The Devil Wears Prada 2 takes us back into the world of Runway Magazine, even though I had less than 24 hours to wait, because I only got round to watching the first movie the night before seeing this.
And given how often older films return to the big screen, these days, I’m surprised the studio didn’t bring the first one back, given that it’s been 20 years since the original movie.
Early on, Andy (Anne Hathaway – Mother Mary) wins a journalism award at an event, just as they’re all being fired from their job by text, because big business now prioritises crappy online content and ‘vertical videos’ over actual written articles.
Still, she’s rehired by Irv (Tibor Feldman), with Miranda (Meryl Streep – Hoppers) still non-plussed to see her, even looking like she can’t remember who she is, while ‘the other Emily’ (Emily Blunt – The Smashing Machine), is managing a Dior store.
Due to the dumbing down in life, Andy is told to stop creating well-written articles that no-one will read, to just dashing off puff pieces, until Runway gets its advertisers back. Yet, since no-one apparently reads magazines any more, it’s normal to still house the company within a building so huge that it has an ornate canteen, AND Miranda has never yet set foot in it.
Since it’s 2026, Miranda’s shown to be behind-the-times, with a nod to the fact that she can’t just speak her mind… i.e. slag everyone off, thus is criticised for damning someone’s suggestion with “May my suicide be brief and painless(!)”
As such, I’m surprised the BBFC didn’t throw in “suicide references” into the main description of the 12A certificate, since they usually do. Even Clueless listed this at one point, as Travis pretends to climb out of a tiny classroom window, and Mr Hall chides him, “And could the suicide attempts PLEASE be postponed until the next period(?)”
Despite all this, she tries to be as bitchy as possible, as such practices are shown to becoming outdated, and chides Andy, “You didn’t earn this job, I didn’t hire you. All I have to do is wait until you fail… which you will”, but since Andy now has 20 years experience in the business, she just ignores the old fossil. Miranda’s dickish behaviour is old news, which also adds to the lazy writing.
However, Andy still has to play the game and gets her boss on-side by pretending she has an interview with Sasha Barnes (Lucy Liu – Presence), who’s kind of a big deal in fashion, and seemed like a character intended to be as vacuous as Victoria Beckham. Turns out, she likes the intelligent style of Andy’s usual articles, so that’s another metaphorical slap in the face for Miranda. Whodathunkit?
Bizarrely, there’s a subplot about Miranda being considered for a promotion as Global Content Head at Runway, even though the character is long past retirement age. And I thought she was the boss, anyway. She acts like she’s God, and that’s how everyone treats her.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 shows these movies are as vapid as ever. It’s overlong, overstuffed with well-known faces and way too underwritten. Miranda’s now married to Kenneth Branagh (played by Kenneth Branagh)… well, he IS just playing himself, and not trying to be anyone else.
And as usual, Stanley Tucci (Fountain Of Youth) plays Stanley Tucci, still a comparative underling, despite working for Miranda for the past 300 years. Oddly, when he chips in his line as Andy arrives back for the first time, “Look at what TK Maxx dragged in”, the start of his sentence is drowned out in the sound mix, compared to its use in the trailer.
I’ve come across so many examples when a decent line or moment in a trailer is then completely diluted by the time it comes to the final film. One being the surprise knock on the door in The Strangers Chapter 1, which absolutely boomed out in the trailer – as it’s meant to be a shock to the couple in the film, but then was quite toned down in the final film. Why do filmmakers really fuck up something so simple?
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 119 minutes
Release date: May 1st 2026
Studio: 20th Century Studios
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (ARRIRAW (4.6K))
Rating: 2/10
Director: David Frankel
Producer: Wendy Finerman
Screenplay: Aline Brosh McKenna
Characters: Lauren Weisberger
Music: Theodore Shapiro
Cast:
Miranda: Meryl Streep
Andy: Anne Hathaway
Emily: Emily Blunt
Nigel: Stanley Tucci
Stuart: Kenneth Branagh
Benji: Justin Theroux
Sasha: Lucy Liu
Lily: Tracie Thoms
Irv: Tibor Feldman
Jay: BJ Novak
Peter: Patrick Brammall
Amari: Simone Ashley
Charlie: Caleb Hearon
Jin: Helen J Shen
Talia: Rachel Bloom
Mack: Larry Mitchell
Paul: George C Wolfe
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.