MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2 Review

It has been fourteen years since My Big Fat Greek Wedding took America by storm and grossed $241 million domestic on a $5 million budget. It's a wonder that this isn't the third or fourth sequel to the film especially given writer and star Nia Vardalos has found little success outside of her Greek origins. Vardalos has written three features in between her Wedding features, none of which reached the commercial success of her breakout and thus the reason we're likely back here. If you enjoyed getting to know the Portokalos clan then you will no doubt enjoy their company this time around as well. Not much has changed beyond some of the dynamics shifting given the inescapable fact time does go on, but this seems to be the major point of issue for Vardalos when crafting the script: how might one develop characters who are so stuck in their ways? To answer this question and provide some deeper insight into who these people are (or more accurately who they once were and how they've become the characters we see today) Vardalos undoes the basis of the entire family: she discredits her mother and father's marriage by revealing it was never properly acknowledged by the church. For Gus (Michael Constantine) and Maria (Lainie Kazan) this more or less makes the lives they've been living for the past fifty years something of a sin and a sham. Of course, Gus wants to correct things as quick as possible and have his marriage acknowledged by the church, but with this new found information Maria is eager to soak up her new found freedom and make her "husband" earn her love for him, elaborate proposal and all. Couple this with Toula (Vardalos) and Ian (John Corbett) dealing with the impending high school graduation of their only daughter, Paris (Elena Kampouris), and there's more than enough material for Vardalos to mine obvious comedy out of without actually mining the characters for any real insight or genuine arc.

First Trailer for MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2

It's been thirteen years since writer/producer Nia Vardalos burst onto the scene with one of the biggest independent films of all time. Despite never holding the number one spot at the American box office, My Big Fat Greek Wedding went on to earn almost $369 million, a return of over sixty-one times it's $5 million budget. For that reason, it is the second most profitable film of all time after the first Paranormal Activity film. I can remember going to our local theater at the age of fifteen with a group of family members who were eager to get in on what the fuss was all about. I don't remember much of the first film other than it being my introduction to John Corbett and it including Joey Fatone from *Nsync in a random supporting role, but here we are thirteen years later and Vardalos' career has never again reached the heights of her 2002 break-out. In some ways, simply based on the box office success, a sequel to the film was inevitable, but given it has been so long since the first film this sequel is not only for the purposes of cashing in on a known brand, but likely one of the few viable options left for Vardalos. Granted, the sequel could be more interesting given the amount of time that has passed between the two films and the fact it seems they were able to get most of the original cast to reprise their roles, but the shoehorning in of another wedding just for the sake of the title feels as forced as this entire movie seems to be. There is no need for this movie and yet I understand why Vardalos would risk tainting the image and memories of the first one for another shot at relevance and a pay day that might last her another thirteen years until she has to write My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 also stars Michael Constantine, Lainie Kazan, Andrea Martin, Gia Carides, Louis Mandylor, Alex Wolff, John Stamos and opens on March 25, 2016.