Here’s one overly hyped movie that lives up to the hype. The Devil Wears Prada 2 doesn’t disappoint because Meryl Streep never disappoints.
She’s back as Miranda Priestly, the haughty and feared editor of Runway magazine. She’s still tough and demanding, but now somewhat neutered by the magazine’s reduced editorial budget. Miranda Priestley may yet be Streep’s signature role, despite the landmark performances in Sophie’s Choice and Out of Africa.
It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since the first movie came out. And still, moviegoers seem to remember it well enough to look forward to the sequel. Streaming services have made the first one accessible anytime, even to viewers born 20 years ago.
I’m not a demographics expert, but this is clearly a chick movie. The presence of Meryl Streep seemed to widen its appeal. The concept of Streep playing a bitch, and to see how she’d play an editor inspired by Vogue magazine’s Anna Wintour, proved irresistible. It was the big ticket for fashionistas, movie fans, and media people like me.
Our staff didn’t arrive in lavish soireés chauffeured…. after covering a polo match, I walked from Polo Club to Edsa to catch a bus
In a way, the movie was about us media people, but not about us who toil in the local media industry. I worked for a glossy magazine once. It seemed so prestigious and elitist; socialites would kill to get featured on the cover. But unlike Runway magazine, our staff didn’t arrive in lavish soireés chauffeured in a Lincoln Town Car or Mercedes S Class sedan. In fact, after covering a polo match, I walked from the Polo Club to Edsa to catch a bus to Quezon City.
The sequel, however, has Miranda and Runway magazine struggling to adapt to a rapidly changing world. Print media is close to extinction, and like us here, Miranda has to cater to readers who no longer leaf through pages. Instead they click a headline that‘s been carefully designed to bait them. Expensive consultants and heirs whose only concern is the bottom line served as our equalizer. Miranda and her staff must make do with less resources and perks. And like the rest of us, she now has to be subservient to the real boss: the advertisers.
A friend who treated me to the movie asked if I identified with Runway’s predicament. Andy’s (Anne Hathaway) situation made a bigger impact on me, I said. At the start of the sequel, she’s seen accepting a journalism award for having written a socially relevant story. The award would have been her crowning achievement as a serious journalist. The thrill of victory is rudely cut short by a text message: The publication she writes for is being shut down. She is out of a job. I didn’t win an award, but I was sent on a media tour hosted by a luxurious hotel on Station One in Boracay. It was a memorable trip, but when I went back to work, the office was padlocked. The newspaper, which showed so much promise, had run out of money.
Andy doesn’t come crawling back to Runway. The publisher offers her a job as features editor. The magazine is in turmoil, no thanks to an article that was published about a clothing company, and Miranda wasn’t aware it used sweat shops to make its product. Consequently, Miranda and Runway are close to being cancelled. Andy is tasked to end the backlash by publishing stories that win awards.
Miranda isn’t grateful for Andy’s return. She doesn’t even remember her! Yet Andy can only sympathize. The current staff is composed of Generation X or Y or Z employees. They’re just the type who wouldn’t put up with her whims and tendency to throw shade at assistants who have no fashion sense. She now also has to hang her coat herself. When Andy shows up in another cerulean sweater, Miranda doesn’t react with disdain.
The plot uses the same route of the original. The leads travel to Milan for fashion week, while Andy desperately tries to save Runway from being a lackluster version of what it had been. Naturally, the old Miranda still somewhat exists like she seems to be a step ahead of everyone.
There are many wonderful scenes in the sequel. It takes us to a luncheon at Miranda’s cottage in The Hamptons. The house is swarming with real fashion and media celebrities playing themselves. Co-hosting is Miranda’s new and more understanding husband played by Kenneth Brannagh. We also see a more relaxed Miranda, dressed casually, and not in something out of Nigel’s (Stanley Tucci) huge walk-in closet. Andy, however, has to pick something from out of that closet. It’s a sort of a repeat of an early scene in the first movie.
Ironically, as the fictional magazine makes do with a tighter budget, the sequel seems to have been given a much bigger one. The location shoot in Milan looks magnificent. The production obviously received the blessing of Anna Wintour, as many fashion designers make a guest appearance. While the first movie relied heavily on name-dropping, this sequel presents the celebrities in the flesh. That brief scene with Miranda and Lady Gaga is priceless.
Happily, despite having a more lavish production, director David Frankel and writer Alum Brush McKenna were smart enough to retain the heart of the original. But in terms of iconic lines or dialogue, they have nothing new to offer. Andy’s new boyfriend Peter (Patrick Brammall) and Miranda’s husband don’t feel neglected this time. It plays like science fiction, but it does attempt to show that the ladies can now spare time for their personal lives.
And while the scene with Miranda suffering the horrors of flying economy on the flight to Milan is hilarious, it’s something the Miranda we know would put her foot down on. She could easily afford a business class ticket for herself, or borrowed a wealthy friend’s Lear jet for her and her entourage.
Bu as written, Miranda is still Miranda, even if she’s compelled to concede to the new ways of the 2020s. Andy is a stronger woman, while Nigel is still the loyal and amiable Nigel. Emily (Emily Blunt) is still as arrogant as ever. Since the role is so familiar already, I don’t think Meryl Streep would be up for an Academy Award nomination for this sequel.
It’s Emily Blunt who’ll probably get cited. The former first assistant is a now top executive at Dior, and with a billionaire boyfriend to boot. This makes her more snobbish than ever. As a disgruntled advertiser, she puts her British accent to good use when she confronts Miranda. There’s something about British accents that make women seem so powerful and intimidating. It made the likes of Joan Collins and Stephanie Beacham dominate Dynasty. Emily Blunt is this era’s Joan Collins, but without the camp, heavy makeup, and wigs.
Emily’s role in the sequel is actually straight out of Dynasty. She’s a woman seeking vengeance, and she’s determined to have it as she attempts to pull the rug right out from under Miranda. This plotline is too huge for The Devil Wears Prada we’re familiar with. But still, seeing the four leads reprise their respective roles is most welcome.
I honestly wouldn’t mind a second sequel. If Downton Abbey had a second one, so should The Devil Wears Prada 3!
