I had never seen 2006’s “The Devil Wears Prada” until a few weeks ago when I watched it in preparation for the sequel. I didn’t care for it, mainly due to the off-putting character of Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep). I knew going in that the fashion magazine editor’s dialogue was filled with verbal put-downs that were supposedly eccentrically charming, but I mostly just found unfunny, unprofessional, and rude. Such constant negative energy from a person that I didn’t see bringing enough positives to the workplace to balance it out.

The Miranda character was written to spend more time making demands and throwing shade than acting like she belonged in a position to be so demanding. There was basically only one scene (and granted, it’s arguably her most famous scene) where she came off as someone who had truly mastered the ins and outs of the fashion and editorial industries, and the rest of the time I saw little more than a spoiled child. The main character, Miranda’s second assistant Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), and her supervisor, first assistant Emily (Emily Blunt) had their off-putting qualities as well, but at least their misery at working for Miranda was understandable and relatable.

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Okay, enough ranting against a movie from 20 years ago. The new film opens with Andy and Miranda, having gone their separate ways at the end of the first movie, both in trouble. Andy has just been fired from her job as a news journalist and Miranda is in hot water over her association with an unscrupulous label. The mutual solution is that Andy will go to work as a features editor for Miranda’s magazine, trying to restore the maven’s reputation. Miranda has some of her trademark resentment toward Andy for not being her choice to hire, and of course Andy has some resentment toward Miranda for being a bully.

It’s not all bad for Andy. Her stories get some of the best reviews of her career, and she’s able to reconnect with old friends like mentor and fashion editor Nigel (Stanley Tucci). Even Emily is back in the picture, in a high position with magazine ally Chanel, thanks largely to influence from her rich boyfriend, tech-bro Benji (Justin Theroux). But at the end of the day, Andy’s life is still a nightmare because Miranda is still Miranda.

Or is she? She’s as condescending as ever, she hasn’t let up on that. But this movie is more eager to show a side to her that isn’t “just” condescending. She leads the magazine through a series of crises, from accusations of human rights violations (real ones in overseas factories, not her being snippy in the office), to worries of the brand’s future under its new, not-fashion-conscious owner (B.J. Novak), to having to make sure that humans still have a voice in the fashion industry under the looming threat of A.I. She even proves to be a laudable journalist, earning compliments from a rich divorcee (Lucy Liu) who thanks Miranda for focusing an exclusive interview on her and not her notorious ex-husband.

“The Devil Wears Prada 2” shows Miranda doing the work of someone at the top better than the first movie, where the character seemed to take unfair advantage of simply “being” at the top. The whole movie is better for it. Okay, maybe not the “whole” movie. Andy’s romantic subplot with a contractor (Patrick Brammall) is a slog and it’s annoying to see her fall back into her old habit of craving validation and needing another stop-feeling-sorry-for-yourself pep talk from Nigel, which is basically a cut-and-paste from the first movie. Still, there’s plenty to like here, from a fairer share of funny lines to a grander celebration of all things fashionable and luxurious, if that’s your thing. But it’s the more-detailed development of the character of Miranda Priestly that I think is worth celebrating.

Grade: B-

“The Devil Wears Prada 2” is rated PG-13 for strong language and some suggestive references. Its running time is 119 minutes.

Contact Bob Garver at rrg251@nyu.edu.