REVIEW: My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 Doesn’t Have the Same Family Feel As It’s Predecessors

The Portokalos family is back and this time they are taking their adventure to their family’s homeland of Greece. In My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, we find Toula (Nia Vardalos), Ian (John Corbett), Aunt Voula (Andrea Martin), Nick (Louis Mandylor), Paris (Elena Kampouris), and Aunt Frieda (Maria Vacratsis) heading to Greece to attend a reunion in the town where Toula and Nick’s father, Gus, grew up. Having passed away prior to their venture to Greece, Toula and Nick are set on honoring their late father once they arrive, and Toula plans to do this by delivering her father’s journal to his three childhood friends. Nick, on the other hand, is set on finding the oldest tree in the town, and the tree that his father spoke about in his many stories to him. While these two are out attempting to complete their missions, the other members of the Portokalos family are on their own missions, but as these missions progress, viewers are introduced to characters that shed a whole new light on the Portokalos family.

With multiple storylines going on all at one time, the movie is extremely chaotic. The transitions between scenes have no flow, and no real connection. Each character is doing their own thing, which can work if the storylines all come together in the end. However, in My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, the storylines never come together. They standalone from start to finish, leading to a no real ending. Vardalos returned to write the screenplay for this story but doesn’t quite capture the family feel like she did in the previous movies. It was as if the story was written to keep the characters apart rather than bring them together, which was a staple in the past two movies.

With that being said, the movie isn’t terrible. My Big Fat Greek Wedding still reigns supreme when it comes to the series, but the third iteration is entertaining. For those who loved the original movie, and its sequel, you will have a smile on your face the second the movie begins. Even with the non-existent story, there are still laugh out loud moments and the feel-good feeling you’ve come to expect from the My Big Fat Greek Wedding movies. All of your favorite characters are back, except Michael Constantine, who portrayed the head of the Portokalos family, Kostas “Gus” Portokalos, who sadly passed away in 2021. Some play only minor parts in the story, but their presence is still felt throughout the movie.

Vardalos and Corbett return as Toula and Ian and have the same fantastic chemistry they had when we first met them back in 2002. Martin shines, once again, as everyone’s favorite Aunt Voula. Though she has no real story attached to her character, Martin steals every scene that she is in. Vacratsis is also wonderful as Frieda, but like Voula, has no real story. Mandylor and Kampouris are back as Nick and Paris (Toula and Nick’s Daughter), but their storylines don’t do their characters justice. I would have liked to have seen Nick participate more in Toula’s story rather than have his own. There wasn’t enough of his story to justify him having his own.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 isn’t a great movie, so I wouldn’t recommend rushing out to the theaters to see it. If you want to check it out, I highly recommend watching it when it is released On Demand or on streaming. It isn’t as good as its predecessors, but it is nice to be welcomed back into the crazy lives of the Portokalos family.

Grade: C-