‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ REVIEW: A pleasantly surprising return to a drastically different world
‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ REVIEW: A pleasantly surprising return to a drastically different world
It’s a hot summer day in the 2010s. White fluorescent lights shine down on my mum and me as we dig through the stacks of magazines in the Makati Square branch of Booksale. Searching, searching, searching.. until finally. We find our treasure. A back issue of InStyle from a month or two ago, discounted to around 195 pesos. The glossy spreads of curated clothes. The free perfume sample. The interviews with celebrities. It is, as Nigel puts it in the first film, “a shining beacon of hope.”
Fashion and magazines have always been a big part of my life. I grew up reading InStyle over my mum’s shoulder at night. As a kid, she carefully put together my outfits and helped instill in me a love of fashion, and helped me build my own personal taste. To this day, my favorite part of the work week is figuring out what I’m going to wear.
Anne Hathaway as Andy Sachs, Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly, and Stanley Tucci as Nigel Kipling | Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios
It should come as no surprise that The Devil Wears Prada is an almost sacred text for me. So much so that “Suddenly I See” has been on my getting-ready playlist ever since I was a teenager. The original film is a time capsule of what the world of fashion and print media used to be like. Even as a young girl, I idolized all these beautiful, confident women who had careers that helped shape culture. Sure, they were mean, but I understood that was the price you paid if you wanted success. At least in the fictional world. The Devil Wears Prada was my ultimate fantasy of what working would be.
I will admit, I was very skeptical of The Devil Wears Prada 2. I generally am of legacy sequels. I wasn’t really a fan of the trailers that had been released, and lived in fear of it being a non-stop barrage of “Remember this from the first movie?! Clap!” While the film does have those moments, I was pleasantly surprised to find it had more to give and say. And I loved seeing everyone dress up for their screenings (myself included).
20 years later, the world has changed — and not for the better for our main characters. The world of print media that Runway was the shining jewel of has largely disappeared in favor of digital content. Andy, now a journalist, gets fired from her newspaper due to budget cuts. Runway is now a digital publication, with both Miranda and Nigel at the mercy of advertisers and social media metrics. It’s a frustrating, true-to-life situation that I think really hit home as someone working in both the writer and the creative field.
Stanley Tucci as Nigel Kipling and Anne Hathaway as Andy Sachs | Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios
It’s nice to see Streep, Hathaway, Tucci, and Blunt back in these roles. They feel like old friends to me. I forgot how much I loved them in these roles until I saw them again. Nigel, in particular, is still my favorite. I love his kind, yet blunt nature, warmth, and friendship with Andy. I really liked the fleshing out of these characters in the film. It felt like a natural progression of who they were in 2006. I do wish Emily Blunt were in this as much as she is in the first film. She's delightful as Emily. I will be saying, “May the bridges I burn light my way,” when I feel pissed off.
I also appreciated Andy’s development as a journalist and writer. At the end of the first film, she leaves Runway in search of something she finds more meaningful, and she leaves this one realizing that she can help build that at Runway instead.
With the shift to digital, everything comes with a feeling of impermanence. Everything is content that can be scrolled past on the toilet. If the first film was a fantasy, despite its thorniness, this second film is a grounding of its world. It asks, “Can this still work when so much has changed?” and “Do people still care?” The Devil Wears Prada 2 reckons with a world that has shifted so dramatically from the one that made it iconic in the first place- and in my opinion, does it successfully.
Fashion and our relationship with it have changed since the 2000s. The scandal that reunites Andy with Runway is one about a fast fashion company’s unfair labor practices. Emily is now working at Dior, as luxury fashion is one of the only things that consistently makes money. Miranda has to hear about “gorpcore” during a meeting about the newest issue.
The main conflict of the film comes from how to maintain Runway in a world constantly downsizing human input in favor of efficiency and bureaucracy. Tech billionaires rule over companies with a tight grasp on their wallets and a lack of respect for artistry and creatives. It’s hard not to feel hopeless about it all. Even our fantasy bubble has popped.
Emily Blunt as Emily Charlton | Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios
It used to be that you had to keep up with your favorite magazines. There was a perspective and reasoning why specific things were chosen, and that was why I loved getting these magazines each month. I got to discover new things for myself, curated by people who were recognized as taste makers. Nowadays, it feels like everyone has access to fashion inspiration on social media. Everyone can share their style and fall in love with fashion.
The downside, however, is that at times it feels built on trends and microtrends. Everyone looks the same because our algorithms share the same videos and trends in our feed. There’s an increasing lack of curiosity and exploration because of it. Why try to find things yourself when someone has curated a whole Pinterest board with affiliate Amazon links for your coastal grandma look? As Miranda scathingly says to Emily, “You’re not a visionary. You’re a vendor.”
Miranda and Nigel | Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios
Luckily, I see so many cool indie zines and online publications made by young creatives trying their best to revive this culture. Its discovery and curiosity are what help keep artistry alive, and what give me hope that I may see the return of the print magazine in my lifetime
The Devil Wears Prada 2 may not be a perfect legacy sequel, but it does its best to honor its characters and the world they’re a part of. It’s impossible to live up to its now iconic predecessor. Still, there's a genuine desire to say something about the state of publishing and the creative industry today that feels sincere and bittersweet. There are new outfits to love, more stressful shenanigans, and cattiness to enjoy with old friends. It may be flawed, but with the landscape for creatives today, maybe we need a little celebration. That’s all.
‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ is now showing in Philippine cinemas.
