Some films don’t have sequels for a reason. The original works as a standalone, and it doesn’t need another film. In most cases, the sequel brings nothing to the table and thus causes a small backlash to the film that first captured everyone’s imagination. I can safely say that The Devil Wears Prada, a mid-budget comedy drama with a first-rate cast, was a surprise success mainly because it was simple in its content, had a wickedly biting script and four actors delivering. The cast had said they hadn’t returned because they wanted a script good enough to make it work. Well, twenty years later, we get number two, and to be honest, they should have kept holding out for that better script. Especially when the 2006 film was good enough on its own.

Runway magazine is in trouble. Chief editor Miranda Priestly has been accused of supporting a company with very inappropriate working conditions. To try to save the face of the magazine, Andy Sachs, now a successful journalist, is brought in, much to Miranda’s dismay. Yet this is only the start of Miranda’s problems, with the publication’s son taking ownership, and a possible buyout could end the careers of everyone at the magazine, particularly Miranda.

The first film was based on the novel by Lauren Weisberger, which was loosely inspired by the magazine American Vogue and its notorious editor, Anna Wintour. The plot was simple: a young girl looking for work lands a job as second assistant to Miranda Priestly, and it follows her growth from nobody to a respected member of the team. And that is basically it. This time, there is nothing this is based on other than an original idea, and the real issue is that it has far too much going on, most of it only seems to be there to shoehorn in the characters we know from the original.

So we have Andy still trying to prove herself to her former editor, while there are political backroom goings on with changes in publications and cutbacks, while there’s also a sideline in corporate buy-outs, as well as securing an interview with one of the richest and most powerful women around, so that Runway can be saved from disastrous publicity. There are so many strands to this, and none of them works, and, in fact, it becomes increasingly predictable. If you don’t know how it all pans out in the end, you weren’t paying any attention at all.

Returning director David Frankel and writer Aline Brosh McKenna do everything in their power to make this work, including upping the ante when it comes to fashion. The entire sequence is devoted to watching the cast walk into fashion events in an array of clothing. This is more of a fashion show than the first, and most of the clothing is, quite frankly, hideous. Neither the plot nor the fashion scenes can save this from becoming increasingly dull and lacking any care for anyone. It lacks bite. The catty dialogue is there, but it is few and far between.

With a cast as strong as this, you would expect so much better. They helped make the first film so great, but even they cannot save this from boredom. Meryl Streep is one of the few actresses who can underplay every line and still make it sound hammy. She does it again here, but there is no real development from the last time we met Miranda. Anne Hathaway was also the straight person as Andy, and she does the same here, and the first film made Emily Blunt a star as the assistant Emily. She does get some of the better lines here, but little else. Frankly, Stanley Tucci is on hand to keep things moving with very little effort.

The Devil Wears Prada is a blast, but The Devil Wears Prada 2 isn’t. At just under two hours, it’s far too long, too complex, too contrived and fails to deliver any real belly laughs, which the first film did in droves. In fact, I would say that this is the first big disappointment of the year.

2 out of 5

Director: David Frankel

Starring: Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci, Justin Theroux, Kenneth Branagh, Simone Ashley, Lucy Liu, Tracie Thoms, Caleb Hearon, B.J. Novak, Patrick Brammall, Lady Gaga

Written by: Aline Brosh McKenna and (based on the characters created) Lauren Weisberger

Running Time: 119 mins

Cert: 12A

Release date: 1st May 2026