“The Devil Wears Prada 2” hit movie theaters in the United States starting May 1 and internationally on April 29. Director David Frankel brought back actors Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt to the big screen once again to reprise their iconic roles. Following in the footsteps of its predecessor, “The Devil Wears Prada”, the sequel was a smash hit, grossing approximately 614 million dollars internationally.
The original “The Devil Wears Prada” follows Andrea “Andy” Sachs (Anne Hathaway) as she applies for a job at the prestigious fictional magazine Runway in New York City. Despite graduating from Northwestern University as the editor-in-chief of her school newspaper, Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) makes Sachs her second assistant, with the first assistant being Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt). With the help of Nigel (Stanley Tucci), Sachs learns to traverse the combined world of journalism and fashion. However, she falls into the toxic competition of the fashion industry, leading her to sacrifice her personal life for work. By the end of the movie, Sachs makes the decision to leave her job and pursue her dream of real journalism.
The sequel diverges even further from the book series by Lauren Weisberger, which the original was based on, an intentional change to communicate a few core messages. After being laid off from the fictional publication, the New York Vanguard, via text message due to budget cuts, Andy Sachs intends to avenge her and her coworkers. Irv Ravitz (Tibor Feldman), the owner of Runway’s parent company Elias-Clarke, hires Sachs as the new features editor. As co-workers, Sachs and Priestly join forces to address the decline in fashion journalism which has increasingly shifted toward commercialization through digital, profit-driven clickbait articles.
In her new role, Sachs reconnects with Charlton, who now manages luxury retail stores for Dior, and Nigel, rebuilding their once-close friendships. However, Charlton and Priestly rival each other on their perspectives of the commercialization of fashion journalism. As Runway undergoes major shifts in management, Sachs and Priestly face challenges as the new executives wish to replace people with artificial intelligence. The movie provides a satisfying ending with Sachs finding her place in the joint realm of fashion and journalism while Priestly accepts her as a peer.
The actors were ecstatic when it came time to begin filming. They each stepped into their roles quickly, slipping back into their characters with ease.
Blunt commented to People, “You are sort of fused with this person you’re playing. Listen, I love playing this lunatic. I had a lot of fun slithering back into her shoes.”
On the other hand, Patrick Brammal, who played Sachs’ love interest Peter, was new to the movie franchise. Despite initially feeling out of place, Brammal told Vanity Fair, “I feel like I belong in the movie…. The function of that character is to be a supportive guy for Andy Sachs. It’s a nice, easy chemistry.”
“The Devil Wears Prada 2” was a success for both the viewers and the film’s cast and crew. The movie combined heartwarming character arcs with dramatic conflict and overarching messages on journalism’s commercialization and digitization. The movie also delivers, of course, on the high fashion element.
