I must admit I came in with low expectations. Twenty years is a long time to wait for a sequel and the original was complete, self-contained it didn't need an after-thought sequel to keep it relevant. But, of course, legacy sequels have a bad reputation for a reason; often they're just a product of nostalgia. So I expected to be disappointed. Rather, this one pulled me in whole hog, and you can tell it might be one of the most fulfilling sequel-to-the-sequel's I've ever seen.
The concept is clever and the concept deserves its own life. A highly respected journalist, Andy Sachs has been working for 20 years in the industry, well away from the glamorous, cutthroat fashion world that he abandoned until it all comes crashing down on his head and he's drawn straight back into Miranda Priestly's clutches. But this time, there is a world around them that has turned upside down. “Print media is on its deathbed, digital media is chaotic, unforgiving, and even Miranda who was once completely untouchable and seemed immune to consequences of any sort, is fighting tooth with nail.” That change adds an unexpected emotional depth to the entire story. Adding some vulnerability to the original character, Miranda struggles to preserve her dwindling clout as she faces off against her former aide Emily Charlton, who's no longer a struggling underdog but a legitimate executive peer and contender for the advertising business's riches. It's a really interesting progression and it would never be like, oh, Miranda's betraying her own essence; it's like, oh, it's the same woman fighting a new kind of battle.
As you can imagine, Meryl Streep is extraordinary. She's not just making Miranda Priestly fit into a coat that's already been worn by an unforgettable character; she's morphing Miranda into a real, flesh-and-blood personality, adding layers of humanity and humility to her all-out, no-nonsense icy demeanor. The film's quieter moments are pleasantly still and here, when Miranda is pushed to the wall to understand just how much the earth has moved under her feet, is where I was taken aback by how much this sequel really packs in. It's quite one of her best performances in years and a reminder of why this character was such a cultural icon in the first place.
The grounded, likeable energy that made Anne Hathaway the ideal audience surrogate the first time feels comfortable the second time, as a woman with 20 years of life experience. But for this time, it's Emily Blunt who really is the one to shine - as she's been given much more to work with than ever before, as she's not the comic-relief sidekick, but rather, a potent, serious competitor to Miranda, and she steals almost every scene she's in. The Miranda-versus-Emily chemistry is what really gets the blood pumping in her veins, and their chemistry is electric like the original's, with a sharpness and ambition to it that makes it the true powerhouse of the film.
The film looks absolutely wonderful. Returning to the helm, director David Frankel has the same sleek and assured visual flair that made the first film so stylish, if not more. The fashion is a jaw-dropper, the sets are dazzling and the overall production exudes a sense of life and vitality above and beyond mere competence. One of the obvious highlights of the entire film is a banquet sequence set in an amazing museum environment, a beautifully framed shot that is almost “stage” in its perfect composition, a testament to what this franchise does best. The runway scene shot is an absolute show-stopper, too — style, excitement, energy, what the franchise is all about one of several original songs written for the film by Lady Gaga.
That's the thing about this film, however; it's not just about celebrating the past for the past's sake, but rather a fairly sure-handed attempt to bring the world up to speed. It would have been so simple for this sequel to do nothing more than revive the gags of 2006...... the status quo of power, the same cultural references, the same jokes, only with a slightly newer look. Rather it tells a truly new story about relevance, reinvention, legacy... one that unfolds on the real ground of the fall of print and the tumult of the digital world. It's not a complacent or tone-deaf telling of the hardships of retaining power in a world that's always shifting, it's a telling of those that's witty, stylish and surprisingly heartfelt.
When the credits rolled I was really moved, not just entertained, but emotionally involved with these characters that I did not anticipate being involved with going into the movie. Sequels are more often than not, a celebration of the original success, and this is certainly not an exception.
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Rating: 75/100
