1 May 2026 – I went on my own to The Odeon to see ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ today. The synopsis on the cinema website was as follows:
“Twenty years after making their iconic turns as Miranda, Andy, Emily and Nigel—Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci return to the fashionable streets of New York City and the sleek offices of Runway Magazine in 20th Century Studios’ “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” the eagerly awaited sequel to the 2006 phenomenon that defined a generation. The film is directed by David Frankel, written by Aline Brosh McKenna, produced by Wendy Finerman, and executive produced by Michael Bederman, Karen Rosenfelt and Aline Brosh McKenna.”
The gang are back, albeit 20 years on. And whilst time hasn’t stood still, with Runway being more of a website with a much lower budget, and a very slimmed-down magazine, the ‘devil’ in the shape of Miranda continues to be in charge, and Nigel continues to be her effective deputy, despite playing the quiet back office role. Without giving too much away, there is much in the way of drama going on, with Andy returning as Features Editor, and Emily, having left to be in some kind of major purchasing role with Dior, a major advertiser in the Runway publication.
The story plays out well, with enough humour and tension to provide a good measure of entertainment for the length of the film, and the climax of the film, and subsequent dénouement, are handled very well. I enjoyed it, and I liked the fact that the principal actors were all making a comeback, having matured themselves, over the last 20 years. There were some delightful extra appearances in the shape of Kenneth Branagh, Lucy Liu, Lady Gaga and the impeccable, even if only for his few minutes appearance, Jon Batiste.
Mark Kermode, in his critique, had a somewhat different view from me. Here are some of his paraphrased remarks…
- Plot was unbelievable
- It made no sense
- Plot just there to put characters in the same spaces
- Some parts were very funny
- Doesn’t believe the attempt at a contemporary edge
- Not funny or biting enough to earn its keep
- Yet still likely to be a hit
- Original is still remembered after 20 years, but this will be forgotten after 20 minutes.
I gave it a score of 8, whilst ‘IMDB’ gave it 7, and the ‘Rotten Tomatoes’ score was 7.9 (79%).
Fraser