My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 Synopsis: After the death of the family’s patriarch, Toula attempts to locate her father’s childhood friends in Greece for a family reunion.
Many years have passed since My Big Fat Greek Wedding and its subsequent sequel. In My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, the Portokalos/Miller family returns for a new adventure. The Portokalos patriarch, Gus, has passed away, and Toula’s mother suffers from dementia. Toula, Ian, their daughter Paris, Aunt Voula, and Toula’s brother Nick travel to Greece to attend the reunion of Gus’s childhood village, where Toula plans to give Gus’s old journals to his childhood pals.
Unfortunately, the village seems to be a shell of what it once was, and its young Mayor, Victory, decided to put the reunion together to try and bring people back to the village. While the Portakalos/Miller clan enjoys Greece, Toula goes on a mission to find Gus’s childhood friends while coming to terms with the fact that she may be the new family matriarch.
I really love the first movie. It had the right kind of magic that a romantic comedy needs to become a classic and stand the test of time. Because it was such a massive success – and remains the highest-grossing rom-com of all time – it seemed like a no-brainer that a sequel would follow. I need to rewatch My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, but I do remember that while I enjoyed it, it wasn’t quite on the same level as the first movie, but sequels rarely are. I wish I could say something similar about MBFG3, but honestly? I was a little disappointed.
You can tell that Nia Vardalos (who wrote and directed) aimed for a very sentimental movie with nothing but the best intentions. She is paying homage to the film that changed her life, as well as Michael Constantine, who played Toula’s father, Gus, in the first two movies. Constantine passed away in 2021. Unfortunately, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 feels a bit disjointed.
There are several subplots – including a forbidden romance between two people we don’t know and are supposed to care about and a long-lost brother – and not enough of Toula and Ian, whose romance always anchored the films. The humor is lacking, and some of the jokes are very uninspired. I think there was too much going on, and the characters are reduced to a few familiar quirks rather than being given the time and development they deserve.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3’s MVP is Andrea Martin, who is always reliable for a laugh as Aunt Voula. But even she’s not enough for me to say My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 is worth a watch. If you’re a big fan of the first two films, give this one a go, but I fear you will be disappointed in Vardalos’s – hopefully last – offering of the Portakalos clan.
Watched: 09/22/2023
Notable Song: Oli Mazi (We Are All Together) by Rita Wilson and Christos Mastoras
