show every time he’s on screen.

The main cast are all enjoyable to watch, and there is lots of fun support. Lucy Liu, Kenneth Branagh, Justin Theroux, B. J. Novak and Simone Ashley among them. All of which comes with a story that zips along nicely, is funny and  touching, before shifting into an entertaining “heist” movie in its final act.

It’s not a film that will change the world, but it is one that is much better than it could have been and for me, I enjoyed it much more than its predecessor, as it delivers a fun, touching, entertaining and heartfelt sequel, to its much loved original.