The Devil Wears Prada 2 Falls Flat in Being Equally Insightful as the Original

The celebrity cameos, the gorgeous Milanese backdrop, the innovative fashion...the reboot of the film The Devil Wears Prada after two decades did not skimp on the visual side. With the original now a classic and the original main cast all returning to their memorable roles, the movie could afford to splurge on a budget almost guaranteed to make a healthy return purely on the nostalgia of a generation. Yet, after more than two hours of glamour between the buzzing streets of New York City and the natural beauty of Italy, it seems that the film failed to answer the nagging question that everyone couldn't get past.

In so many words, every major character in the film alluded to the dire straits of the fashion publication industry. In the age of smartphones and social media, a vaulted century-old magazine like Runway faces stiff competition for eyeballs, and its credibility as the global trendsetter diminishes with the rise of every new influencer. As more people scroll past its now digital-only content, there is ever less justification for the kind of money one has to spend to craft the luxury of the fashion world the magazine seeks to portray. Fashion shows could go on, but who'd pay to read about it in glossy full-colored pages?

That question is central to the conflict at the heart of the movie. Miranda, the editor-in-chief, remains spicy, but with an added nuance of dismay. She is uncharacteristically seen to pander to investors who clearly do not see the value of her work progressing as it has for the past two decades. Amidst the calls for downsizing, cost-cutting, and replacing humans with AI, she sees the demise of the institution she has worked so hard to preserve, even as she desperately clings to the possibility of rising up further in the shrinking and democratizing world of content creation. 

The movie was careless in sweeping this complexity under the rug with an improbably happy-ever-after ending. A divorced tycooness bought out Runway with her ex-husband's money just so Miranda and her team can continue doing what they do without interference. Everyone seems to get a promotion at the end of the day, after the new investment flows in, even though there is no mention whatsoever of how the team will adapt to the ever-more-competitive world of fashion publishing as AI and human influencers become even more productive and ubiquitous. 

It is as if the movie simply wants us to remain nostalgic, reminiscing about the past by staying in the past. For Miranda, at the end of her career, that seems to be quite okay. As the grand dame of the industry, Runway will probably outlive all the other magazines and be the last one standing in the world of luxury. If Runway shuts down, Miranda can just retire. But what about all the youngsters who bet their careers on the magazine and the values it represents? They can't just all become fashion influencers when they were never exposed to its sell-thyself-at-all-costs ethos. 

To add insult to injury, the film's protagonist, Andy, seemed to have reiterated the trope she perfected two decades ago, even though the audience is introduced to her as an award-winning investigative journalist who wrote about serious topics such as the Federal Reserve. Her implied maturity completely disappears the moment she steps back into Runway's office as the magazine's new junior editor. The audience expects her to be familiar with the power dynamics of capitalism by now. But she is still wide-eyed about the inner workings of betrayals that permeate the world of investors and advertisers.

No wonder the critics were not kind to the sequel. The original from two decades ago was illuminating, as it provided the audience with a rare insider view of the fashion world through their sympathies with the equally clueless Andy. It is not too much to ask for the second movie to be equally illuminating. Given that the traditional information gatekeeping role of mainstream media is eroded, the viewers expect to see an insider look at how the industry is fighting back. These high expectations are shattered by the time the credits roll.

Perhaps our expectations are just too high. Like the fashion industry, the film industry is also struggling with the same question of relevance. Affordable, high-quality video and audio recording equipment and editing tools can now make anyone a good filmmaker. In this changing world, what is the role of the film studio? Like one of Runway's potential buyers said in the film, maybe it is no longer about setting the course of the industry, but to better adapt to it, going with the flow of technological development while somehow preserving that glamor. We are just not sure if Miranda is up to it.