Devil Wears Prada 2 Review: Less Spicy?

"The Devil Wears Prada 2," returning after 17 years, still offered visual enjoyment with its dazzling luxury brands, but the characters' charm and the story's solidity were significantly weakened. Unlike its predecessor, which caused a sensation in 2006 by elegantly portraying the harsh reality of the fashion world, the sequel leaves viewers with the disappointment of an empty box with only flashy wrapping.

The film begins with investigative reporter Andy (Anne Hathaway) returning to the fashion magazine "Runway" as a planning editor after being fired, reuniting with Miranda (Meryl Streep). The intention to highlight the struggles of a fashion magazine trying to regain its dominance in a media landscape where print is declining and social media reigns supreme seems clear.

However, the method of overcoming the crisis is excessively clumsy. The solution to the immense crisis of a change in "Runway's" ownership and large-scale layoffs amounts to merely pleading with wealthy individuals to buy the company. The process of massive capital movement and company acquisition being easily accomplished, as if it were child's play, demonstrates an extreme level of contrivance that is difficult for the audience to accept. It reveals the director's complacency in moving towards a "story for the sake of story" instead of a fierce contemplation of the rapidly changing environment.

The sequel's most fatal flaw is the collapse of characters, or 'character breakdown.' Miranda's transformation, in particular, is painful. Her overwhelming charisma from the previous film is nowhere to be found; instead of shaking things up against unreasonable situations, she shows a powerless figure passively accepting circumstances.

The supporting characters are no different. Emily (Emily Blunt), who returns as a Dior executive and advertiser after being Miranda's former assistant, has an interesting setup to show a power reversal with Miranda, but throughout the film, she is reduced to a flat character obsessed only with luxury, pleasure, and wealthy men. The protagonist, Andy, despite her 17 years of experience, repeatedly makes foolish choices and gets trapped in an unappealing romance line, failing to anchor the narrative. Only Nigel (Stanley Tucci), the veteran fashion director who maintains the spirit of the previous film, struggles valiantly, barely holding the story together.