My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 review by Bobby Blakey
In 2002 director Joel Zwick and writer Nia Vardolas debuted the surprise hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding produced by Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. Who would have thought that this little film would spawn a sequel in 2016 as well as a TV series that lasted for a single season. Now it’s back for another entry with the aptly titled My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 bringing the whole gang back together including Nia Vardalos once again writing, but also directing this time around. Could this latest engagement be worth getting invited to or will it not be a reunion worth attending?
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 follows the Portokalos family as they travel to a family reunion in Greece for a heartwarming and hilarious trip full of love, twists and turns. Opa! The original cast are back including John Corbett, Elena Kampouris, Gia Carides, Joey Fatone, Louis Mandylor, with Lainie Kazan, and Andrea Martin.
I found the original film to be entertaining and heartfelt, but not one that ever needed any kind of sequel. The second film played up to the same formula and ended up still entertaining while never being as good as the original. Now that it’s been so long I don’t know that we needed another entry, but figured if it could find the magic with some of these characters it could be worth it. Sadly, outside of some funny bits here and there it fails more than it works.
Right out the gate we dive right back in with the family an d getting everyone back together preparing for the trip. It is quickly clear that some of the characters are going to sidelined and revolve the story around the legacy of Toula’s dad played by the late Michael Constantine who passed away in 2021.
It’s actually a good idea and direction for what they were trying to accomplish, but it derails quickly mostly due to way too many storylines thrown in and none getting any real focus.
There are literally five or more storylines here and they weave in and out of them quickly, so you never really get to sit and enjoy any of them. Most of them could have been dealt with in a couple of scenes and allowed the bigger story of finding Gus’s old friends being the focal point. Every time it seems like we are heading into something it jumps to the next and eventually I just didn’t really care about any of it. There is a big moment at the end of the film that was the entire point of the trip and it feels like it was just glossed over and dealt with in a nonverbal scene like it wasn’t important.
Despite its issue there are some pretty funny moments sprinkled throughout and I didn’t hate the film. There is a better film in this feature somewhere, but what we got was not it and I left just not really caring anything about it. I’m sure the hardcore fans might find more they love strictly on the nostalgia of it all, but not for me.
In addition to the film this release offers up bonus content including commentary, a gag reel, deleted and extended scenes, featurettes and more. Grab your copy of My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 when it hits digital, Blu-ray and DVD on October 31st from Universal Home Entertainment.
