Let me be upfront with you. Anytime Meryl Streep is on my screen, I am watching. I do not care how good or bad the movie is — she makes everything worth seeing. So when Devil Wears Prada 2 finally arrived, I was right there with everybody else, excited and ready. And while I did not hate this movie, I did not love it either. More importantly, it is nowhere near as good as the original.
A lot of people are riding high on this one, and I get it. The nostalgia factor is real. But nostalgia and a great movie are two very different things, and I think it is worth separating them.
What the Movie Gets Right
The most compelling thing about Devil Wears Prada 2 is how timely it is. The story pulls back the curtain on the collapse of the magazine publishing industry, the death of legacy print media, and what happens to the creatives and journalists who built their careers on brands that are now fighting to survive. That is a genuinely rich subject, and the film deserves credit for putting it front and center. It is the kind of topic that feels ripped from real headlines, and in the best moments, the movie handles it with honesty and a little heartbreak.
The performances across the board are strong. Emily Blunt gets more to do this time around, and she runs with it. Tracie Thoms as Lily finally gets a real role with her own personality instead of just existing as Andy’s supportive friend in the background. Stanley Tucci’s Nigel is warm and bittersweet in a way that genuinely lands. And Meryl Streep, as always, commands every single scene she is in.
Where It Falls Apart — Spoilers From Here
Here is my problem. The central conflict of this movie rests on Andy Sachs being willing to go to extraordinary lengths to save Runway magazine and protect Miranda Priestly. And I just could not buy it.
Andy did not have a great experience at Runway the first time around. The job changed her, hardened her, and in many ways damaged her. So when we meet her again two decades later and she is suddenly this giddy, deeply loyal woman willing to put everything on the line for an institution and a boss that once put her through the wringer — it felt off. Her drive to be there was just too strong to feel believable given her history.
Her not wanting to lose another job right after starting? Sure, I can get that. But the deep, almost sacrificial loyalty to Miranda? I could not wrestle with that. The film never quite earns it.
And here is what frustrates me most. Early in the movie, they introduce the idea of Andy writing a tell-all book about Miranda. That thread is dangled in front of us and then largely abandoned. But think about what that story could have been. Andy loses her job, decides to write the book, and Miranda finds out. Suddenly there is a real reason for them to be in each other’s orbit. There is genuine tension, genuine stakes, a believable motivation for both characters. You could have kept all the same plot points about Runway’s crisis, the uncertainty, the corporate maneuvering, and the twist — but Andy’s reason for being there would have made so much more sense.
If they come out with a Devil Wears Prada 3 centered on that tell-all book, I will be first in line. I genuinely believe that is the sequel this franchise deserves.
The Miranda Problem
This is not a criticism of Meryl Streep, because she can do no wrong. But I do think the writers were not sure what they wanted Miranda to be in this film. There are moments where she feels formidably challenged — a powerful woman navigating a world that has moved on without her, which is compelling. And then there are moments where she just feels weak. Not tired, not worn down in a human way, but genuinely diminished. And that is not the Miranda Priestly I know.
Now maybe that is intentional. Maybe they wanted to show her brought low, and if so, they succeeded. But it did not sit right with me, because the original Miranda was terrifying precisely because her power was never in question, even when everything around her was falling apart.
The Verdict
Devil Wears Prada 2 is an enjoyable movie. It is fun, it is whimsical, it has funny moments, and the cast makes it worth your time. But as a sequel — as a worthy follow-up to one of the most beloved films of the 2000s — it does not deliver. The main conflict is too thin, Andy’s motivation is too hard to believe, and the movie settles for charming when it had the ingredients to be something genuinely sharp and memorable.
I will give it six out of ten. I found myself a little bored in stretches, and I honestly cannot see myself rewatching this the way I have rewatched the original. The first Devil Wears Prada has a staying power that this sequel, at least for me, simply does not.
Would I watch Part 3? Absolutely. But they need to go back to the drawing board on the story — because this franchise has more in it than what we got here.
What did you think of Devil Wears Prada 2? Let me know in the comments below.