My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3: A Disappointing Sequel

In 2002, My Big Fat Greek Wedding took the world by storm. The film, written by and starring Nia Vardalos, exceeded expectations by earning nearly 50 times its $5 million budget at the domestic box office. Its formulaic plot, a woman falling in love with a man from a different background, was made enjoyable by clever writing that combined romantic-comedy tropes with culture-clash humor. The film was a charming depiction of the Greek American lifestyle, thanks in part to its enthusiastic ensemble cast. As my colleague Megan Garber put it, the movie was “a big hunk of baklava: layered, nutty, shockingly sweet.”

Fast forward to today, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, the latest installment in the franchise after a forgettable second film and a short-lived TV series, has become the low point of the series. The film is uncomfortable to watch, squandering whatever goodwill the series once had. Even Nia Vardalos, who makes her directorial debut with this film, seems uninspired by her own material.

It’s perplexing, considering the potential of the premise: the Portokalos family travels to Greece to fulfill the late father’s wish of giving his childhood best friends his journal. This journey should be a bittersweet one, as Toula (Vardalos) grapples with her father’s death and her mother’s memory loss. It offers her a chance to connect with her Greek heritage and bond with her quirky extended family, much like the first film did.

However, any emotional depth is lost in a sea of tired jokes about Toula’s overbearing relatives and their Greekness. The film relies on stale one-liners that do nothing to advance the plot or develop the characters. At best, the jokes are tired, and at worst, they’re tasteless. A long-lost relative twist is introduced with a clumsy incest joke that falls flat. The result is a static film where nothing happens and no one changes.

Even the picturesque location of Greece fails to distract from the clunkiness of the story. At 91 minutes long, the film should have been a breezy postcard, but instead, it feels tedious. The climactic wedding between two locals, meant to justify the title, lacks any emotional impact as the characters involved are barely developed and seem insignificant compared to the Portokalos family.

Good romantic comedies rarely have successful sequels because stretching a love story over multiple films tends to diminish the magic of the original. However, a few sequels have managed to deepen their fans’ understanding of the characters and build on nostalgia for the original. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 had the potential to do the same, but it fails to deliver. It ignores its vibrant characters in favor of cheap laughs and fails to say anything meaningful about family and homecoming.

In one memorable scene, Elena learns that the Greek word “sopa,” often used by her relatives, can mean both “shut up” and “delight.” This running gag is meant to be lighthearted, but by the end of the film, it serves as a reminder of how weak the story’s momentum is and how little it has to offer. After twenty years, it’s time for the franchise to take its own advice: “Sopa, My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” The joke’s over. That’s enough.