A weak sequel
From comedic standpoint, MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2 is not as strong and definitely as effective as the first film which gave Nia Vardalos her Oscar nomination for best original screenplay category. But this sequel does have enough family antics and lovey-dovey romance to keep the fans from wondering why they’re not enjoying this as much as they had hoped.
It’s been 14 years since the first film and not much has changed in the Portokalos family except for the fact that Toula (Nia Vardalos) and Ian (John Corbett) now have a teenage daughter named Paris (Elena Kampouris) who’s considering going to a college located far far away from her Greek family, and I don’t blame her, I too came from a culture that’s family-oriented, not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it can get overwhelming for a young person who feels that the world is much bigger than just the neighborhood she grew up in. Meanwhile, Toula’s parents find out that their marriage license was never signed, they were never legally married and that is why another big fat Greek wedding is in order.
For the fans, it’s nice to see the gang back together after all these years, familiar faces, familiar characters, the story does remind us why we loved the first film. There are cases out there in which the sequel may have arrived way too late, like “Sin City: A Dame To Kill For" but in this case, I think it makes sense that it took this long for MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2 to arrive, because if they ever made the third installment, they could then focus it on Paris’ wedding.
Again as a comedy, MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2 is rather weak, mainly because there’s nothing fresh about it, no surprises, and many of the Greek-centric jokes fall flat, I’m sure Nia Vardalos tried to throw anything she could into the mix but there’s only so much you can do until they get old. This whole overbearing family that somewhat breathes down your neck can work once or twice but it gets played out in MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2, as if that’s the only thing it’s got going for them.
I also feel the Paris going to college part of the story is much more interesting but since Nia has to juggle that with Toula’s parents trying to get married aspect, so the whole relationship between Paris and her parents is only halfheartedly explored. Audiences will be divided over MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2, some would wish they have their own Greek family that cares about them, some would be thankful they don’t have such family, but all of them would agree that the first film was better by a mile. But you gotta give credit where credit’s due, this franchise that Nia Vardalos created gave these Greek actors a platform to showcase their talent, otherwise you wouldn’t see them much in anything else.
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