For fans of the 2002 romantic comedy “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” the third installment to the series, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3,” just hit the big screen Sept 8. “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2” was released in 2016 and is overall unnecessary to watch before coming to the theater to see the latest film in the saga.
The only detail you need to know about the second movie before seeing this one is that Toula Portokalos (Nia Vardalos) and her husband Ian (John Corbett) have a teenage daughter, Paris (Elena Kampouris), who recently finished her first year of college at the start of the third film.
“My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3” takes place one year after Toula’s father Gus (Michael Constantine) passes away. Toula’s mission throughout the movie is to fulfill her late father’s dying wish: bring his notebook back to his hometown of Corfu, Greece, and give it to his childhood friends. Upon arriving in Greece with her husband, daughter, brother Nick (Louis Mandylor), two aunts and her aunt’s assistant, Toula and the Portokalos family realize that none of Gus’ friends live in the village anymore. The movie is then spent meandering around this small Greecian island as Toula searches for her father’s friends.
While Toula struggles to find her father’s friends, Paris struggles with failing her first year of college and being stuck on an island in Greece with a boy she ghosted, Aristotle (Elias Kacavas). While in Corfu, the Portokalos family meets the locals, including the mayor Victory (Melina Kotselou), an angry old woman named Alexandra (Anthi Andreopoulou), a young man Christos (Giannis Vasilottos), a Syrian refugee named Qamar (Stephanie Nur) and a “very handsome man with piercing eyes,” as Toula describes him. This mysterious, handsome man is introduced to the audience when Toula is looking out the window of the house her family is staying in and sees him staring at her while hiding in a bush.
There are so many details in this movie that would take an excessive amount of time to explain. And yet, at the same time, so much of the film was spent following the Portokalos family on vacation. That’s it. They are on vacation in Greece; they eat, they dance, they laugh.
What this film lacks in plot, it makes up for in heart. If you like movies like “Mamma Mia 2” (2018) or “Grown Ups” (2010) where nothing happens for a while and the audience gets to watch actors go on vacation, then this is the film for you. The audience doesn’t even get to know what is in this sacred leather-bound notebook that is the size of a medical textbook, despite Toula and Nick often reading through it and holding up one photograph of Gus and his friends.
It could be inferred that the movie attempts to touch on more serious topics such as the refugee crisis through the character Qamar and the few mentions of refugees coming to Greece. However, it is clear that “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3” is not the place for overt political commentary, so the character of Qamar rather exists as a form of showing support and acceptance as her story is compared to Gus’ move to America.
It is also shown that the mayor of Corfu, Victory, does not conform to gender norms, as in their first scene they talk about wearing boy clothes, girl clothes and some clothes that are neither. There is also a scene toward the end of the movie where all the characters line up to dance with the men on one side of the room and the women on the other, and Victory jumps back and forth, participating in both parts of the dance. It could be interpreted that this was the movie’s subtle nod to accepting and normalizing gender expression, even if it does not align with someone’s biological sex or the gender binary.
It is a common theme for the “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” movies, especially the sequels, to touch on accepting those around you despite your differences. The theme of acceptance draws from the main personal journey Toula goes on in the first movie, where she comes to terms with her Greek heritage and is no longer ashamed to be herself with pride.
Despite all the previously mentioned criticisms, this movie is fun to watch. It is not complex, it is not Oscar-worthy, some of the jokes are not even that funny. If there is one thing present, it is love. “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3” is a story about family, overcoming challenges together, connecting with your roots and sharing your culture with the people you love.
And, believe it or not, there is a wedding at the end. If there is one constant in the Big Fat Greek Wedding saga, it’s that there is going to be a Greek wedding. While it has its flaws, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3” is a simple and entertaining movie with all your favorite characters from the first two films, even Joey Fatone!
