Legendary 'Runway' is no longer in favor and is one step away from disaster. The 'eternal' gloss is being replaced by modern technology and a new ethics (the magazine was caught being friends with an organization using slave labor). Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), realizing that her creation's life is at stake, once again joins forces with Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway). The headstrong 'Cinderella' 20 years ago went through all the circles of hell in the fashion world and emerged free and independent, preferring serious factual journalism to glamour. Returning to her old stomping grounds promises to reopen old wounds and reunite with old friends.



Coat, but not that one

This is both a sequel and a remake. The new not-so-sweet life takes old techniques and character arcs from the original and slightly changes their tone to fit today's reality: instead of the Paris of dreams, an equally dreamlike Milan with its famous shows; glamour and journalism in general are left behind by bloggers and social media in the battle for a new audience (though many think otherwise); the emergence of artificial intelligence; changes in corporate ethics and cancel culture.

 Anne Hathaway as Andy, to some extent, steps into the same river twice: she again plays a naive provincial girl who rides the career elevator from a gofer to a prestigious seat in the editorial office. Miranda, played by Meryl Streep, has softened a bit due to new ethics and other realities, but even in a cramped aquarium, a shark can inspire fear. She is still despotic and keeps Andy on a short leash, but then loosens her grip. Nigel, played by Stanley Tucci, remains the same wise and cynical mentor, once again guiding a tour through the toxic world of high fashion.

 In short, it's all stuff we've seen before. This beating around the bush is done for a simple and self-serving reason. If it worked then, it will fly now, and 'zoomers' will gladly fill the coffers. David Frankel, a TV craftsman and creator of the canonical 'Sex and the City,' really doesn't want to take risks in times when many films sink at the box office due to original and sharp ideas. Business, nothing personal.

But this simplification also has more serious consequences. Besides traveling along a familiar rut, there is a Netflix-ization of the brain. Throughout the film, characters verbally repeat plot points and events that will happen or have happened in the movie. Otherwise, the grateful viewer, who mercilessly scrolls through the feed while watching, won't understand what they just saw. This trend in the industry is everywhere now, and many screenwriters are strongly urged to chew over all the details for better information absorption. 


Give me back my 2006

The film easily handles the main task for today's realities — the trend of nostalgia for the 2000s. A time of stability, economic growth, and dreams of a bright future is clearly visible in the film. On screen, though living out its last days, is the gloss that was once a symbol of prestige and 'puttin' on the ritz,' as Fred Astaire sang. Old characters return in full force and perform, not without pleasure, familiar tunes for the delight of fans: Streep is again a blonde panther, Hathaway is charming and simple-minded, and Stanley Tucci is haughty and still the same snob. The basic settings are successfully maintained. 

The sequel also has many familiar details from the first part: the ill-fated sky-blue sweater of Andy will again play an interesting role, and jokes about Miranda's coat will take on a curious hue. On screen, as before, Madonna's hit-manifesto 'Vogue' plays, where pose and style are the main attributes of the new life. However, at this exhibition of the era's achievements, there is no drive or frantic energy of that swift and fast-paced time. It increasingly resembles a department store window, where polished exhibits stand, waiting for their fate behind the glass.

I don't recognize you in makeup

One of the main drawbacks, especially in the Russian release, is the poor dubbing. It's clear without my explanation that a serious dialogue with cinema is only possible in the original language with subtitles, but once again choosing Evelina Khromchenko to voice the powerful 'Snow Queen' Miranda is a faux pas and a lingering meme

In the first part, the localizers decided that only a person known in fashion circles could give voice to the stern and calm-as-a-boa editor-in-chief, and they miscalculated greatly. In the original, the great Meryl Streep never raises her voice throughout the entire film and instills genuine terror in her subordinates with this. Her cold-blooded phrase sometimes costs someone their career. 

Khromchenko neglects this role design and often breaks into shouting and unnecessary verbal fluttering. This loses the scale of Miranda as a predator in the urban jungle. If it came to that, it would have been better to invite Alena Doletskaya, especially since she has a direct connection to Vogue magazine, or rather its domestic adaptation. It would have been more believable and stronger. Her timbre is regal, and the half-tones of her voice command respect even before seeing the owner.

I am not Marcello, I am different

'The Devil Wears Prada 2' is a typical sequel of modern realities and a nostalgic greeting from the past. Under a new colorful and shimmering cover, the old content remains, but it doesn't lose its shape over the years, perhaps because the original didn't aspire to the laurels of Fellini's 'La Dolce Vita' or Altman's 'Prêt-à-Porter.' It didn't want to destroy the cult of personality and ostracize the fashion world, but merely retold the old motifs of a classic urban fairy tale with a satirical twist. But that's not so bad, as long as the suit fits.