A Few Sparks of Brilliance Illuminate Otherwise Dull Performance

The film opens with Andy receiving an award only to find herself jobless shortly after. An editorial crisis at Runway provides an unexpected opportunity for her return. The dilemma arises when a features editor publishes an article endorsing a brand involved in unethical practices, leading to a backlash against Runway. Miranda, ever the skeptic, appears to relish the challenge of complicating Andy’s life. Or does she have other motives?

“The Devil Wears Prada 2” being often mediocre and sometimes outright bad — with occasional flashes of brilliance — is deeply disappointing for fans of the smart, snappy original, which felt light, effortless, and surprisingly emotional throughout. That’s why, when fans learned that original director and screenwriter David Frankel and Aline Brosh McKenna were returning for the sequel — alongside Streep, Hathaway, and their co-stars Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci — they had reason to be excited. Unfortunately, “The Devil Wears Prada 2” proves that some things do simply go out of style.

So what is this sequel about, anyway, considering that the first movie didn’t exactly set up any sort of narrative follow-up? Rather than adapt a second book by Lauren Weisberger – her 2003 novel of the same name was the source material for “The Devil Wears Prada,” based on her experiences as Anna Wintour’s beleaguered assistant, and she released “Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns” in 2013 — Frankel and McKenna struck out on their own. When we meet Andy again, 20 or so years after the original movie, she’s a successful, award-winning investigative journalist who’s suddenly hit by restructuring and corporate cuts and ends up, once again, back at Runway to lead the magazine’s editorial features department. Along the way, she reunites with, of course, Miranda, fashion director Nigel Kipling (Tucci), and even her former co-assistant Emily Charlton (Blunt). What could go wrong? A lot, as it turns out. Minor spoilers ahead!

After Andy wins an award and loses her job in the first few minutes of “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” she’s totally adrift … until an editorial crisis at Runway brings her back into the fold. (The long and short of it is that a features editor didn’t do her research and wrote an article promoting a brand that engaged in unsavory business practices, leading to Runway’s online “cancellation.”) Miranda, naturally, balks at the idea and seems determined to make Andy’s life difficult. Or does she?

One of the biggest structural issues with “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” honestly, is Miranda’s character … and, by extension, Andy’s. Anne Hathaway is an incredibly versatile and charming actor, but she’s weird in this movie, giving every single line an enthusiastic and peppy read that doesn’t always fit with the tone. Miranda is a much bigger problem, and it’s not Meryl Streep’s fault; it’s the writing. Not only does the script seem to dabble in a recent trend where characters repeatedly say what they’re doing in case the audience is on their phones, it’s repetitive and the opposite of effortless. It’s downright sweaty at times. (“So what you’re saying is, Miranda needs me,” Andy says to Nigel over lunch.)

Miranda, though, seems like a different character from one scene to the next. Sometimes she’s inviting Andy to her Hamptons house and telling her secrets in the kitchen; sometimes she’s calling her an abject failure. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason for much of what Miranda does, which makes Andy make less sense — these characters are, after all, the twin pillars of the story. This is incredibly frustrating and derails the entire vibe of the movie.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but it needs to be said anyway: the fashion in “The Devil Wears Prada 2” is to die for. That’s true of the first movie as well, of course, but when you consider that legendary costume designer Patricia Field worked on the first movie’s looks, anyone following her has enormous Christian Louboutin stilettos to fill. Enter Molly Rogers, an acolyte of Field’s who worked with her on “Sex and the City” and the original “Devil Wears Prada” and clearly learned quite a lot from her mentor. Everything worn by Andy, Miranda, Emily, and Nigel is unique, eye-catching, and flattering — Anne Hathaway is gifted some rich blue hues that look amazing on her, while Emily Blunt gets to wear some unbelievable structural pieces — and will fill inspiration boards for years to come.

Speaking of Blunt, she’s far and away the highlight of the film. (Whenever her character’s not on-screen, the audience should be asking, “Where’s Emily?”) Despite the fact that she’s positioned as the antagonist between the movie’s second and third acts, her bon mots are delightful — she has a fixation with Andy’s eyebrows that she absolutely refuses to drop — and it feels like no time has passed between now and when Blunt first broke onto the scene as Emily. The same is true of Stanley Tucci, whose wicked sense of humor gives way to a softness that adds an emotional layer to his scenes.

We didn’t need “The Devil Wears Prada 2” … and unfortunately, it shows. This might be a legacy sequel, but it feels like a bad knockoff; the “Channel” to the original’s “Chanel.”

“The Devil Wears Prada 2” lands in theaters on May 1.