Here we have another example of a sequel arriving a long time after the original film. My Big Fat Greek Wedding was the surprise hit of 2002, and was an enjoyable enough romantic comedy. In this follow up, the central couple from the first movie, Toula (Nia Vardalos) and Ian (John Corbett) now have a seventeen year old daughter (Paris, Elena Kampouris) and the rest of Toula’s extended family are still as prominent in their lives as ever.
The story-line is pretty thin, with Paris pondering her college choices and Toula’s parents finding out that because the priest did not sign their marriage certificate, they aren’t officially married, and that’s about it! Vardalos has written this, as she did the original, but this time she sidelines Toula and Ian, making her family central to the story. That turned out to be a big mistake. Those overblown clichéd characters were bearable as supporting characters in the first film but are hard to watch here. With the exception of Michael Constantine as Gus, all of the performances are way over the top, with a special mention for Lainie Kazan as Maria who is the hammiest of them all!
Paris’ storyline is really under developed and very predictable, which is a shame, as she is one of the few likeable characters in the movie.
A couple of decent lines and observations do not make this worth sitting through.
Rating: 3.5 out of 10