A whopping 21 years after the first film broke box office records, we have finally reached the point of a My Big Fat Greek Wedding trilogy. The film follows the Portokalos family after the death of the family’s patriarch (and real-life death of Michael Constantine). To honour her father, Toula (Nia Vardalos) and the whole family travel to Greece in an attempt to organise a family reunion.
When My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 dropped back in 2016, it didn’t really land with audiences – the story wasn’t memorable and much of the comedy fell flat. There was the sporadic appearance of effective Greek-related jokes, but it was mainly focused on hitting nostalgia beats than doing anything new or notable. It’s similar, but nowhere near as bad, as the failings of Wog Boys Forever (2022). However, what this film does differently is the same thing The Kings of Mykonos (2010) did to differentiate itself from its predecessor – move the story to Greece. It sounds like it wouldn’t make that much of a difference, but the impact here is significant. Moving the setting to Greece has allowed the franchise to do something entirely fresh, preventing it from retreading old ground. It has paved the way for a new, original story that’s a joy to follow and includes plenty of Greek jokes that weren’t already done in the original. Plus, how can you go wrong with the backdrop of Greece’s’ iconic locations and gorgeous scenery.
This film’s saving grace is Nia Vardalos. After writing the previous two entries, she’s also taken on the role of director to bring her vision of this sequel to life. Vardalos has poured her heart and soul into this film and it shows. It’s oozing with Greek culture left, right and centre – a true love letter to Greece, Greek heritage and all things Hellenic. The narrative she’s written is a very sentimental one, focused heavily on family and culture, and as a Greek myself, it hit home. It’s clear from the plot that the idea for the film came from a place of love, specifically Vardalos’ love for Michael Constantine. She pays tribute to him and his legacy throughout the film, leading to a heartwarming story that’s very impactful. Of the three films, it’s the biggest departure from a traditional rom-com structure, opting to focus more on love and charm than crazy scenarios and bouts of drama, although those elements are in here. This isn’t a negative, just an observation on this taking a different approach.
The story itself is a fun and engaging one, and it develops at a very rapid pace, but not to the film’s detriment. There are moments where problems are introduced and then solved so quickly that they barely got the time to actually be problems. In most films that would be a huge negative, but in this film it’s actually nice to have a little fun without taking things too seriously. This story could have easily have been bogged down with character side quests, but much of the fat is trimmed. It gets straight to the point and sits comfortably at a 90 minute runtime. As much as the story is a good time, there is one obvious issue with the middle portion of the film. Some scenes through the second act come across as little vignettes that are there to showcase joke ideas rather than build the story. There’s one sequence where our main characters are all in different locations – it jumps between them for a sequence of under-a-minute isolated scenes that range from funny to completely random. The scenes themselves are fine on their own, but there’s absolutely no flow and it’s jarring to watch.
Jokes about the Greek diaspora have been a mainstay of these films, and it’s no different here. Despite a more sentimental narrative, the film doesn’t forget to inject some funny and silly Greek-centric humour. Some moments we’ve seen before, but there’s plenty of fresh, relatable comedy thrown in for wogs to enjoy. It’s hard to say whether people who can’t relate would find the comedic moments impactful, but I’m sure there’s a couple of moments that transcend cultures.
Nia Vardalos and John Corbett share a really strong connection, having appeared on screen together for the last two decades, and it’s obvious on screen. Their chemistry works wonders in selling their on-screen relationship. They’re a joy to watch and are both effortless in their performances of these characters. Nia Vardalos does a lot of the heavy lifting and injects life into every one of her scenes, hitting the comedic and emotional notes with ease. The wider ensemble is also as great as ever, showcasing the wide variety of personalities that populate every family and bringing the bulk of the comedy. Louis Mandylor (Nick), Andrea Martin (Aunt Voula), Gia Carides (Nikki) and Joey Fatone (Angelo) return to bring their respective wild characters to life, and they’re all fantastic. They’re balanced with newcomers Melina Kotselou (Victory) and Anthi Andreopoulou (Alexandra), who also play wacky Greek stereotypes and bring some good laughs along the way.
In the end, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 is a fitting conclusion to this trilogy, sending us off with an emotion-heavy journey that’s a love letter to all things Greek culture. Nia Vardalos has done a great job crafting an original story that’s fun and silly but also heartwarming and impactful. There’s some shabby pacing in the middle and a few moments of quite obvious ADR, but they’re not much of a blight on this charming film. With Greek jokes aplenty and the backdrop of Greece’s stunning scenery to go along with it, this is a great watch for any wogs out there.
7/10
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