There’s running a joke into the ground and then there is drilling under the ground because you can’t make a joke go any further.
There’s nobody else in Hollywood who has managed to stretch out their 15 minutes of fame more than Nia Vardalos. Most people know Nia Vardalos from My Big Fat Greek Wedding and literally nothing else.
The film was a hit for its era back in the early 2000s causing Nia to become one of the most sought-after screenwriters in Hollywood at the time. Taking a movie that only had a 5 million dollar budget and turning it into a 370 million dollar monster hit is nothing to scoff at when it comes to cinematic achievements.
But after failing to turn the movie’s success into a television show, Nina found herself on Law & Order SVU for several years picking herself active but not very relevant. The biggest surprise for the overwhelming majority of people who discovered that there’s a new ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ movie was the fact that the announcement of ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3’ alerted people to the fact that there was a ‘Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.’
7 years ago, Nia brought back most of the original characters for a sequel, But needless to say, the country had shifted far to the left in a decade and a half. True family movies weren’t much of a draw by the time that people were arguing about Donald Trump becoming president of the United States and as a result, the film was only a marginal success.
The actual puzzling question is why Nina thinks that a third ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ film would be in any way shape or form a success after the disappointing results of the second one. Trying to market a film on name recognition alone is not a winning strategy in 2023 and this film proves that point.
The Portokalos family is back following the death of the patriarch of their family, Gus. Not only is the family dealing with the loss of their father, but their mother is also dealing with the early stages of Alzheimer’s as she is rapidly beginning to lose her memory.
As a tribute to Gus, the family decides to plan a summer trip to Greece for a family reunion in the village that Gus grew up in. Gus was unable to return to Greece before his death so the family is going back in his honor. When they get there they realize that there are aspects of their family that even they didn’t know about.
Discovering that their father had a lover in a small village and had another child, the family has to deal with a whole new group of family members while planning a reunion of all of their father’s old friends. After watching this film, I tried to think of any good reason for this movie to exist and they’re simply isn’t one.
This is a film that probably would have been satisfiable if it had ever been released on a streaming service rather than a theatrical release. The plot of this movie is paper thin to the point where it feels like nothing more than a cash grab banking on a film that was popular a generation ago.
The film has such a niche audience based on a hit movie from 21 years ago, it’s difficult to tell who exactly this film is targeted to. For a family film, the dynamic of the movie mirrors a big overbearing family that you still love on the sole basis of blood relation.
Outside of the premise of going to Greece in honor of their father, the film doesn’t have much of a plot which means the film doesn’t have any real drama to go on. The comedy is situational at best and most of the jokes either don’t land or only exist based on the awkwardness between the characters.
The film has no soul and it feels like a largely directionless movie as if the people behind this film AKA Nia Vardalos didn’t have a plan for this movie outside of a pitch meeting. None of the characters are given any genuine personality outside of being quirky and Greek.
The only character in the film that brings anything in terms of essence to this movie is Melina Kotselou as Victory. The best part about the movie is that it’s only 92 minutes and that is because there isn’t anything in this movie to talk about.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 is an idea that everyone should have given up on years ago.
1/5
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