‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2’ the sequel of the century

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, (MBFGW2): the movie we’ve all been waiting for.

As usual, the movie industry pulled another “Finding Dory” stunt on us. We’ve waited about 14 long years to see the adorable cast return. After such a long time, one definitely starts to miss Yia Yia, right? Well, there’s a new addition to the family who plays a crucial role in the plot – little Paris is all grown up.

The story picks up in a similar fashion where identity and heritage go to battle one another. Paris faces conflicts similar to those of her mother in the first film. One could imagine that this ordinary set-up of mother vs. daughter, or more like, daughter vs. Greek family would not stand on it’s own two columns, but that is certainly not the case.
MBFGW2 has enough of a brand new structure to give depth creating the feeling that the viewer was never separated from the family’s comical drama. At first, one might assume that such a long duration between the first and second movie would have made things like an awkward family reunion, but it didn’t. The family is just as loud and boisterous as ever. What achieved this most was how well they kept the characters true to their personalities and even their physical characteristics. Ian Miller still has stringy long hair, Toula (Nia Vardalos) has those lovely curls of hers, and well, most the women still have big hair.

This sequel has perfectly captured all the classic elements needed, and introduced just enough humor that would make a person laugh in this slightly more perverted year of 2016. “He likes me to dress up like a wizard sometimes, because he has a magic wand,” was probably the best line in the entire movie. This coming from the enthusiastic Aunt Voula (Andrea Martin), who plays Toula’s aunt and has no problem talking about her sex life and stories about how she was a twin once or her dry and wide tongue.
While staying consistant with the first film, the sequel feels like there is an obvious crunch for time. It has more conflicts than the first film, and any other movie that didn’t have the constant element of Greek Culture would feel too overpowering – like those Christian movies that shove in 12 different plots, banking on at least one to hit you in the pathos. Even though there was a lot in MFBGW2, some scenes were romantic and endearing, such as the wedding scene. It slowed us down. Then like the first movie, the reception brought us back up into party mode.

The most special thing about this particular movie, and the one before it, is that though it has a main character, the story is also about the family. MBFGW really shows that in this Greek family no one is ever really alone. Focusing on the family rather than a single character makes this film great. Was it as good as the first one? No, but is it worth seeing. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 gets a 4/5 from the Advocate.