Comedy
Drama
Review: ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ is an Engaging Second Chapter that Borrows as Much from ‘Succession’ as It Does from the 2006 Original
April 30, 2026Ben MK
|
They say fashion is cyclical. And while it can be said with reliable certainty that styles and trends do spontaneously resurface every two decades, the same has also proven true for films and legacy sequels. Whether it's action thrill rides like Top Gun: Maverick, slasher horror movies like Scream 6 or sci-fi comedies like Ghostbusters: Afterlife, everything old is new again, with nostalgia playing a major role in most of these franchises returning to the big screen. And with The Devil Wears Prada 2, director David Frankel becomes the latest filmmaker to join in on the trend, reuniting most of the cast from his 2006 original for an entertaining sequel that tackles everything from corporate restructuring and the current state of media to, of course, the cutthroat world of high fashion. It's been 20 years since audiences last saw Andrea Sachs (Anne Hathaway), and since then, a lot has changed. An award-winning reporter for the New York Vanguard, Andy has spent the last two decades tirelessly cultivating a reputation for herself as one of the Big Apple's most dedicated and well-respected journalists — an achievement that, while impressive, has not come without its share of sacrifices. However, when she and the rest of her hard-working colleagues from the Vanguard are abruptly laid off without any warning, for the first time in years, Andy finds herself feeling lost. Suddenly faced with the prospect of having to land a new job or become just another unemployed writer, Andy sees her fortunes undergo an equally abrupt turnaround when she's suddenly summoned back to Runway Magazine — this time, to serve as their new Features Editor and help steer the magazine through a PR crisis caused by their inadvertent promotion of a fast-fashion sweatshop. No sooner is she reunited with her former boss, Runway's no-nonsense Editor-in-Chief, Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), though, than Andy comes to understand just how much of a weight has fallen on her shoulders. Formerly poised to become the Global Head of Content for Runway's mega-conglomerate parent company, Elias Clarke, Miranda's promotion has since been derailed by the scandal swirling around the magazine. And if Andy is to restore readers' faith in Runway and help Miranda realize her career aspirations, she'll not only have to craft a heartfelt public response on Miranda and the magazine's behalf, but she'll also have to find a way to give Runway's content a much-needed boost, by securing an exclusive interview with elusive celebrity Sasha Barnes (Lucy Liu). It's a tall — some might say, damn near impossible — order indeed; but by some miracle, Andy is able to make it happen. What neither she, Miranda, nor Runway's stalwart Art Director, Nigel (Stanley Tucci), could have foreseen, however, is that Sasha's tech mogul ex-husband, Benji (Justin Theroux), who's now dating Miranda's jilted former assistant Emily (Emily Blunt), has his eye on purchasing Runway. And if he does, not only will he turn the magazine into something neither Miranda or Andy want it to become; he also plans on ousting Miranda completely, replacing her with his own girlfriend, who's been waiting all these years to exact her revenge. Written once again by Aline Brosh McKenna, who penned the original, what follows is by no means a fluffy, cash-grab sequel. On the contrary, The Devil Wears Prada 2 feels like a perfectly natural continuation of the 2006 film, picking up with these characters two decades onward at a point in time in their lives where circumstances just happen to bring them back together again. Make no mistake, fans of its predecessor will still find plenty of what made the first movie so endearing, from the always-entertaining dynamic between Streep, Tucci and Hathaway's characters to the globetrotting, high-fashion backdrop, bristling with a who's who of celebrity cameos and ample high-fashion shenanigans. Most surprising of all, though, is the depth of the actual plot this time around, which makes this sequel feel more like an episode of Succession set within the world of The Devil Wears Prada, rather than a mere lighthearted throwback to the heyday of Hollywood rom-coms. Throw in a crowd-pleasing musical performance from Lady Gaga and some topical commentary about the death of print media, not to mention, ironically, the evils of corporate cost-cutting, and the result makes for a genuinely engaging and pleasantly surprising second chapter to one of the most beloved comedy dramas of the new millennium. What will have audiences wondering the most once the credits start to roll, though, is just why it's taken so long to reunite these actors on screen. Because while a 20-year gap is certainly better than never, seeing Hathaway, Streep, Tucci and Blunt chew the scenery with one another in scene after scene is something that moviegoers probably wouldn't mind being more seasonal than sporadic. The Devil Wears Prada 2 releases May 1st, 2026 from Walt Disney Studios. The film has an MPAA rating of PG-13 for strong language and some suggestive references. Its runtime is 1 hr. 59 min. |
0 comments