Anyone who knows me is probably surprised to read a piece like this. What are the odds that a guy who knows very little (my fiancée would say nothing at all) about fashion is writing a review of The Devil Wears Prada 2? Well, here it is, and there is only one spoiler alert: I liked it. A lot.
The Devil is in the Details
In a world full of half-baked sequels and reboots, The Devil Wears Prada 2 won me over with solid writing. I was surprised, and not for a lack of faith in the script or its writer; Aline Brosh McKenna wrote a strong script that focuses on developing and delivering character arcs and strong/fitting dialogue.
Sequels are usually plagued by a singular issue: the plot gets retold by resetting character arcs, fully or partially retconning the established status quo at the end of the first movie. The Devil Wears Prada 2 does no such thing. I was delighted to see that all major characters are picked up 20 years after we saw them last and developed in a way that supports the main plot. The story is not entirely original (Andy does try to gain Miranda's approval, again), but it does a great job at telling it in a consistent way regarding the new arcs. It is just beautiful to see how everything comes together at the end, and we are left with a new status quo.
Another thing that positively surprised me was the dialogue. I never once felt taken out of my immersion by quips or "obvious" jokes, and the phenomenal acting across the board elevated the material to the standard we would expect from the likes of Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway.
Devil's Advocate
There is only one thing that I personally thought was unnecessary: the inclusion of a love interest for Andy Sachs. If that character were to be taken out of the script entirely, nothing would change. Go watch it, and you'll see what I mean.
Speak of the Devil
You know what sucks? Companies are scaling down, reforming, and consolidating to save expenses, and running after the latest trends like AI-Integrations (although said companies rarely really know what they need or want in the first place from AI), all in the service of cutting costs, aka increasing profit. Some businesses are just that: a numbers game. But some aren't.
Why am I talking about this? Because those are big themes (and plot points) in The Devil Wears Prada 2, and I loved it. Just a little detail that is timely and poignant to our times. Not everything is scalable for the better. And not everything is about money.
Go to your nearest movie theater, grab some popcorn, and have a good time!