Right from the get-go, the throbbing beat of Giorgos Alkaios & Friends’ “Opa” during the opening credits of My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, you know that you’re in for a good time. At least you were expected to. Instead, it’s like going on a blind date with that nice but painfully shy girl. Or watching umpteen slides from your inlaws’ trip to Greece. It’s pleasant, but it’s not really a movie.
It pains me to say it because I love Nia Vardalos and I’m a softie when it comes to the 2002 original film. Meeting Toula’s eccentric but loveable family and her journey on the way to marrying Ian (John Corbett), was truly heartwarming. The second installment, which came out in 2016 was much less creative, but hey, it was still fun to see the Portokalos family again. I was hoping that Vardalos (who not only wrote the screenplay for the third film but served as director as well) was able to right a few wrongs from part 2. She didn’t.
The biggest problem with movies that fail is that there is no conflict. Even Hallmark Christmas movies understand the importance of conflict. Girl meets boy. Girl hates boy. Boy charms girl. The couple get in a fight. And then it all gets resolved in the end. Technically, MBFGW3 has plenty of conflict. Tons of it. However, each obstacle that arises gets resolved within a minute of screen time. Seriously. Each conflict situation is met with a gasp and then a shrug. So essentially, there really is no conflict at all. There is so much missed opportunities here. Instead of a solid single storyline and a few side stories, the movie plays out more as a series of vignettes. It’s as if Vardalos had so many stories to tell that she just couldn’t part with any of them. But not exploring where some of these stories could have led is just so disappointing.
Most of the original cast have returned for Greek Wedding 3. Before the actual movie, Vardalos gives brief a synopsis of the events that happened in the first two movies to catch you up. Soon we learn that both Toula’s father has passed away. But, as a dying wish, he asked Toula to give his journal to three of his friends from the old country. And wouldn’t you know it, the Portokalos family just so happened to get an invitation to partake in a “reunion” with all of the other families who have moved away from the village where her father was from.
And so, Toula and Ian head over to Greece taking with them, their daughter Paris (Elena Kamopouris), Toula’s brother Nick (Louis Mandylor), Aunt Frieda (Maria Vacratsis), Aunt Voula (Andrea Martin) and Paris’s ex-boyfriend, Aristotle (Elias Kacavas) whom Aunt Voula brings along unbeknownst to Paris! Cousins Nikki and Angelo (Gia Carides and Joey Fatone) stay behind as does Toula’s mother Maria (Lainie Kazan) because she now has dementia. However, she does have one of the movie’s best lines. When Toula tells her mother that she is her daughter, Maria says, “Oh, no dear. My daughter is young and beautiful.”
The majority of the movie was filmed in Greece with a lot of beautiful footage taken in Athens and Corfu. And there are plenty of charming moments in Greek Wedding 3 with a few good one-liners with Andrea Martin getting most of them.
When the family gets to Greece, they are met at the airport by Victory (Melina Kotselou), the mayor from Toula’s father’s village. (While this free spirit character is meant to be a positive one full of life and love, she comes off rather annoying taking up too much screen time away from the family.) She takes the family “home” to find that it is mostly empty except for an old and scary woman who pops up when no one is expecting her. Toula’s is stressed that she won’t find her father’s friends, Nick is looking for the oldest tree in the village for some reason and Paris is hiding something. Aunt Voula takes charge while Ian isn’t left with much to do in this film except smile, which he does very well. Finally, just when you thought Carides and Fatone aren’t really in this film despite their names on the poster- they show up! Sadly, all of these storylines, a few more, don’t add up to much to the story. Everything is predictable with no element of surprise. This film plays out like a TV sitcom missing its laugh track.
It is said that everyone who stars in this movie couldn’t wait to be with one another again and it shows. While you may enjoy spending time with the family again, you might want to wait until their vacation is done in the movie theater and watch the movie when it comes out on a streaming service.
Main Image: Focus Features
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