Strike a pose, there’s nothing to it. In the 20 years since Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) departed Runway, she’s found immense success in her long desired field, becoming an award-winning journalist known for her in-depth features and journalistic integrity. But no matter the accolades accumulated, journalism is one of the professions not immune to downsizing, and Andy finds herself on the wrong end.

Meanwhile at Runway, 20 years later have seen editor-in-chief, the incisive Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) guide the legendary magazine into terrain no longer conducive to print. A scandal has her company reeling, and Miranda’s boss taps Andy as the person to lead them through their current crisis, much to the chagrin (or maybe indifference) of Miranda. Now as the features editor, Andy is reunited with her first boss, her first mentor in Nigel (Stanley Tucci), and, albeit indirectly, Miranda’s first assistant, Emily (Emily Blunt), now a Sr. director at Dior. Will Runway again prove to be a bad environment for Andy, or might she be able to take what she’s learned to make the best of her new role?

When thinking about movies that are staples for millennials (yours truly a proud part of the group), The Devil Wears Prada is absolutely on the list. In the 20 years since its release, it has grown in stature. Miranda Priestly has become immortalized as one of cinema’s greatest villains/complex characters. And 20 years later, it spawned a sequel and as people are wont to do, it’s been asked if we needed a sequel. The honest response? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean The Devil Wears Prada 2 is a lazy effort with no care put into it. For the most part, it actually impresses and serves as a worthy follow-up to the original beloved by so many.

TDWP2 brings all of its previous core contributors back into the fold, beginning with director David Frankel. His direction is zippy, favoring the use of whip pans to build and maintain energy as we get reacquainted with these characters, their professions, and their lives. The montages are ever-present as well. While Frankel’s direction doesn’t necessarily elevate the story, it doesn’t tank it, either.

Another returnee to the production is Aline Brosh McKenna, credited for writing the first installment. With The Devil Wears Prada 2, she’s modernized the script, taking into account the decline of long-form journalism, corporate consolidation, waning interest in the arts, and more. Sometimes the elements in the script, especially early on, feel like an overstuffed closet of ideas organized clumsily. I appreciated the attempts at relevancy however scattershot they are at the beginning. Eventually, save for an unsatisfying love interest storyline for Andy bereft of chemistry (yet somehow, Andy’s new boy toy is still better than Nate), the film finds its groove and what it decides to anchor on. Not perfectly, but enough to avoid crashing out on the runway.

What the sequel has “done” to Miranda Priestly has been a hotly debated topic, as viewers believe she’s lost her edge, wit, and gravitas in the follow-up. They’re kind of right, but that’s an intentional decision made by the writing team to highlight Miranda’s uncertainty in this industry world she once presided over with an iron fist. It’s another noteworthy performance added to Streep’s long-running filmography. Part of what made the first movie so enduring were the other characters and the chemistry they shared with one another. Each of Hathaway, Blunt, and Tucci slide back into their old roles without a hitch, even as the character arcs for each aren’t too robust.

As someone whose bones are so far removed from any fashionable stylings, I’ve found the world showcased in The Devil Wears Prada to be so breezy, with a lot of whimsy and some pathos built in. I don’t see the first as an elite film, and I don’t see The Devil Wears Prada 2 at that level, either. But like the first, it’s one I’ll probably watch here and there and be satisfyingly amused every time I do so.

B-

Photo credits go to collider.com, impawards.com, cinemablend.com, and hollywoodreporter.com.