Wow! Such a good movie.

So much average

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Made in 2002, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding's" box office was around $368 Million. It was a cheerful film and received mostly positive reviews. Purely based on this success, they wanted to suck the film dry by making a sitcom based on the same idea which failed after seven episodes, because there was nothing else left to tell. Here in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2" there are two different stories which are harmonized with the lives of the family after 14 years. If you have seen the original film, you should remember that Ian (John Corbett) and Toula (Nia Vardalos) had a daughter. One side of the story focuses on her and her teenager problems and the other side focuses on the marriage of Toula's mother and father. Toula's father finds out that their marriage paper has never been signed. When Toula's mother learns about this, she demands to get married. After fifty years of being together, they get married as loud as Toula's marriage, like the title suggests. So, the story bounces back and forth between these two main stories and the relation between Ian and Toula. "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2" is still a warm-hearted story with all its sincerity but this is pretty much it. The film doesn't have any purpose anymore. Based on this idea, you can make as many films as possible and, eventually, people will stop seeing them. That being said, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2's" box office dropped drastically from $368 Million to $88.9 Million. People got the idea. They are a big family, they are funny and different and they have strong bonds but that's pretty much it. There is nothing else this family can give to the audience. Each character is easily predictable, which suggests the weakness of the screenplay. When you look carefully, the film has no aim anymore. They are planning a wedding and a lot of funny things are happening along the way. Those funny things are just the different versions of the same jokes from the original film.Cultural differences between Americans and Greeks are more obvious in this one. The film carries the message of the beauty of living together no matter how different we are. In "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2," everyone seems to be leading the film. The pressure over Toula is lifted but she is still struggling to keep everything together. This is time consuming and leads her to neglect her own family. "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2" focuses also on the marriage of Ian and Toula. The film has a lot of directions and the director Kirk Jones manages to keep them all together, but still he can't provide something new or different to the audience, which makes it an average film. It would be perfectly fine if they wouldn't have made the 2nd film. Cultural diversity was the strongest point of the first film. "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2" depends purely on this and fails to bring something on the table. The customs and behaviors are just repeating themselves. This is still tolerable because they are funny, but, once again, they are not new. This is the reason why I wrote above that no one would have missed a 2nd film based on the same idea. Even the locations are the same.Regarding the performances there is nothing new. Like in the first film I like Andrea Martin's acting performance. Andrea Martin's character, Aunt Voula, is a problem solver. She is a person everyone can depend on and one of the most important women in the family. It is an easy role to play but hard to make it perfect. Andrea Martin manages to make it perfect from the way she walks to the way she talks. If this film needs to be saved, she is there to do it. Other than her, I haven't seen a worth mentioning performance because, just like the 1st film, this one is not a character-based film either. This time I have enjoyed the soundtracks. Especially the Greek oriented ones. In most of the scenes I had the feeling that I am watching a European film.Once again, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2" doesn't bring anything new on the table. Watching it is not a waste of time but don't have higher expectations. If you loved the characters and the story in the 1st film then watch this one to see how they are doing after 14 years. Written by Nia Vardalos and produced by Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson and Gary Goetzman, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2" is a film of happy thoughts and a strong traditional family.

While this story follows in line from the first one, it is not so connected that knowledge of the first film is necessary to enjoy this one. The movie starts off with some first person narration by Toula (Nia Vardalos) who realizes she is an over protective mother. Her teen daughter (Elena Kampouris) wants her family to give her space. The other family "crisis" is that her parents discover their wedding certificate wasn't signed, hence the title.The film was hilarious. Andrea Martin looks like she is playing a Second City character. There is some coded adult talk "protect the plucky" and one scene where a couple is interrupted in a car. For the most part, it is family safe. Nia Vardalos also wrote the film. Kudos.Great comedy.

This film tells the story of an extended Greek family living in Chicago, that have to arrange a wedding for the parents because their wedding papers from fifty years ago are not in order. I still fondly remember the first film, which was so funny. The second film is fun as well, with a lot of jokes that made me giggle. The mother being on strike is funny and empowering at the same time. The subplot about the daughter is heartwarming, and I can hardly believe the transformation of her appearance for the prom!As a standalone comedy, this is funny and entertaining. As a sequel to a highly successful comedy, it probably doesn't match the first one. I still enjoyed it.

My wife and I watched this at home on DVD from our public library. There are a couple of interesting "making of" extras discussing how they brought essentially the entire cast back for this sequel. About 13 years ago when I saw the original I recall that I found it funny and totally entertaining. This one is good, but I didn't enjoy it as much. Mainly because I have short patience with overly loud families that intrude into the business of everyone else. I know, that is part of the premise but the first 20 minutes were less enjoyable for me. Often it seems that the humor is being forced and tied too closely to what we saw in the first one.Nia Vardalos, who also wrote the script, is back as Toula and John Corbett is back as her husband Ian. In this story they have an almost 18-yr-old daughter, about to finish high school and go off to college, so they have been married at least 19 years. The excitement has long ago worn off, with both of them always busy, so part of the theme here is rekindling their romance.Toula's father is again played by Michael Constantine, pushing 90, as Gus, and he still thinks Windex can cure almost anything. Lainie Kazan, pushing 75, is back as her mom, Maria. The main wedding focus here is Gus pulling out their old marriage certificate from over 50 years earlier and realizing it was never signed by the priest so he and Maria were never married. He wants to correct that but Maria insists on a genuine proposal and a real wedding.The other main story is about the daughter, Elena Kampouris as Paris. She is at that age where she wants to break free of her parents' influence, and grandpa Gus keeps bugging her about finding a nice Greek fellow and having a family. Overall an entertaining 90 minutes. I always enjoy Lainie Kazan, few realize that in her younger days she was a well-known singer and was actually Streisand's understudy for "Funny Girl" on Broadway. Plus Rita Wilson sings the final song that she also wrote, "Even More Mine" that plays over the credits. I had no idea she is such an accomplished singer, and beautiful lyrics.