One of the highlights of my year turned out to be not what I expected…

If you are a millennial and you’re a gal, gay or they, then you probably have an affinity for the 2006 comedy-drama film The Devil Wears Prada. Featuring a trio of absolutely incredible woman in Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Meryl “Can Literally Do Any Role Perfectly” Streep, The Devil Wears a Prada ushered in a cinematic masterpiece of high fashion, low cunning, and the boss from hell.

But my god, the fashion… iconic! Everyone knows where they were during that iconic Anne Hathaway outfit change montage to Vogue by Madonna.

Icons. Icons. Icons. Icons.

So if you’re a millennial gal, gay or they, then you were absolutely looking forward to The Devil Wears Prada 2 as much as I was. The iconic trio, as well as the effortlessly talented and handsome Stanley Tucci, all returned for a sequel 20 years later in what I’d like to think was one of the most highly anticipated sequels ever.

Now before I get into it, I want to preface this by saying this is not an official Widow’s Lure review. Instead, this is just me sharing my thoughts on the film in a constructive manner which does not suit the template that I’ve set for a Widow’s Lure review.

And it goes without saying, SPOILERS AHEAD. You have been warned.

I just watched The Devil Wears Prada 2 in an advanced girls night screening, and I expected a little fanservice because it was clear just from the trailer that that’s what they were after; reuniting the main four in the same environment with a new story, new drama, and new high fashions.

But from the first almost three or four minutes of the film, you can see so much blatant fanservice from the first film that the novelty quickly dies off and you understand the real purpose of the film. Like immediately, you could tell the directors were like “Hey yo, how many references to the first film can we make in this little introduction Andrea walking in NYC scene”? And it became very clear, this movie wasn’t made to tell a story; it was made to pander to the diehard fans from the first film, and it did not land the way it intended.

From the jump, it was almost like they were grasping at any reason to reunite the characters in the most unrealistic ways possible, and after quickly – and I stress the word quickly – putting them all in the same room through the sheer power of Prue Halliwell, the purpose of the film became clear, and it quickly unraveled after that.

To make it worse, as the movie progressed, it just seemed like they were making the plot up on the spot and just told the actors to just ‘wing it’ and ‘see what happens’, because the plot of the movie was so all over the place and did not have a clear direction. Like at no point did I know where the movie was going to go and where it was going to end, and not in a fun thriller kind of way.

I also feel like some of the character’s motivations and their personalities kind of disappeared for the sake of the movie. Andy’s fierce independence and passion for journalism disappeared and she quickly found herself happily up Miranda’s ass again. Miranda herself had her cold and bitter moments, but they were marred with some nice and character redeeming moments, which I don’t think suited the character personally. Just because she’s an icon, doesn’t necessarily mean she needs to be a hero, because the appeal of Miranda Priestly is in her being a capital K khunt. Even Nigel lost some of his sass and zingers to be a crowd-pleasing supporting character. It was just disappointing.

At least Emily was still a bad bitch.

I wouldn’t say I hated the movie, but as a big fan of the original, I can say that I was disappointed by how lazily the sequel was executed. This could’ve been so much better than what it was, and I feel like the actors and us the fans deserved a lot better. If you’re thinking of watching this film, I would say give it a go, but don’t be surprised if it disappoints you. I mean, I know I won’t be watching it again.

Oh well. At least the fashions were still iconic.

– by The Black Widow