‘Big Greek Wedding 2’ DVD Review: A Big Fat Flop

I was waiting for the funny and it never came.

‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2’ was a theatrical release,but it played as if it were straight-to-video.

‘Big Greek Wedding 2’ DVD Review

The plot for the much-anticipated follow-up to MBFGW is relatively the same, despite a minor wrinkle, and the characters are also virtually identical. It’s the whole “oh how funny is her big, overbearing family” joke played throughout every scene, ad infinitem.

This time around it is Toula’s (Nia Vardalos) parents who are set to be married. Gus (Michael Constantine) and Maria (Lainie Kazan) come to the realization that their marriage certificate was never actually signed and is therefore null and void.

MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2 TRAILER

Instead of proposing a new wedding to Maria, Gus assumes that she will take his hand. Soon he learns she will not make it that easy for him this time and the two spend the film chasing each other around and arguing through family members.

Toula’s daughter Paris (Elena Kampouris) is a teenager in high school, still growing accustomed to the greek lifestyle and all the embarrassment that comes with it. Paris crushes on a boy in school, but her family keeps showing up at everything in droves.

Toula and husband Ian (John Corbett) do their best to explain to Paris that this is how a Greek family operates, but it is no consolation for her as she explores colleges outside of the Chicago area in which they live. The family divides and comes together on a few different occasions throughout the film which is a speedy 94 minutes. Eventually, Gus and Maria reconcile and Paris chooses to stay close to home at Northwestern and the happy family finds a happy ending.

Unfortunately, there weren’t enough funny moments in between.

The “oh my big Greek family” punchline is played so many times with so little creativity I nearly shut the film off twice. You know you have a quality comedy when you can have a “good laugh” at least three times during the course of the film. And by “good laugh” I mean from the belly. I might’ve chuckled once or twice, but couldn’t bring myself to laugh out loud a single time.

It’s not that the acting is poor, Vardalos is just as impressive as she was in the first film, it’s just that like most sequels, the original steals all the best lines and bits. The banter between Constantine and Kazan is enough to make you smile widely, but falls short of a hearty chuckle.

It was a nice attempt by Vardalos and Director Kirk Jones to try and recreate the magic of 14 years ago, but that magic is gone.

What is left, is less than appetizing.