My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 (12A)

Following the death of her father Gus, Toula Portokalos honours his dying wish to take the entire family to his childhood village and reconnect with their Greek roots. Toula's husband Ian joins the madcap expedition along with extended family including her brother Nick and 'favourite' Aunt Voula. Far from home in Chicago and the Dancing Zorba's restaurant, different generations learn valuable lessons about compassion and remembrance.

LondonNet Film Review

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 (12A) Film Review from LondonNet

My Big Fat Greek Wedding was one of the sleeper hits of 2002, generating more than 300 million dollars worldwide at the box office from a production budget of five million dollars. The dysfunctional Portokalos clan return in a tepid romantic comedy sequel written and directed by Nia Vardalos, which has all the appeal of a bowl of Greek yoghurt that has been left out in the sun. My Big Fat Wedding 3 is dedicated to the memory of actor Michael Constantine, who played patriarch Gus. His image lingers in a montage of family photographs that opens the third instalment and succinctly distils the plots of the original film and a 2016 sequel…

Vardalos’s script musters a couple of decent laughs in a little over 90 minutes. It’s a disappointingly low hit rate compared to earlier instalments. Physical humour like one character’s ham-fisted attempts to mount a donkey feels forced and the franchise’s undisputed scene-stealers Andrea Martin and Maria Vacratsis are denied polished one-liners to repeat their gleeful daylight robberies. “I thought my husband came back from the dead!” quips one of the pair after she is rudely woken from her sleep by an inquisitive goat. Some of the audience may still be snoring at this point.

Toula Portokalos (Vardalos) prepares to honour her father’s dying wish by taking the clan to his picturesque birthplace and safely deliver his lovingly handwritten journal into the possession of three childhood friends. Family matriarch Maria (Lainie Kazan) is slowly slipping into the grasp of dementia so she remains safely in Chicago while the rest of the madcap entourage heads to sunnier climes. Toula’s doting husband Ian (John Corbett) joins his wife along with her grooming-obsessed brother Nick (Louis Mandylor) and aunts Voula (Martin) and Frieda (Vacratsis).

Ian and Toula’s spirited daughter Paris (Elena Kampouris) is embarrassed to discover Aristotle (Elias Kacavas), the first date she ghosted, has been enlisted as Voula’s personal assistant for the excursion. Arriving into Athens, ebullient town mayor Victory (Melina Kotselou) greets the Portokalos party and shepherds them to a rustic home-from-home where stony-faced resident Alexandra (Anthi Andreopoulou) rules the roost. Far from the family-run Dancing Zorba’s restaurant, generations reconnect with their Greek roots and learn valuable lessons about forgiveness.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 is one gung-ho gallivant up the aisle too many, milking our affection for familiar characters until our patience runs as dry as the river that used to serve Gus’s hometown. Pacing plods and conflicts are resolved with surprisingly little effort on the part of family members. Vardalos gift-wraps happy endings for everyone on screen, but for us, finding someone to love in the wedding party feels like a labour of Hercules.

– Sarah Lee