A One Mann’s Movies review of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3” (2023).
This week is proving to be a test of “sequelitis”. Can you go and see a sequel if you haven’t seen any of the originals? In this review, I discuss “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3”, the first in the series I have seen. Later today I go and see “The Nun II” (again, not having seen the original one). Opening tomorrow is “Expendables 4”, an action franchise where none of the earlier three films have troubled me.
Now, with MBFGW, it could be that seeing the previous two was ESSENTIAL in order to fully appreciate the comedic nuances of the characters. But I really doubt it. Since this one is vying for my worst film of the year slot.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
Toula (Nia Vardalos) is grieving the loss of her father. One of his last instructions to her was to deliver his personal journal to the three boys that he used to play with in the Greek village of his youth. (Right, because THAT makes sense!). So Toula, her husband Ian (John Corbett) and a gaggle of assorted cousins and aunts make the trip to the village. The blue-haired mayor, Victory (Melina Kotselou), is there to welcome them for the “reunion”. But the rest of the village is strangely deserted.
Certification:
UK: 12; US: PG-13. (From the BBFC web site: “Moderate sex references”.).
Talent:
Starring: Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Melina Kotselou, Louis Mandylor, Elena Kampouris, Lainie Kazan, Andrea Martin, Maria Vacratsis, Melina Kotselou, Elias Kacavas, Stephanie Nur.
Directed by: Nia Vardalos.
Written by: Nia Vardalos.
Twitter Handle: #MyBigFatGreekWedding.
One common link with Mamma Mia at least…. Maria Vacratsis (centre) was the “Karma… Ha” lady from “Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again“. With John Corbett (L) and Nia Vardalos (R). (Source: Focus Features)
“My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3” Review:
Positives:
(I’m struggling to come up with anything nice to say!)
- The film was made on location in Corfu, so the scenary is nice to look at.
- Some of the jaunty Greek music on the soundtrack (by Stephanie Economou) is enjoyable in a foot-tapping way.
Negatives:
- The script is shocking. I feel terrible for saying that, since the writer/director Nia Vardalos, who plays the constantly smiley Toula, seems like a lovely person. But there are so many ‘head-in-hands’ moments in this film.
- Firstly, I talk a lot in this blog about ‘show don’t tell’ in movies. This movie is nearly 100% “tell”! It contains one of the most egregious examples of plot exposition in recent memory. Toula’s mother Maria (Lainie Kazan) has dementia. So, basically, at the start of the film, the team say to her “What are we going to do in this film you old bat?”. So Maria says “Oh, well, you’re going to take my dead Gus’s journal to Greece and give it to his old schoolfriends”. At which point they all say “Well done!” and “She hasn’t lost all her marbles after all”. Outrageous! And if this plot message wasn’t well in your head, it gets hammered home in different lines throughout the film: again and Again and AGAIN and AGAIN!!! If I ever watch this again (NO!) it would be worth lining up shots of Ouzo and building a drinking game around it.
- For a comedy it is woefully lacking in any laughs. And that wasn’t just me. There were about 6 other people in the cinema I was in, and not a single titter was heard. I smiled (not laughed) twice in the whole film: once where some “making out” was described as being “like two badgers in a bag of Oreos” (which for some reason amused); and another line where they talked about solving issues the Greek way “using threats and guilt”. Much of the comedy revolves around catchphrases and idiosyncracies. Victory (Melina Kotselou), the blue-haired bisexual (at least, I assumed this was the case, from her inability to decide whether to dance with the men or the women) shouts her deafening catchphrase “Number One, Best” at every opportunity. Nick (Louis Mandylor) undresses inappropriately and clips his toes and bodily hair at the dinner table. And everyone claims that “xxxxx” is a word of Greek origin.
- There is some nonsensical subplot about the village’s water supply not running due to some boulders in the way. As if nature wouldn’t fix that!
- There’s a sickly sweet tale of forbidden love between the Greek adonis Aristotle (Elias Kacavas) and the agreeable shapely Syrian refugee Qamar (Stephanie Nur). The pair act well, but the story could curdle cream.
- Paris (Elena Kampouris) seems to be there primarily for a scene in which she strips off on a nudist beach to go swimming. (Unaccountably, and much to her surprise, the rest of the family are already in the sea. As if that makes her comfortable that they’ve already “seen everything”, as Patrick Stewart might say).
Summary Thoughts on “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3″
A delightful movie set on an idyllic Greek island full of fun, laughter, comedy and heart-warming moments. That’s what “Mamma Mia” and “Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again” delivered in spades. MBFGW3 fails to deliver these elements in just four respects!
I often like to give movies the benefits of the doubt. They are clearly made with love and care by a dedicated team who think they are delivering a work of art. (I mean, the married power-house of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are part of the production team… how could it fail?) But this movie is just so bad that I genuinely considered walking out. This is something I have NEVER done at a cinema screening. Pure morbid curiousity, like a deer watching oncoming headlights, kept me in my seat.
There have been some clunkers already this year. “Love Again“, “Maybe I Do“, “Book Club: The Next Chapter“, “On a Wing and a Prayer” and “Haunted Mansion” immediately spring to mind. But I don’t think anything is likely to top this one in my worst films of the year list. It’s an utter waste of celluloid.
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Trailer for “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAflXqZ5xs0 .
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The blue haired mayor, Victory, does not give me bisexual vibes. As a bisexual, I felt that character was more a representative of the asexual, pansexual and androgynous community. It really drove it home for me once the character danced with both the men and women side at the wedding. I vaguely remember at the beginning of the trip, Aunt Thea was having a discussion with Victory about that. I took that as Victory is either asexual or pansexual. Victory is not given their own love story though, so it’s not exactly set in stone what they are.
Thanks for your insight on that PurpleJazz97… appreciated. (Apologies for the late comment approval… been on hols for a few weeks and missed it!)