The PTSD from Freakier Friday was almost too much to bear walking in to the Devil Wears Prada 2 screening this week. It seems like a simple set of ingredients, take an early noughties hit, assemble all the original cast and put them in a similar environment (except now they have mobile phones) and see what happens. But the formula has been tampered with, Freakier Friday truly was a disaster, it complicated what was a super simple concept and it relied on trendy jokes and lazy improvised physical comedy. But The Devil Wears Prada 2 knows exactly how to wear a timeless sequel.
That element of timelessness was what brought us here in the first place. 2006’s Devil Wears Prada could have fallen into the trap of jumping on to vacuous trends to fill space and dialogue. Instead, it captured a moment in time but anchored it with a smart script, an impeccable cast and of course a healthy dose of unattainable glamour.
We meet Andy Sachs 20 years later after the first. She is as glowing and optimistic as ever, nearly a quarter of a century of hard core investigative journalism has not weathered her. On 6th Avenue however, Miranda Priestly is still running the show but a scandal over sweat shop conditions has thrust the prestigious magazine into its latest scandal. As Stanley Tucci says, Runway is no longer a magazine, it’s paid ads and content that people decide to scroll past on the toilet. The modern world has taken over and Mrs Priestly is struggling to adapt. The magazine’s Chairman remembers Andy Sach’s journalistic integrity (as well as her lack of fashion sense), and brings her on board to steer the Features department amidst the scandal. Miranda hasn’t signed it off, and so this sets in motion Andy’s persistent desire to prove her old boss wrong.
Across the street at Dior is Emily Blunt – the “original Emily.” Fans of the original will know that Miranda broadly referred to all her assistants as Emily as she never bothered to learn their names. As expected, Emily’s dreams to climb the corporate ladder has come to fruition as she is now in the drivers seat at a prestigious fashion house. When Miranda, Andy and Nigel come knocking for help from their top designer advertiser she thinks she’s having a stroke. In her trademark dismissively British way, she agrees to help save Runway.
And Miranda herself? Allegedly based on Anna Wintour, Meryl Streep returns as an icon, the boss from hell. But in DWP2 she is much more available, more attainable. Then again due to budget costs Miranda now flys economy and has to use the staff canteen so maybe that’s character development.
This wasn’t a tick the box exercise, it truly is a loyal reboot. There are several smart and succinct references to the original for the fans, a comfort film for many over the years. Is a sequel that actually makes sense and does justice to the original really groundbreaking? These days it really is, but Devil Wears Prada 2 is setting its own trend.
Devil Wears Prada 2 is in cinemas everywhere May 1.
FILM FOR THOUGHT 